Art+&+Culture

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Questions For Experts

1. During the Italian Renaissance, we saw how the new painting techniques spread throughout Europe. The painting techniques were often used, improved and re-used. One of the great paintings came from Leonardo Da Vinci. He was a great painter people from all around took techniques from. The Mona Lisa is a great example. Are there examples of artists in Calgary that use new techniques and share them with people around the world?-Raveena


 * Terry Rock definitely believes that Arts and Culture in Calgary has a potential of making Calgary a Renaissance City. He definitely knows a lot of what's happening in Calgary with all of its arts and culture through arts. He gave us great ideas for evidence in Calgary for it to become a Renaissance City. For example he said that Keith Johnstone, inventor of TheatreSports in Calgary, asks the audience what they want to be performed. That is good because one of the elements for Calgary to become a Renaissance City is that it needs to have humanistic way of thinking. The performers ask the audience what they want and that is a big piece of evidence for Calgary.**
 * Terry gave more examples like One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre that finished a new show called Kawasaki Exit, which required the actors to speak Japanese. This is a great example of the spread of arts with culture in Calgary.**
 * There are more art examples like the work of Mary Scott who is a Calgarian Artist, Diane Bos who does amazing photography, the Alberta Ballet School, etc. He also stated that Eric Moschopedis and Mia Rushton do some " More performance style work... but also hard to describe..." kind of art. By what he means by this is that these people have a different kind of art. I like this because during the Renaissance, people like artists during that time, discovered different techniques and art. For example, how did we even switch over form Medieval art to Renaissance art? Artists contributed to this significant change in our history. They found out more ideas ideas about art and how we can relate culture into it. This is an example of Eric and Mia and their contribution for Calgary becoming a Renaissance City.**

2. The church had a big influence on the people during the Italian Renaissance. They had strong opinions to those who did not follow the ways of god, until the black plague came along and people had to change their ways of living and thinking. Less focus was on religion and it slowly started to fade. Art begin to reflect this changing way of thinking by having a focus on realism and by painting specific pieces showing society. Do Artists in Calgary use art to express what the ways of living in thinking are in the city?-Katie

 **Our Expert, Terry Rock, obviously believed that Calgary definitely possessed the necessary traits to become a Renaissance City, based on how people are spreading their ideas about the city through their art. He believed that we were spreading the ideas people had about Calgary through paintings, sculptures, films, and music. As Terry Rock stated, “This is a question I could spend a lot of time on!”, in other words, he could find many examples of how Calgary was communicating their ideas through their art.**
 * Calgary’s development in art has definitely started to reflect the way people are thinking in Calgary. Films like “waydowntown” by Gary Burns have helped people connect to the different jobs and their risks throughout Calgary. Terry Rock from Calgary Arts Development definitely believes that Calgary has the potential to become a Renaissance City based on the way Calgary is spreading its culture through the arts.**
 * “****Calgarians are choosing to live, work and relate to each other.” – Terry Rock. This quote states that more people are increasing their knowledge about other people living within their city. Examples like the Ryan Sluggett’s artwork show how people in Calgary are free to express their ideas of the city in different ways to show their different perspectives. As Terry Rock stated,“Ryan Sluggett reflects current ways of living and thinking in Calgary, but with a VERY skewed perspective!” Other artists like Chris Millar are also finding a way to express themselves using a different perspective. His artwork is similar to surrealism in a sense that it is very strange and out of the ordinary, but it definitely does show a huge message. Finally, music is also being created based on how people view Calgary. A band created a song called “Our Love is as big as the Calgary Tower” which became very popular even in places outside of Canada, such as England.**

3. During the Renaissance, Shakespeare used the stage to highlight the changes in the society in an entertaining way. Do you think Calgary theatre uses the stage to reflect society and provide entertainment at the same time?-Wynette


 * In response to the whether Calgary posses the spread of performing arts with knowledge to make it a Renaissance city, Terry Rock believes that Calgary has one of the most important theatre festivals in Canada, for example the Enbridge Playrites Festival of New Canadian Plays. Every Play at the festival is a world premiere. In this sense he or she believes that Calgary has the possession of spreading knowledge through performing arts. He or she had visited two plays at the festival he/she states “made me think very differently about an aspect of society, while at the same time keeping me entranced and entertained.” Meaning she had fun learning new things while being entertained. Terry was very optimistic on this specific element.**

4. During the Renaissance patrons like the Medici family supported and helped artists. Do you see any people that are contributing significant amount of funds to artists today?-Raveena


 * For Arts and Culture to emerge in Calgary for it to become a Renaissance City, Terry Rock believes that Calgary can become a Renaissance City. Specifically, he believes that we, in Calgary, have a lot of art centers. He states that, "many Calgary families contribute substantial amounts to the arts." By this he means that you can see the patron's names on buildings and in the programs of the shows. We have the Rozsa Centre at the University of Calgary, the Max Bell Theatre, the Jack Singer Theatre, the Martha Cohen Theatre, the Flanagan Theatre at the Grand. All of these were named in honor of people who made major contributions to the construction of these centers. Terry Rock felt that In Calgary, we are making an effort to build many new art spaces. The National Music Centre at the King Eddy, the Folk Festival Hall, the Mount Royal Conservatory are just some of the things Calgary is doing. Moreover Terry Rock believes that all of these will require Calgary's (and Canada's) wealthy patrons to contribute millions of dollars** **for construction (and eventually operation) over the next 10 or so years. Concluding the evidence, Terry Rock thinks that Calgary does have a potential for becoming a Renaissance City. With all of the construction for arts and culture to emerge and spread, the patrons are a big importance for Calgary to become a Renaissance City.**


 * As a class we believe that Calgary has potential of being a Renaissance City in the futur as there are equal arguments agreeing and disagreeing. **