Container village thinks outside the box
The idea came after Springboard Performance wanted to give Alberta an artistic presence at the Vancouver Olympics but found no available spaces. A repurposed shipping container acted as both venue and content, exhibiting art and films for two years before returning to Calgary for a two-week stint at the Fluid Festival.
Since then, Springboard and Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association have been working to launch a unique container village in a hectare vacant lot in Sunnyside.
“We are transforming the space to bring together culture, innovation and community,” says Kelly Schuler, project manager of containR in Sunnyside.
For the next two years, this site will grow from the current double-decker 12-metre-long container into a nine-container village that will offer a variety of free programming in such areas as the arts, education, design, gardening, landscaping, food and technology.
“We’ve been given park status until the end of 2015 to bring folks together — anyone who celebrates creative thinking,” says Nicole Mion, one of containR’s founders and artistic director/curator at Springboard Performance.
These creative thinkers will have access to the popup theatre, gallery, meeting rooms, greenhouse and workshops that are planned for the space — all created from shipping containers.
Springboard promises ever-changing programming, as well as a local attraction. Passersby will notice a distinctly green focus for this space in programming and materials.
The courtyard is consists of reused bridge matting made from locally sourced fir and oak, and Calgary Permaculture Guild will have a demonstration area to show beautiful ways of growing food — a mixture of bon appetite and beauty.
Next summer, Green Calgary will showcase food and community projects, offering families hands-on gardening and composting experiences. There are also efforts to reduce waste, use alternative power and promote sustainability. The village offers a great way to get information out while making it easy for Calgarians to put the advice into practice.
“Instead of a heap of gravel, people will be able to look at this really cool space and you could have all sorts of fun things happening there, right off the LRT line,” says Patricia Cameron, executive director of Green Calgary. Bike paths and handy CTrain access make it easy to visit the Sunnyside site.
Once the project is in full swing, founders hope to welcome 6,000 people per month to this one-of-kind celebration of local culture. ContainR in Sunnyside is a union of art and environmental awareness, business and community, and an innovative way to showcase artists and ideas for creative Calgarians.