Photo: Sean Blair, courtesy of Calgary Girls Choir
Photo: Sean Blair, courtesy of Calgary Girls Choir
Trevor Solway grew up on the east end of Siksika Nation—the quiet part.
“People who live on the east end are farmers and ranchers. Nothing happens on the east end near Clooney,” Solway says.
Those people included Solway’s grandfather, who in addition to being a farmer, trained race horses.
One day, he took Solway horse shopping, to a thoroughbred sale that also had an animal young Trevor had never seen before.
“I remember when I first saw one, I said grandpa, look at that funky horse!” Solway says.
“He said, those are called llamas.”
Solway was transfixed.
“When you look at them, instantly they have a personality,” he says.
Solway didn’t convince his grandpa to start training llamas.
Instead, he took the experience and used it his own way, creating a series of comic stories featuring a llama.
“I always had that creative thirst,” he says. “I didn’t have a camera, I didn’t grow up really wealthy so I used to write—little short stories, comics, anything that came to mind.”
That fascination with creativity and storytelling led to Solway studying film in the Indigenous Digital Filmmaking program at Capilano University in Vancouver, before returning to study journalism at Mount Royal University.
All of it was done to help Solway acquire the tools he needed to tell his stories.
“I didn’t really pick up a camera until I was 20 [or] 21,” he says. “And then once I understood all the mechanisms of it, that’s what opened up the floodgates for me to become a filmmaker.”
Trevor, Davey, and Cody | Photo: The Courtesy of Napi Collective
He’s made comedic shorts such as Indian Giver (featuring Telly James) and documentaries such as The Black Wolf, TRENCH, and Sacred by Nature, which have taken him to film festivals all over the world.
Those experiences have exposed him to the wider world of filmmaking, and built confidence that there is an audience for his stories, all of which have been set in Siksika.
In 2018, he made InterTribal Series, documenting a quartet of musicians from Siksika Nation who interviewed each other.
Recently, he received funding from the TELUS Storyhive fund to shoot Broken Records, his new drama.
“It’s about two siblings,” Solway says. “It’s about a house party on the rez and told through the eyes of the children.
“These parents have a house party, and it’s just kind of the observations of the children, and the main character—the girl—she’s watching like a romantic movie in her room, and what she’s seeing on the movie is different than what she’s seeing in the party.
“And we’re actually going to shoot the romantic movie inside the movie,” he says.
The stories Solway tells are set around his life on Siksika Nation, which he never left until he was 18.
And not only is the Siksika Nation the subject of Solway’s storytelling, but he has used his opportunity to make films to inspire other Indigenous youth.
Solway uses, as much as he can, a majority Indigenous crew to shoot his films, including cousin Adam Solway.
It helps Adam, who has followed in Trevor’s footsteps by enrolling in the Mount Royal journalism program, but it also helps Trevor, who doesn’t have to explain stuff to his cousin.
“We have a shorthand lingo. We grew up on the rez [reservation] together—so he’s my DP [director of photography],” Trevor says.
“That’s what I’m really passionate about—trying to stimulate and create this Indigenous film community out of nothing on the reserve.”
On set | Photo: Courtesy of The Napi Collective
“It’s giving people opportunities like that, like Adam,” he adds. “Instead of taking an easy route and hiring a pro cinematographer—let’s give an up-and-coming young Indigenous cinematographer that role.
“When I was coming up, I really grew when I was given roles that were above my head,” he says. “So you give inexperienced Indigenous people roles, so they’ll be better next time—and we’ll get to a point where we’ll really be making some awesome films.”
Together, the filmmaking group call themselves The Napi Collective.
“A lot of my movies are about native youth not seeing themselves reflected on the screen,” Solway says, “and this is an example.
“Sometimes, our realities aren’t what we see in media and sometimes for kids, that can be tough to reconcile–ideas such as my future isn’t going to be there because my reality doesn’t match up to it.
“That’s what Broken Records is about.”
Not only does Solway write and direct and produce his films, but he drives the van in the morning, picking up the crew on the far-flung Sisksika Nation, to make sure everyone has a lift to the set.
“I travel all over to pick up people. Filmmaking on a reserve is hard,” he says. “But for me it’s worth it, because of the stories that come out of it—and the talent that comes out of it.”
Trevor, Davey, and Cody | Photo: Courtesy of The Napi Collective
Trevor Solway grew up on the east end of Siksika Nation—the quiet part. “People who live on the east end are farmers and ranchers. Nothing happens on the east end near Clooney,” Solway says. Those people included Solway’s grandfather, who in addition to being a farmer, trained race horses. One day, he took Solway horse shopping, to a thoroughbred sale that also had an animal young Trevor had never seen before. “I remember when I first saw one, I said grandpa, look at that funky horse!” Solway says. “He said, those are called llamas.” Solway was transfixed.
