Imagine. Connect. Create.

Get inspired at Avenue's first Future of the City Festival and celebrate the people and places who are building the future of Calgary today. 

Schedule: Please note a detailed schedule of all festival events, including how to purchase tickets for the Arts Commons or Glenbow tours can be found at avenuecalgary.com.

Future of the Past Panel and Reception

May 2, 6 p.m.-9 p.m.

Reception at 6 p.m.

Future of the Past Panel at 7 p.m.

Light hors d'oeuvres will be served and a cash bar will be available for refreshments.

How can we build a city for the future while acknowledging the past?

Calgary is a young, vibrant city; the third most livable in the world and home to more than 120 spoken languages and more than 240 diverse nationalities. To say the possibilities for the city's future are endless is less of a cliché and more of a call-to-action that will require a vast array of perspectives and opinions from experts, creative thinkers, city-builders and engaged citizens across all four quadrants of Calgary. And to understand what that future holds requires a recognition of, and reckoning with, our past. We must grapple with preserving our stories and landmarks while actively decolonizing our own perspectives and building an innovative forward-looking future.

In this fireside chat, moderated by Avenue’s special projects editor Tsering Asha Leba, Avenue invites you to consider how can we build a city that serves all of us. Join panelists Alex Sarian, president and CEO, Arts Commons; Josh Traptow, CEO, Heritage Calgary; Nicholas Bell, president and CEO, Glenbow; and Terry Wong, City Councillor for Ward 7 in what promises to be a lively discussion. View a feature exhibit from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape's Year End Show before the panel and attend a cocktail reception following the panel.

Attendees are invited to view the annual Year End Show exhibition from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. The exhibition showcases student accomplishments through 3D models, plans and renderings that address social or economic inequality and inspire us to consider resiliency, sustainability and innovative design for the future of Calgary’s downtown. 

Speakers

 

Nicholas Bell, President and CEO, Glenbow

Originally from Vancouver, Nicholas Bell joined Glenbow in 2019 from his position as senior vice president for Curatorial Affairs at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. Bell launched a formidable exhibitions program during his three years at the preeminent American maritime museum. He previously served as The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC, where he led the Renwick’s relaunch, increasing attendance from 150,000 annually to one million. In 2023, Bell was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in recognition of his service to community. Bell is an author and editor of over ten books on art, museums, and contemporary culture and offers a proven background in spearheading change and successfully implementing strategic initiatives.

 

Alex Sarian, President and CEO, Arts Commons

Alex Sarian is president and CEO of Arts Commons, the largest arts center in Western Canada and the nation's third largest arts facility. Appointed in January 2020, Sarian became one of the youngest CEOs to oversee a major performing arts center in North America, as well as the half-billion-dollar Arts Commons Transformation (ACT) project—the largest cultural infrastructure project in Canada, scheduled to break ground in downtown Calgary in 2024. Prior to his current appointment, he spent 18 years in New York City, the last seven at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where he served as the senior executive responsible for the organization’s portfolio of regranting initiatives, global consulting, community engagement, arts education and artistic programming for young audiences and families. As a recognized authority on the civic role of arts institutions, Sarian has worked on cultural projects in 15 countries spanning five continents. As a professor, he has taught at New York University, Pace University, and City College of New York. Sarian has served on governing boards and special advisory committees for institutions including the Calgary Downtown Association, SXSW, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires and the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University, is a graduate of the CommunityShift program from the Western University Ivey School of Business, and was an inaugural graduate of the Impact Program for Arts Leaders from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Sarian is proud to have been named to Avenue magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 class of 2022.

Josh Traptow, CEO, Heritage Calgary

Josh Traptow is currently the CEO of Heritage Calgary, a charitable civic partner of the City of Calgary. He is an accomplished executive, experienced political staffer and sought-after advisor with a unique understanding of the issues facing Calgary and our province, having worked at the Alberta legislature in the Office of the Premier and the Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation (formerly the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and at city hall for two city councillors. As a professional who continually gives back to Calgary, Traptow serves on the boards of the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) as a Calgary regional advisory board member and the AMA Board of Directors, the Women In Need Society (WINS) and the History and Heroes Alberta Foundation, and is a past board member of the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation and Vertigo Theatre. He is the chair of the board of the Calgary Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) and 2nd vice-chair of the Western Agriculture Heritage Committee and past chair of the Agriculture and Western Events Media Committee for the Calgary Stampede, where he has volunteered for more than a decade. Traptow has also volunteered for the Monarchist League of Canada, SAIT, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary, United Way of Calgary and the Calgary Public Library Foundation. Traptow was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, recognized by SAIT as an Outstanding Young Alumnus in 2016 and awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023. He has a diploma in Administrative Information Management from SAIT, a certificate in Public Relations from Mount Royal University and the NFP Governance Essentials Certificate through the Institute of Corporate Directors. He is a third-generation Calgarian.

Terry Wong, Ward 7 City Councillor

Calgary’s downtown and Ward 7 City Councillor since October 2021, Terry Wong is not a stranger to Calgary and its Chinatown cultural enclave for early migrant settlers after the construction of the National CP Railway connection to Canada’s west coast. A Calgarian for 40 years and the former Chinatown Business Improvement Area Executive Director since 2015, Wong has seen and been a part of Calgary's history, heritage and culture, and has a vision for tomorrow. As a proponent of preserving the sights, stories and infrastructure of Calgary’s history, Wong believes our future is largely learned from the past and is a realistic test of our imagination for the future. 

Moderator

 

Tsering Asha Leba, Special Projects Editor, Avenue

Tsering Asha Leba (she/her) is a writer and editor covering lifestyle, culture, city-building and innovation in Calgary. As the Special Projects Editor at Avenue, she works on translating stories from the pages of the magazine into inclusive, storytelling-driven events to reach wider audiences and inspire more Calgarians to participate in critical conversations about their city.