The end of summer is fast approaching. I know. Don’t freak out. Fall is coming. But there’s still a ton to see and do this week in Calgary which means it’s not over yet. This Saturday Get Literary is taking over Olympic Plaza, Mandy Stobo is working hard to finish her Great Gates, Caitlind r.c. Brown needs your burnt out light bulbs and so much more. Here’s your Arts Round Up this week Calgary.

BAD PORTRAIT WALK OF FAME: These wonderfully Bad Portraits are popping up on grates down on Stephen Ave part of Mandy Stobo’s Grate Portraits Walk of Fame. These two are found outside of the Telus Convention Centre. Any guesses which greats brighten up these grates?
Photos by Amy Jo Espetveidt, Quadrophonic Image

Great Gates Pop Up on Stephen Ave
Mandy Stobo is at it again, making Bad Portraits look so grate.
Yes, I know, that’s a horrible pun but I couldn’t help myself. Not with these awesome grates popping up along Stephen Ave.
Mandy said the idea came from Shauna Quinn, the newly appointed Stephen Avenue Walk/downtown Calgary Manager, who was working on was to minimize the amount of litter around the trees. She was given a list of incredible Calgarians and painted portraits on the grates.
“Shauna was newly appointed as the Stephen Ave manager in January and has set out to change our main ave and transform it through rad joy. This includes the Olympic live screen, the permanent piano and now grate bad portraits. And… it’s working,” she explained. “There is more energy and good vibes in the core, which will no doubt spread out.”
Mandy said all the grates should be ready for September 1 with a launch to be announced. Mandy said many of the subjects are expected  for the launch such as Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Premier Allison Redford,  Dave Kelly, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Kris Demeanor and many more.
“I can say it’ll be a bad, rad GRATE party,” she joked.
“The first block – by the Glenbow and Telus Convention Centre – is our block of fame for politicians from our great city, including RB Bennett, Ernest Manning, Peter Lougheed, William Aberhart, Nenshi, Ralph Klein, Stephen Harper, George Stanley, Allison Redford and Chief Crowfoot.
“The 100 block, being a historical site, is a shout out to our heritage and those who have built our city. Lord Stephen, Sir James Lougheed, Martha Cohen, Sam Livingston, William Hull, William Reader, George Jacque and many more.
“The 200 block will be full of rock stars, pop culture and others making names and putting Calgary on the map. And the 300 is set for the rad business peeps among us.”
In the end there will be just over 55 grate portraits and the fun will be in figuring out who’s who. Project updates, and hints, will be up on the Bad Portraits website. 

It’s the Literary Event of the Summer
Love to read? Well this is the event for you.
The Alberta Magazine Publisher’s Association is hosting Get Literary this Sunday, August 26 at Olympic Plaza. The event will showcase Alberta literary talent from 1pm to 2:30pm including Calgary’s Poet Laureate Kris Demeanor, Shannon Lee Bennett, Marcello Di Cintio, Jon R. Flieger, Barb Howard, Naomi K. Lewis and Fred Stenson. The whole shebang is free and if the weather turns nasty it will still happen, just inside the Central Library (616 Macleod Trail SE).
There’s also a subscription drive at the event – get a year of any of these publications for half price – featuring Alberta Views, Dandelion, Eighteen Bridges, filling Station, FreeFall, Galleries West, On Spec, Penguin Eggs, Prairie Journal and UPPERCASE.

Burnt Out Light Bulbs Wanted
Calgary’s first Nuit Blanche is coming up and local artist Caitlind r.c. Brown needs your help.
She’s building and 18-foot interactive electrical CLOUD and needs over 5000 light bulbs – and only one in six needs to work, the rest are for ascetic.
“CLOUD is an experiment in community collaboration and collective re-imagination,” explained Caitlind. “When objects are as familiar to us as light bulbs are, we forget that they continue to exist beyond their dedicated function. Yes, light bulbs brighten our homes and workplaces, but they’re also incredibly beautiful blown-glass forms with dreamy and poetic connotations. I want to explore that other realm with your burnt out light bulbs.”
The CLOUD light bulb drive runs until August 28 and you can take your old, non-working incandescent light bulbs to the Alberta College of Art and Design (1407 14th Ave NW) and drop them off in a marked box front of the Illingworth Kerr gallery doors.
Nuit Blanche Calgary will be lighting up the streets of downtown on September 15 with an all-night public showcase of contemporary art. Check out their Twitter account to stay up to date on what’s happening and browse their website to find out more.

