Over the last year we’ve been doing our best to promote the emerging Calgary Arts scene here at Nuvo Hotel Suites. So far it’s been a really rewarding experience for us. While it’s true that artistic culture has yet to fully bloom in Calgary, it’s at least really starting to sprout. While we continue to run our monthly “Free Stay For a Visiting Creative” contest through Calgary Arts Development, we have also recently worked out a partnership with Dancers’ Studio West.

What is Dancers’ Studio West? Well, that’s a good question. Dancers’ Studio West was founded in 1981 by Elaine Bowman and her husband Peter Hoff in an attempt to give the then-puny arts community in Calgary a shot in the arm.

Today, Dancers’ Studio West isn’t really any single thing. It’s a contemporary dance company (they’ve actually been one of Canada’s premier dance presenters for more than 25 years) and it’s also a place of learning and development for up-and-coming dancers and choreographers. They have a unique mentored residency program that allows artists to develop in an environment that is both guided and creative. In fact, Dancer’s Studio West has made a concerted commitment to showcase up and coming local talent.

The next upcoming show with DSW is The Susie Burpee Show: Dances in the Third Person. It plays at 8PM on November 4th, 5th, and 6th and tickets are $22 for adults and $18 for students.

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in Calgary, Alberta. When he’s not at the Hotel dealing with the daily dose of craziness he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

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That’s right. If you can paint you can stay here for free. You can also stay here for free if you can draw, dance, play an instrument or, well, convince us you’re an artist whose work will benefit the community and the city in general. As of today (Oct 1^st), Nuvo Hotel Suites has partnered with Calgary Arts Development to give the local arts scene a helping hand.

You might be asking yourself ‘since when does Calgary have an Arts Development Organization?’ The answer is, since March 2005. In 2004 the municipal government enacted the Civic Arts Policy under the recognition that a healthy arts scene improves the quality of life and helps the city as a whole to succeed on the international stage. In order to follow this mandate the CAD has been working to foster citizen engagement with the arts, create connections within and without the arts community, and to encourage strategic investments in the arts to develop the local economy’s creative capacity. The bottom line is that they exist in order to realize the incredible potential in Calgary’s local arts scene.

Now, about this contest. Every month one artist will be selected for a free stay here at Nuvo Hotel Suites. The winner will be chosen from proposals submitted to us, preferably with as many examples of their work as the medium allows. The contest will be ongoing, so if you don’t get in one month feel free to try again at a later date. Winning the contest gets you a free room, obviously, but it also nets some free exposure. Not only will the winner be profiled on this blog, but they’ll also be featured along with their work on the Calgary Arts Development splinter site www.CalgaryCulture.com, which will be serving as a central hub for information about the city’s arts and culture scene.

Jonathan Meier is the Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in Calgary, Alberta. When he’s not at the Hotel dealing with the daily dose of craziness he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

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