There’s so much to see and do this summer in Calgary and the arts have taken centre stage this week with gallery openings, the Calgary Fringe Festival, Papergirl and so much more. Calgary, this is your Arts Round Up for this week.

THE RESULTS: Jim Button of Village Brewery’s marketing and community affairs presents Nate McLeod and Cassandra Paul with the funds raised from their growler penny drive. The drive filled 62 Village Brewery growlers and ATB Financial’s Deerfoot Meadows staff counted and rolled 160,619 pennies for a total of $1,606.19, plus another $500 from ATB, that was donated to Fresh Bread Daily, Avalanche Gallery and Haight Gallery.
Photo by Bob Legros, courtesy of Village Brewery

VAPORS: AVALANCHE! Institute of Contemporary Art hosts Vapor, an exhibition by Calgary-based duo ONVIS. Vapor runs until August 29.
Photos courtesy of AVALANCHE! Institute of Contemporary Art

Vapor opens at AVALANCHE!
AVALANCHE! Institute of Contemporary Art threw open its doors Friday night for the premier exhibition Vapor from Calgary-based duo ONVIS (comprised of Thomas Dahlgren and Stephen Nachtigall).
“The duo has created a collection of new works that exemplifies the research-based process that is employed by the two artists,” reads a statement from AVALANCHE. “Art and life are brought in close context, as commodified entities enact strange relationships among the tailored surfaces and presences conveyed in the work. The exhibition invites the viewer to interact and engage with the relationships taking place between the relational objects and entities, in such a way as a mirror takes its reflection as its surface.”
Vapor runs until August 29 at AVALANCHE! Institute of Contemporary Art (1235 MacLeod Trail SE) and is open to the public Saturdays from 12pm to 4pm or by appointment.

Don’t forget about Papergirl 2012
This week officially kicks off Papergirl 2012, the massive act of kindness all in the name of art, and the opening is this Thursday (August 9) at the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts in the Arts Learning Centre.
It’s your chance to see the pieces submitted to the project from all over the world before they’re given out randomly during the massive giftervention on August 18. The exhibition runs August 7 through 17.

Popup Art Gallery to hit Anderson LRT
The Calgary Creative City Collaboration (C4) invites you all down to the Anderson LRT Station on August 10 for the unveiling of their latest popup gallery.
Urban Stationary project involves semi-permanent art installations throughout the summer of 2012 and this one will transform Anderson Station for approximately a month. The unveiling will run from 5pm to 9pm and will feature works from local artists, big and small. For more information check out their website and Facebook page.

Announcing the Critters
It might have a silly name but it’s all about recognizing outstanding theatre.
The inaugural Calgary Critics’ Awards (also known as the Critters) were handed out on August 1 at the Auburn Saloon. The awards celebrate the best in Calgary theatre in the eyes of the Critics Four (Stephen Hunt, Jessica Goldman, Louis Hobson and Bob Clark).

And the 2012 Calgary Critics Awards went to:
Shirley Valentine for Best Revival – Theatre Calgary
Mabelle Carvajal for Featured Actress in a Play or Musical – Drama: Pilot Episode, ATP
Kevin Rothery for Featured Actor in a Play or Musical – Fool for Love, Sage Theatre/Shadow Theatre
Terry Gunvordahl for Best Design – Rope, Vertigo Theatre
Madeleine Suddaby for Best Actress in a Musical – Avenue Q, Storybook Theatre
Kevin Aichele for Best Actor in a Musical – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Vertigo Theatre
Meg Roe for Best Actress in a Play – Mary’s Wedding, ATP
Ryan Luhning for Best Actor in a Play – Race, Ground Zero/Hit & Myth Productions
Shaun Smyth for Best Solo Performance – Playing with Fire: The Theo Fleury Story, ATP
Drama: Pilot Episode for Best New Play – ATP
Mark Bellamy for Best Director Musical – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Vertigo
Ron Jenkins for Best Director Play – Playing with Fire: The Theo Fleury Story, ATP
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street for Best Production of a Musical – Vertigo
Playing with Fire: The Theo Fleury Story for Best Production of a Play – ATP

The winners were chosen from productions performed in Calgary from August 2011 to June 2012. Congrats to everyone nominated, it was an outstanding year of theatre.

Do you have something cool and great coming up and want to be part of the Calgary Arts Round Up? Drop me a line at calgaryisawesome@quadrophonicimage.com!