Epcor Calling
Want to have your work featured in the heart of Calgary’s Cultural District?
The Epcor Center for the Performing Arts is currently looking for a bunch of artists to fill spots for the 2013-2014 programming in their Ledge Gallery, Window Galleries and their Emerging Artist in Residence program.
The Ledge Gallery sits overlooking the Centre Court along the +15 and the seven window spaces sit across from the Max Bell Theatre.
The crown jewel of the Epcor programming is the Artist in Residence program – over the months of June and July, the artist selected will work out of the space, creating new work to be exhibited in the month of August. This year’s recipient was Heather Kai Smith.
“This program and getting to work at the Epcor as a residency is awesome,” she said. “You can keep your ideas shifting as you grow and work over the two months.”
Submissions for all programs are due Friday, September 14 at 4pm and check out their Artist Opportunities site for forms and guidelines.

Burlesque Legend Coming to Calgary
She’s been called Canada’s only living burlesque legend and she’s coming to Calgary this Saturday.
Judith Stein, the 64-year-old performer, will be performing at The Buxom Burlesque Revue at the Auburn Saloon (115 9th Ave SE) along with local burlesque talents The Garter Girls Burly-Q Revue, Lacey Gunsmoke, Sugar Mae. B. and Dolly Demure and is hosted by Raven Virginia, Sven Bjornsven (Calgary’s first Mr Taboo), Suki Vaughn.
Each month, the Revue features seasoned performers, emerging talent, clown, vaudeville, circus, magic and theatre acts in a venture to keep the Calgary burlesque scene thriving.
The doors open at 8pm and tickets are available at Blame Betty (829 – 17th Avenue SW) for $20 or $25 at the door.

Fringe By the Numbers
The 2012 Calgary Fringe Festival may have just ended but work is already underway for 2013.
Theatre applications go online mid-September. Artists are asked to make their submissions before the first Friday in December with a lottery draw to follow and the line-up will be planned by Christmas.
And with the success of this year’s festival, organizers are expecting big things.
“It was terrific! We saw a 16 per cent increase in ticket sales. And for that, we have to thank all of
our supporters,” said Michele Gallant, Fringe Festival director and producer, in a press release. “Being in Inglewood and feeling the love from residents and merchants, and seeing the many patrons from across the city taking in so many Fringe shows and joining in the fun… it’s so gratifying. I’m thrilled we were able to bring such a diverse group of theatrical artists to our city for people to enjoy.”

Gearing Up for the Bettys
To celebrate the upcoming Bettys, Roadwest Pictures has produced a series of shorts catching up with past winners. The first features past winner Julie Orton (who won 2010′s Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Shakespeare’s Dog) training for the upcoming “2012 London Acting Olympics.”
The Betty Mitchell Awards will be handed out next Monday, August 27, at Stage West Calgary and they just announced their Juried Awards Recipients.
Kathleen Foreman will be awarded the Duval Lang Theatre for Young Audiences Award, Chris Jacko will receive the Greg Bond Memorial Award recognizing Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre in Calgary and Riley Miljan gets the Dean Ott/Debbie Boult Award honouring Outstanding Achievement in Technical Production. Congrats!
Tickets are still available to attend the ceremony, just head over to their website and check it out.

Last Days for Canada’s Really Big on Indiegogo
And we’re in the home stretch. So time for some more shameless self promotion.
Photo project Canada’s Really Big is happening and the Indiegogo campaign is about to wrap up. You just have a few more days to get your pledges in, the campaign closes at midnight on Thursday, August 23.
This is my personal summer project, a cross Canada macro juxtaposition of the little things that make this country great and where they were found.
Canada’s Really Big: Tiny Snapshots of a Huge Land is Quadrophonic Image’s first publicly available photo book and we’re looking for public support to make the printing, processing and creating happen. We’ve raised just over $1250 (officially $1351 with cash supporters) on our way to the $3000 goal. We’ve already invested over that to make the trip happen, but need a bit more to make the book a reality.
We’ve been hitting the streets flogging our campaign – many thanks to DJ’s Remote Control and Foxxy Sparkle on CJSW’s Arts Link for having me by last week – and response has been great. We just need that extra push to make it to our goal. We’ve even starting shooting in and around Alberta and the first images are up on the Quadrophonic Blog.
Come on by, check out the samples, pitch in if you can, pre-order a book, canvas, magnet or everything and help spread the word.

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!