Until next time, Summer Residencies!
For the second consecutive year, we are pleased to announce that we have hosted our summer residencies in The STUDIO. This space, known for its inspiring environment and creative vibes, served as a fertile ground for artists to explore, create, and collaborate. It was a joy to witness the Studio bustling with creativity and innovation! And for the first time, because we received so many strong visual arts applications, we decided to open the Vintage Room to resident artists for incubation and project development as well. In total, this year’s Residency supported 10 artists working in contemporary dance, animation, scenography, music, painting, projection mapping and theatre!
As the summer residency program comes to a close, we would like to thank everyone who participated, for their time and dedication, and for using The GRAND's Studio space for incubation, development and advancement of your works. We will be showcasing the works-in-progress during an invite-only open house in Studio. For any artists interested in our annual residency program, please watch our Instagram for updates on open calls, or feel free to reach out to Nate Chiang, Programming Coordinator at nate@thegrandyyc.ca
Nicole Charlton Goodbrand, developing her piece entitled, “Her Cooking Smells Like Death”; photo credit: Nicole Charlton Goodbrand
GRAND Residency Artists
Jiwoo Kim
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In our first week of the program, working in The GRAND’s Vintage room, we welcomed multimedia artist Jiwoo Kim! Jiwoo is a third-year student studying character design and illustration at AUArts, specializing in creating surreal and weird animations. Their recent work, 'No Sheep, No Sleep,' delves into the theme of insomnia caused by disruptive sheep. Jiwoo's animations aim to challenge surreal storytelling from everyday experience. In addition to animation, Jiwoo has a passion for drawing portraits and character designs. Jiwoo Kim encourages viewers to question reality and embrace the extraordinary. Their work opens the door to captivating worlds, igniting curiosity, and inviting contemplation.
Malcolm Mooney
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In that same first week in the Studio we were joined by Malcolm Mooney. Malcolm is a born and raised New Yorker, working as a visual artist, poet, singer and lyricist, painting & drawing professor, and is a celebrated contemporary music figure. Malcolm has performed, and exhibited his artwork, extensively over the decades; most recently with gigs in Paris, New York, London, Los Angeles and shows at White Columns Gallery in NYC, Skyline College Art Gallery, CA, and with KyleMarks Projects in Calgary, AB.. From the early 1970s to the present, Mooney has taught painting and drawing at a number of institutions across North America and currently teaches abstract painting at Alberta University of the Arts.
Jon McCaslilin
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Partnered with Malcolm was none other than Jon McCaslilin, one of Western Canada’s leading jazz drummers and educators. McCaslin brings excitement and his passion for the jazz tradition and of its future to the bandstand and to the classroom. For McCaslin, “rhythm is his business” and he values the opportunity to contribute to the betterment of his community and to lift those around him, one beat at a time. He is currently based in Calgary where he maintains a busy performing and teaching schedule in his community and across Canada.
Hermitess
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The following week in the studio we were treated to the multimedia musical stylings of Hermitess (Jennifer Crighton). Hermitess is the solo project of songwriter and visual artist. Cinematic in scope, her projects are often informed by her background in film and curation, bringing together collections of collaborators, stories and set pieces to accompany the musical work. Delicate harp lines loop and tangle, while unfamiliar sounds and unplaceable textures enrich the arrangements. Over this sonic foundation, Crighton sings in a style that is part story, part incantation. Sometimes described as medieval witch music, these compositions aim to imagine one direction contemporary music might have taken if history had played out differently for the femme.
Tito Perez Mora
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While Hermitess was creating in the studio Tito Perez Mora had flown across the Atlantic Ocean for his residency in the vintage room! Hailing from Spain, Tito is an artist, architect, and educator, with his work being featured in exhibitions, art galleries, and exhibitions in Europe and North America. His artistic work is nourished by these disciplines, generating a very personal discourse on intimacy, the domestic, inheritance and what is generated in the close. In addition to his artistic work Tito is the Founder of WILL and Co-Founder of DEAR and AKAestudio, Architecture and Design. Organizations/Projects that are focused on bringing people of all ages together to create and transform spaces creatively for a better future.
Mackenzie Bedford
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The following week we had the pleasure of hosting Mackenzie Bedford, who is obsessed with colour, light and movement! “The universe, by nature, is mysterious and queer. Constantly yearning to see stories that have the imagination and diversity it demands; they are revealing the queerness of the cosmos through interdisciplinary approaches”. Their tools for exploration involve animation; illustration; installation; and public art. Visual influences stem from growing up as a closeted queer kid in a small town, using an early 2000s internet connection to connect, explore and escape.
Nicole Charlton Goodbrand
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Returning to The GRAND in the 4th week of the summer artist development residency was none other than Nicole Charlton Goodbrand! Nicole is a dance artist based in Moh’kinsstis (Calgary, AB). Her creative work aims to highlight the contradictions between a person’s thoughts and behaviors in public vs. private and uses live performance, mixed media and film to examine the layered complexities of human behavior and distorted personal realities. She holds a BA in Dance , a BA graduate diploma , and a Professional Dancers’ Postgraduate Teaching Certificate with distinction. She teaches at North Calgary Dance Centre, the School of Creative and Performing Arts- University of Calgary, and is currently the Artistic Associate with the W&M2 Dance Company.
Eden Middleton
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In our second last week of residencies, we had the Sunflower Artists Collective grace our studio to develop a new piece of theatre. The first of this collective being Eden Middleton. Eden is an emerging multi-disciplinary theatre artist from Moh’kins’tsis whose artistic practice centers a dramaturgy of dialectics, curiosity, and compassion. Eden holds a BFA Drama and a BA English from the University of Calgary. Recent projects they’re proud of include dramaturging Formations at the University of Calgary and Kindling at Downstage Theatre’s 2023 Stage It! Festival; working as Apprentice Dramaturg at the Banff Centre’s 2023 Playwrights Lab; writing Hoping You Are Well, a verbatim pandemic project; producing for World Stage Design and Fluid Fest 2022; and Date Night at Calgary Fringe 2023.
Lizzie Rajchel
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Accompanying Eden was longtime friend, collaborator, and cofounder of Sunflower Collective Theatre Lizzie Rajchel. Lizzie is Polish/Canadian director and producer currently working in Moh'kins'tis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 territory. She holds a BFA in Drama with distinction from the University of Calgary and is a faculty member of the Mount Royal University Conservatory. Her dance show Perennial was recently staged at NextFest (Edmonton) after being produced as a short film in 2022 by Dancer's Studio West Quick + Dirty program. Recent directorial credits include: Date Night (Calgary Fringe), Sanctum (Dancer's Studio West), Mythical Creatures and SoulSwap (IGNITE! Festival), Re:Construct (RISER Edmonton).
Alèn Martel
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And in our final week of residency we welcomed back the versatile and wonderfully creative Alèn Martel. Alèn is a dancer, choreographer, dance researcher, and dance educator. His research and pedagogy focuses on creative process and using tools to help bodies discover what they may not know yet ; looking at dance history and studies through parity- focussed lenses; and, digital accessibility in research-creation processes in dance (specifically through asynchronous means). He has his BA in Dance from the University of Calgary (2012) and MA in Ethnochoreology (2014) from the University of Limerick and is currently an instructor at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University as well as an arts administrator as a co-consultant in his company PIVOT. Arts & Venue Consulting.