Trevor Solway grew up on the east end of Siksika Nation—the quiet part.
“People who live on the east end are farmers and ranchers. Nothing happens on the east end near Clooney,” Solway says.
Those people included Solway’s grandfather, who in addition to being a farmer, trained race horses.
One day, he took Solway horse shopping, to a thoroughbred sale that also had an animal young Trevor had never seen before.
“I remember when I first saw one, I said grandpa, look at that funky horse!” Solway says.
“He said, those are called llamas.”
Solway was transfixed.
“When you look at them, instantly they have a personality,” he says.
Solway didn’t convince his grandpa to start training llamas.
Instead, he took the experience and used it his own way, creating a series of comic stories featuring a llama.
“I always had that creative thirst,” he says. “I didn’t have a camera, I didn’t grow up really wealthy so I used to write—little short stories, comics, anything that came to mind.”
That fascination with creativity and storytelling led to Solway studying film in the Indigenous Digital Filmmaking program at Capilano University in Vancouver, before returning to study journalism at Mount Royal University.
All of it was done to help Solway acquire the tools he needed to tell his stories.
“I didn’t really pick up a camera until I was 20 [or] 21,” he says. “And then once I understood all the mechanisms of it, that’s what opened up the floodgates for me to become a filmmaker.”
Trevor, Davey, and Cody | Photo: Courtesy of The Napi Collective
He’s made comedic shorts such as Indian Giver (featuring Telly James) and documentaries such as The Black Wolf, TRENCH, and Sacred by Nature, which have taken him to film festivals all over the world.
Those experiences have exposed him to the wider world of filmmaking, and built confidence that there is an audience for his stories, all of which have been set in Siksika.
In 2018, he made InterTribal Series, documenting a quartet of musicians from Siksika Nation who interviewed each other.
Recently, he received funding from the TELUS Storyhive fund to shoot Broken Records, his new drama.
“It’s about two siblings,” Solway says. “It’s about a house party on the rez and told through the eyes of the children.
“These parents have a house party, and it’s just kind of the observations of the children, and the main character—the girl—she’s watching like a romantic movie in her room, and what she’s seeing on the movie is different than what she’s seeing in the party.
“And we’re actually going to shoot the romantic movie inside the movie,” he says.
The stories Solway tells are set around his life on Siksika Nation, which he never left until he was 18.
And not only is the Siksika Nation the subject of Solway’s storytelling, but he has used his opportunity to make films to inspire other Indigenous youth.
Solway uses, as much as he can, a majority Indigenous crew to shoot his films, including cousin Adam Solway.
It helps Adam, who has followed in Trevor’s footsteps by enrolling in the Mount Royal journalism program, but it also helps Trevor, who doesn’t have to explain stuff to his cousin.
“We have a shorthand lingo. We grew up on the rez [reservation] together—so he’s my DP [director of photography],” Trevor says.
“That’s what I’m really passionate about—trying to stimulate and create this Indigenous film community out of nothing on the reserve.”
On set | Photo: Courtesy of The Napi Collective
“It’s giving people opportunities like that, like Adam,” he adds. “Instead of taking an easy route and hiring a pro cinematographer—let’s give an up-and-coming young Indigenous cinematographer that role.
“When I was coming up, I really grew when I was given roles that were above my head,” he says. “So you give inexperienced Indigenous people roles, so they’ll be better next time—and we’ll get to a point where we’ll really be making some awesome films.”
Together, the filmmaking group call themselves The Napi Collective.
“A lot of my movies are about native youth not seeing themselves reflected on the screen,” Solway says, “and this is an example.
“Sometimes, our realities aren’t what we see in media and sometimes for kids, that can be tough to reconcile–ideas such as my future isn’t going to be there because my reality doesn’t match up to it.
“That’s what Broken Records is about.”
Not only does Solway write and direct and produce his films, but he drives the van in the morning, picking up the crew on the far-flung Sisksika Nation, to make sure everyone has a lift to the set.
“I travel all over to pick up people. Filmmaking on a reserve is hard,” he says. “But for me it’s worth it, because of the stories that come out of it—and the talent that comes out of it.”
Based on data from organizations funded in part through Calgary Arts Development.
Building the Case for Business Support of the Arts, Business for the Arts, February 2015.
WordsWorth is summer camp for language lovers. The week-long program, created by the Alberta Writers Guild, brings 40 young people aged 11 to 19 together in Kananaskis country between July 14 and August 2. It’s a lot like all summer camps have been doing ever since there were kids and a summer to kill before going back to school in the fall. At this camp, however, the kids use those woods to fuel their imaginations, as they write the stories of their lives. WordsWorth director Colin Matty says, “In the past we’ve offered everything from experimental poetry, genre fiction, and journalism to improv, book binding, songwriting, podcasts… the program uses creative writing as an entry point to all manner of creative arts.”
