Charting A New Course for Arts Centers Across the World

Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged cultural organizations to grapple with serious questions: What is the relationship between the live arts and digital technology? How do we design arts venues and cultural experiences of the future? How do these arts organizations embrace their civic responsibilities? how can arts centers become hubs for reconciliation where all communities can come together to celebrate cultural identities?

In February 2022, Arts Commons, the largest arts venue in Western Canada, announced the international prime design team for the Arts Commons Transformation (ACT) project, a CAD $450M expansion and modernization campaign that will transform downtown Calgary by resulting in more square footage dedicated to arts and culture than The Louvre Museum in Paris.

Join Alex Sarian (Arts Commons, Calgary) as he moderates the online discussion “Charting a New Course for Arts Centers Across the World” with ACT architects and designers, Marianne McKenna (KPMB, Toronto), Wanda Dalla costa (Tawaw, Phoenix), and Joshua Dachs (Fisher Dachs Associates, New York City) about how the largest cultural infrastructure project in recent Canadian history can chart a new course for the arts across the world.

This program is presented in partnership with Arts Commons, the Consulate General of Canada in  New York, the Council for Canadian American Relations, and the National Arts Club.