Murals of Resilience with the Sunnyside Brightening Committee

Following the 2013 Southern Alberta flooding events, community organizers in Sunnyside have spent years working with the City of Calgary to mitigate flood risk. One success is the construction of Stormwater Lift Station #1. At the request of community members, the city included two spaces for community art. The Sunnyside Brightening Committee (SBC) is working to raise funding for local artists to communicate the story of the community’s resilience through interactive murals.

At the moment, I don’t have too much to update here but SBC is currently writing grant applications to fund the projects. Once funding is secured, SBC will distribute a request for proposals for artists to submit their concepts.

Artists: If you’re an interested in submitting a concept, we will be distributing the RFP through the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association’s Facebook page. You can also email me directly at welkerpd[at]gmail.com and I’ll be sure to let you know when if RFP is open. 

Donors: If you’re intersted in making a contribution that will go directly to the selected artists (SBC is completely volunteer), email me at welkerpd[at]gmail.com. In June 2021 we hope to have a process set up to accept contributions through the HSCA community association. 

We see Stormwater Lift Station #1 becoming a major hub for Calgarians to recreate in the next year given the location and amenities. The site is situated on a main connector between McHugh Bluff Park, the Sunnyside Stairs, the Bow River Pathway and the future Sunnyside Boat Launch. There are also several amenities on the site including a fitness park by Alberta Urban Athletics, washrooms, a water bottle fill station, and parking lot. Based on the feedback of neighbors and stakeholders, SBC will encourage submissions that help activate the community through some kind of interactivity.