On Monday, February 11th, 2013 Calgary's City Council unanimously approved the application to redesignate the King Edward School site. cSPACE extends special thanks to all those who have contributed immensely to this master planning process during the past 2 years. This significant milestone marks the collective involvement of the arts and local communities, city council, city staff, and our shareholders and project team, to allow for a comprehensive redevelopment of the site and the preservation and reuse of the existing historic school.  We look forward to continuing the momentum towards realizing the full transformation of the King Edward Arts Hub and Incubator in the months ahead. 

On Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 the City of Calgary Land Use Planning & Policy Department held a public open house at King Edward School. Approximately 100 residents from the community came to view panels that review the application to redesignate (rezone) the King Edward School site, to allow for a comprehensive redevelopment of the site and the preservation and reuse of the existing historic building. The proposal does not conform with the existing South Calgary/Altadore Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP) and so an amendment to the ARP is required as part of this land use redesignation.

For more information on this land use ammendement and city planning process, please go to:

www.calgary.ca/KingEdwardSchool

What an incredible Alberta Culture Days weekend at King Edward School! From Friday, September 28th until Sunday, September 30th this decade-vacant school came back to life as some 3000 visitors made their way through the grounds and halls to experience our Doors Open @ King Edward event. 

This event involved over 50,000 square feet of diverse programming throughout the school and included art installations, performances, workshops, works-in-progress, exhibitions, poetry readings, pop-up stores, robotic furniture, and interactive activities - with a little something for every one of all ages. 

During the course of the weekend we had the opportunity to greet MP Michelle Rempel; Alberta’s Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk, Christine Cusanelli Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation, and MLA Teresa Woo-Paw; Alderman Brian Pincott and city staff; many Alumni, teachers, and even past principals of King Edward School; and citizens from the surrounding neighbourhood and city who’s curiosity was perked. 

Special thanks goes out to each of you who came to visit King Edward and to our partners who made “Doors Open at King Edward” so memorable. Without a doubt, the tremendous role-played by participants, volunteers, and partners in making this event so inspired and engaging cannot be understated. 

The weekend kicked off on Friday with PechaKucha Night #13 sponsored by Calgary Arts Development.  An audience of some 400 enjoyed 10 speakers’ unique perspectives on the theme of “seed” and got a little indication of King Edward’s renewal as an arts hub and incubator of engaging ideas. 

Mark Hopkins marked his 100th anniversary of “We Should Know Each Other” on Saturday and Sunday, and together with a notable volunteer crew brought together over 75 participant groups who occupied every inch of space available at King Edward. What an incredible showing of artists, performers, civic engagers, innovators, educators, to Calgary’s own Historian and Poet Laureates, who certainly invited visitors to enhance their thinking with a diversity of new ideas and perspectives. 

Thanks to everyone for coming out to Doors Open @ King Edward to view our photography exhibition and to see the jury selected top 20 photographs from the competition! 

After 5 hours of deliberation by our professional jury in the Spring of 2012, the following photographs were distinguished as follows:

“Old & New” by Michael Janke - Jury’s Choice Award

“Old & New” gives King Edward School a personality of its own, if only a sombre one. The photograph hints at the secrets the walls and ceiling must still be keeping. The worm-like intrusions of the pipes coupled with new lighting fixtures expand the depth of the past stories. The brown stains are telling of the building’s present state of mind. Colours, textures and soft light streaming through the window create an abstract of unmatched sublime quality. – James McMenamin

“The Sandstone of King Edward School” by Logan Facette - Exterior Honourable Mention & Community Choice Award

Sandstone hulks still dot the Calgary landscape, reminders of the city's first steps toward its current urban life. “The  Sandstone of King Edward School” evokes many facets of the King Edward School and Calgary: the river valley, home to at least ten sandstone quarries; the mountains, seen railing the horizon from the school's belfry; the skilled masons who built the school itself. In flying the viewer so close to the King Edward School's sandstone walls, Logan Facette ironically gives the viewer a bigger picture of what the school is all about. - John Frosst

“Interlude” by Daniel Cristini - Interior Honourable Mention

Come check out our new cSPACE Facebook page and see what's taking shape for Doors Open @ King Edward! Cast your photographic vote ("Like") for the Community Choice Award winner from these selected top 20 photographs! THEN - Come out to DOORS OPEN at KING EDWARD on September 29th and 30th to see the exhibition and judge's picks!

During the spring of 2012, cSPACE was pleased to invite selected groups and interested individuals to photograph the 1912 King Edward School in its current state before redevelopment. Participants were encouraged to submit images under various categories (Interior, Exterior, Abstract and Monochrome) to a juried photography competition focused on the exploration of this unique historic sandstone school and celebration of its transformation into a 21st century arts hub and incubator. 

cSPACE encouraged a diverse range of photographic submissions from participants and encouraged them to document the interior and exterior of the school in its unoccupied state before portions are demolished and/or rehabilitated; explore details of the unique architectural elements of sandstone school design; capture the essence and distinct traces left throughout the school from days gone by; and to artistically frame intriguing perspectives and narratives yet to be imagined. 

A professional jury was created to select 20 photographs to be publicly exhibited during Doors Open at King Edward and to choose competition winners. 5 Honourable mentions, a Judges Choice Award ($500), and Community Choice Award ($500) will be announced at the exhibition on September 29th through 30th. Many thanks to our participant groups that included Alberta College of Art and Design, Studio C, Calgary Institute of Photography, individual photographers of all skill levels and our distinguished panel of judges.

Cast your vote for the Community Choice Award winner and then come out to Doors Open at King Edward to see the judges choices and framed exhibition!

Doors Open at King Edward will showcase the landmark 100th edition of ‘We Should Know Each Other’ and provide dozens of interactive experiences throughout the classrooms and hallways of the entire school.  To pull off an event of this scale that will be programmed by some of Calgary’s most creative and unique non-profits and artists, with opportunities to listen to Calgary’s first Poet and Historian Laureates, dive into a robotics workshop, watch an outdoor movie, create 3-D art - we will need your help! Below is the first opportunty to volunteer on what will be an amazing 100-year anniversary for We Should Know Each Other and King Edward School! 

We Should Know Each Other #100 - Call for Volunteers

We Should Know Each Other #100 – running September 28-30, 2012 – is going to be a giant, vibrant community-building extravaganza. We need your help to make it happen!

We are seeking a great team of volunteers to help out before, during and after the event. Volunteer Positions available:

• Pre-Event Marketing (Poster & Flyer Distribution)

• Event Set-Up (Friday, September 28, daytime)

• Bar (including some volunteers with ProServe)

• Floor Coordinators

• Welcome Table

• General On-Site Volunteers (for all the delightfully miscellaneous tasks)

• Event Take-Down (Sunday, September 30, evening)

We Should Know Each Other #100 - Call for Volunteers
 

To learn more about We Should Know Each Other, visit www.swallowabicycle.com/wskeo and ‘like’ the WSKEO page on Facebook.

cSPACE is excited to announce that Clark Builders has been chosen as the Construction Manager for the King Edward Arts Hub and Incubator. They bring an immense amount of experience and passion for renewing heritage buildings and sustainable development- we're extremely happy to have them as our newest team member!

Thanks Alberta Culture! Doors Open at the King Edward received $4,000 in support from Minister Heather Klimchuk as a Host Celebration Site for Alberta Culture Days. September 28-30, 2012 is shaping up to be a fantastic collaborative event at our future arts hub with Pecha Kucha night, WSKEO, Doors Open YYC Naked and much more!