Calgary’s outgoing mayor saying goodbye to arts community
Posted Sep 27, 2010 7:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
You can call it the goodbye tour for Dave Bronconnier.
He’ll be attending one of his last events as Calgary’s mayor Monday night, when he honours artists in our city at the Mayor’s Evening for Business and the Arts.
As he prepares to leave, those in the arts community are paying homage to Bronconnier’s nine-year term and filling out their wish list for the new mayor.
The event will begin with a speech from Mayor Bronconnier at a VIP reception at old city hall.
It will be one of his last chances to address the arts community before handing over the keys to the mayor’s office to his successor.
Bronconnier has long been a supporter of the arts.
“The best way to illustrate that would be through the policies he’s passed through city council over the past few years,” says D.J. Kelly, chair of the Calgary Professional Arts Alliance. “That includes the civic arts policy and the festival and even strategy.”
Kelly admits many in the arts community had worries when Bronconnier took over because they weren’t sure what his priorities would be, but those concerns were quickly dashed.
When it comes to Calgary’s next mayor Kelly says he wants to see much of the same moving forward, like a strong commitment to the arts with programs and funding to back it up.
