Last month, Will and I attended the open house for cSpace, Calgary’s new hub for over 30 tenants involved in arts-related activities. cSpace is housed in the former King Edward School, a 113 year-old sandstone building in the neighbourhood of Marda Loop. Will and I went because one of my writing groups, the Alexandra Writers Centre Society, moved there this year from its long-time premises in Inglewood.

The open house was a lively event, with hundreds of people coming to learn what this concept of creativity, community and collaboration was all about. Most of the tenants opened their doors to visitors. We started with the Alexandra Writers on the top floor. The AWCS set up a number of creative areas for visitors to get started on freefall writing.

From there, we saw the party room in the building extension. This space would be great for a summer reception, with its outdoor corridors on three sides.

We worked our way down the building, visiting artists’ studios, a sewing room, a Montessori classroom, Making Treaty 7 and Alliance Française, which has a huge library of French books and offered us a delicious croissant. The two rooms beneath the top floor party space feature a divided workshop area, with lots of light, and a bar with a stage for shows.

It all made me eager to spend lots of time in the future at cSpace.