A $300,000 donation by TD Bank Group to the Calgary Public Library Foundation is set to continue the Indigenous and Newcomer artist in residency programs, along with the Elder in residence programs.

The donation extends the long-running residencies at the Central Library for a further three years.

Tracy Johnson, CEO of the Calgary Public Library Foundation, said that the residences were significant for the public and for the artists themselves.

“This will allow more voices, diverse voices, to be a part of our community,” Johnson said.

“These artists are experts in what they do, and they are here to provide an amazing service that we wouldn’t possibly be able to serve without their expertise and their unique perspectives and voices. So, we are excited to have these paid opportunities available for newcomer artists and Indigenous artists.”

She said the donation by TD has brought their total library donation amount to more than $2 million.

Outgoing Indigenous Artist in Residence, Morgan Black, said that the residences are paid rather than volunteer positions is deeply important to allowing artists to create and to teach.

“Opportunities like this really help jump-start artists’ careers, whether or not you’re the Indigenous artist in residence, or the newcomer artists in residence. I think this shows the library and the city values artists, and the work that we do and the culture that we bring,” Black said.

“It is something that is difficult to put a price tag on. It’s definitely changed the trajectory of my art career, I feel a lot more confident. I feel like I can take risks and put myself out there. I feel like my voice matters.”

She said that it would be impossible to take on the residency if it weren’t paid.

“Essentially that would be doing hours and hours of labour for free. I know a lot of artists unfortunately find themselves in those circumstances where they’re really having to put in that legwork to like, advocate for why their work matters, but something like this is like a solution to that problem that many emerging artists face,” Black said.

Black, who is the co-founder of the Crawlspace Gallery and a member of The Land Holds Us art collective, said that the paid opportunity at the library also translates into those cultural building organizations.

“Any opportunity that I get where my projects are funded, means that I have even more capacity to have my presence in these different collectives around the community, whether or not that’s volunteering at Alberta Printmakers, whether or not that’s doing volunteer shifts at the gallery space.”

Robert Ghazal, Senior Vice President and Alberta Region Head, TD Bank Group said that the donation was a result of the long-standing relationship with the library foundation.

“We want to help out stronger communities by amplifying diverse voices through music, arts and culture, so people from all backgrounds can come together and connect. The incredible work happening in these residency programs is well aligned to one of TD Ready Commitments’ goals to help lift barriers for emerging artists by supporting mentoring, education and performance opportunities.”

For more information on the Calgary Public Library residences, see www.calgarylibrary.ca/events-and-programs/arts-and-culture/artist-in-residence.