WordsWorth is summer camp for language lovers.
The week-long program, created by the Alberta Writers Guild, brings 40 young people aged 11 to 19 together in Kananaskis country between July 14 and August 2. It’s a lot like all summer camps have been doing ever since there were kids and a summer to kill before going back to school in the fall.
At this camp, however, the kids use those woods to fuel their imaginations, as they write the stories of their lives.
WordsWorth director Colin Matty says, “In the past we’ve offered everything from experimental poetry, genre fiction, and journalism to improv, book binding, songwriting, podcasts… the program uses creative writing as an entry point to all manner of creative arts.
“Outside of class, we hike by the river, go LARPing in the woods, sing songs by the fire, and create a space that encourages risk taking and sharing the fruits of one’s artistic labours.
“At its heart,” he adds, “WordsWorth is a community founded upon creativity, inclusivity, and individual growth.”
And all of it is driven, in one way or another, by a collective love and passion and reverence for language.
It might be surprising to parents concerned that digital devices have robbed a generation of the ability to structure a sentence, or pay attention to one, to learn that the irrefutable lesson Matty learns every summer when he runs the camp is the simplest: Words still matter.
Words matter to kids now as much as they ever did.
For the youth who participate in WordsWorth, language is a true superpower.
“Words allow us to share our inner, invisible selves with the world,” Matty says. “To use words well is to build better bridges between each other.
A camp activity | Photo: Courtesy of Alberta Writers Guild
Of course, any time a group of creative minds gathers together, another kind of dynamic can develop—namely, the competitive desire to churn out a complete project in the least possible amount of time.
It’s a bit counter-intuitive to imagine a camp in the woods as a hotbed of Type A personalities, but Matty says WordsWorth is less about producing finished products than engaged ones—although if you get swept away by your project that’s okay too, he adds.
“Most of our courses are process-oriented rather than product-focused,” he says, “but that doesn’t stop people from completing exciting projects. We’ve had students working on zines, operas, soundscapes, collage and blackout poetry pieces, comic books and stand-up comedy routines, handbound books, songs, short stories, and monologues.”
The camp is a week long experience, divided by age (11-14, first week, 15-19 second week and 14-19 for the third).
There are a variety of classes, sometimes there’s room to chase your own imaginary world, and sometimes there’s a connecting thread, Matty says.
“Some courses are dedicated to something specific [this year’s Mythic Poetry for example], while others are more open-ended explorations of world-building, visual art, or dramatic performance,” he says, “where students can adapt the workshop to their own interests and ongoing projects.”
And despite being word-driven, he says WordsWorth participants come from a variety of creative disciplines.
“A fair number of our campers are primarily digital artists or musicians or sketch artists,” he says. “The idea is to embrace new challenges, regardless of your personal preference—the science fiction author that takes a dance class will certainly find something that inspires their craft, often in unexpected ways.”
Of course, it’s still a summer camp. And you’re still dealing with kids, in the summer, so once in a while, they take a break to play death polo.
“Two teams take over the shallow end of a swimming pool and lean two flutterboards against one another at either end as a goal. There’s a jump ball in the middle, and from there it’s a full contact battle to knock over the opposing teams flutter boards with the ball. It is a contest of strength and dexterity and teamwork and it is an absolute riot,” he says.
If there’s one drawback that Matty has experienced in nearly a decade with WordsWorth—the last five as its director—it’s that many of those students, who return year after year as kids, have nothing similar to turn to once they turn 19.
“I would love to start a similar program for people beyond the age of 19. A place like WordsWorth does wonders for the confidence and capabilities of its participants and instructors alike, and I would love to be able to offer a space like that for ‘grown ups’ and graduates of WordsWorth, who often become isolated from other working artists in their practice,” he says.
Parents often tell their young children to “use your words.” This is one summer experience for youth that has put that into powerful practice—and will continue to do so into the future.
“A word is a thought made actual. It is at turns a tool, a toy, or a weapon,” Matty says.
“I believe that words are magic—they don’t call it spelling for nothing.”
WordsWorth is summer camp for language lovers.
The week-long program, created by the Alberta Writers Guild, brings 40 young people aged 11 to 19 together in Kananaskis country between July 14 and August 2. It’s a lot like all summer camps have been doing ever since there were kids and a summer to kill before going back to school in the fall.
At this camp, however, the kids use those woods to fuel their imaginations, as they write the stories of their lives.
WordsWorth director Colin Matty says, “In the past we’ve offered everything from experimental poetry, genre fiction, and journalism to improv, book binding, songwriting, podcasts… the program uses creative writing as an entry point to all manner of creative arts.
“Outside of class, we hike by the river, go LARPing in the woods, sing songs by the fire, and create a space that encourages risk taking and sharing the fruits of one’s artistic labours.
“At its heart,” he adds, “WordsWorth is a community founded upon creativity, inclusivity, and individual growth.”
And all of it is driven, in one way or another, by a collective love and passion and reverence for language.
It might be surprising to parents concerned that digital devices have robbed a generation of the ability to structure a sentence, or pay attention to one, to learn that the irrefutable lesson Matty learns every summer when he runs the camp is the simplest: Words still matter.
Words matter to kids now as much as they ever did.
For the youth who participate in WordsWorth, language is a true superpower.
“Words allow us to share our inner, invisible selves with the world,” Matty says. “To use words well is to build better bridges between each other.
A camp activity | Photo: Courtesy of Alberta Writers Guild
Of course, any time a group of creative minds gathers together, another kind of dynamic can develop—namely, the competitive desire to churn out a complete project in the least possible amount of time.
It’s a bit counter-intuitive to imagine a camp in the woods as a hotbed of Type A personalities, but Matty says WordsWorth is less about producing finished products than engaged ones—although if you get swept away by your project that’s okay too, he adds.
“Most of our courses are process-oriented rather than product-focused,” he says, “but that doesn’t stop people from completing exciting projects. We’ve had students working on zines, operas, soundscapes, collage and blackout poetry pieces, comic books and stand-up comedy routines, handbound books, songs, short stories, and monologues.”
The camp is a week long experience, divided by age (11-14, first week, 15-19 second week and 14-19 for the third).
There are a variety of classes, sometimes there’s room to chase your own imaginary world, and sometimes there’s a connecting thread, Matty says.
“Some courses are dedicated to something specific [this year’s Mythic Poetry for example], while others are more open-ended explorations of world-building, visual art, or dramatic performance,” he says, “where students can adapt the workshop to their own interests and ongoing projects.”
And despite being word-driven, he says WordsWorth participants come from a variety of creative disciplines.
“A fair number of our campers are primarily digital artists or musicians or sketch artists,” he says. “The idea is to embrace new challenges, regardless of your personal preference—the science fiction author that takes a dance class will certainly find something that inspires their craft, often in unexpected ways.”
Of course, it’s still a summer camp. And you’re still dealing with kids, in the summer, so once in a while, they take a break to play death polo.
“Two teams take over the shallow end of a swimming pool and lean two flutterboards against one another at either end as a goal. There’s a jump ball in the middle, and from there it’s a full contact battle to knock over the opposing teams flutter boards with the ball. It is a contest of strength and dexterity and teamwork and it is an absolute riot,” he says.
If there’s one drawback that Matty has experienced in nearly a decade with WordsWorth—the last five as its director—it’s that many of those students, who return year after year as kids, have nothing similar to turn to once they turn 19.
“I would love to start a similar program for people beyond the age of 19. A place like WordsWorth does wonders for the confidence and capabilities of its participants and instructors alike, and I would love to be able to offer a space like that for ‘grown ups’ and graduates of WordsWorth, who often become isolated from other working artists in their practice,” he says.
Parents often tell their young children to “use your words.” This is one summer experience for youth that has put that into powerful practice—and will continue to do so into the future.
“A word is a thought made actual. It is at turns a tool, a toy, or a weapon,” Matty says.
“I believe that words are magic—they don’t call it spelling for nothing.”
Participants in WordsWorth summer camp | Photo: Courtesy of Alberta Writers Guild
The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies, National Endowment for the Arts, March 2012.
Participants in the Youth Empowerment Program | Photo: Courtesy of the Philippine Festival Council of Alberta
The Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) is a project of the Philippine Festival Council of Alberta, the organization behind the annual Fiesta Filipino in Calgary. Presented in partnership with Arts Commons and Calgary Arts Development, YEP is all about youth engagement (ages 13 to 25) through introduction and hands-on experience of Filipino arts, culture, and heritage in the Canadian setting. To increase the youth’s sense of belonging and sense of identity of being Filipino-Canadian, YEP works with artists as mentors in delivering free workshops on visual, performing, and other types of arts such as filmmaking, writing, poetry and spoken word, dance, and more in order to gain confidence, and feel more integrated, creative, and involved in the community.
We Are All Treaty People—a collaboration between Quest Theatre and Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society—is an innovative theatrical adventure in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists explore the shared history of our ancestors. The show, which is designed for all ages of young people, is 50-minutes in length and followed up with a Q&A session with the cast. It premiered in April of 2017 and has since been seen by more than 47,000 young people in 147 schools and other venues mostly across Calgary but also across Alberta and in Toronto. The show was so popular in 2018 that there was a waiting list of 50 schools wishing to book it. Quest Theatre will once again take the show on tour in 2019/20.
We are all Treaty People | Photo: Justina Gibson, courtesy of Quest Theatre