The show will go on!

The pilot for the ACE ARTS Tour has now officially been completed. It is a bittersweet ending, no doubt. I will definitely miss being on the ground, working with amazing rural communities in their exploration of the arts, culture, and heritage. I danced, I laughed, and thankfully didn’t sing my way across Alberta. I really can’t sing… well, maybe I can hum a little when inspired.

As this was a pilot project, ACE Communities is hoping to take what we have learnt and apply it in our hunt for funding for future initiatives. We have seen the potential of the arts, culture, and heritage as a catalyst for community building and want to see this potential grow.

You know what that now means? Reports… a lot of them. Individual community reports, a master ARTS Tour report, financial reports – the list could go on.

But I’m okay with that because I know the effort will be worth it. I have seen the transformative power that the arts have had in the lives of many Albertans in the communities that the Tour has visited.

So I think it is time that I take a few minutes to reflect on those who have been affected by the ACE ARTS Tour:

-Imagine 150 elementary school kids hip hopping all together in Hanna

-Meet Olive in Longview who, at the young age of 92, not only baked bread for the ARTS Tour opening event but also took on a Cape Breton dance class

-Hear about the record 75% attendance for the dance and guitar classes in the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation Susa Creek school outside of Grande Cache

-Celebrate the seniors in both Hanna and Longview who did not let their assisted breathing apparatuses deter them from getting up and dancing in their Movement classes

-Cheer on Ann in Longview whose love of the mandolin, and some help from the artist ARTS Tour facilitators, inspired her to perform in front of an audience along side John Wort Hannam despite serious stage fright

-Be inspired by the guitar peer group forming in Grande Cache made up of people who just kept running into each other all week in workshops during their ARTS Tour

-Admire Jesse in Hanna who has the goal of being an actress once she graduates from high school. Not only did she attend 15 workshops in 4 days (4 of which she attended the 1^st day!), she made huge advancements with overcoming her fear of singing in public

-Celebrate Stu in Longview, who has worked at overcoming a serious rodeo-related brain injury. Stu not only sang at the ACE ARTS Tour Open Mike, he took a guitar class and is now committed to performing a song composed by ACE musician John Rutherford and a group of other workshop attendees

-Smile at the young group of songwriters who performed their new song ‘Hanna Rocks’ at the school assembly

- Acknowledge Sherril from High River who attended ARTS Tour classes in BOTH Hanna and Longview!

-Be motivated by the families who hip hopped together in ‘Mommy and Me’ classes in Grande Cache, Longview, and Hanna

-Admire the determination of a group of over 20 guitar-loving individuals of all ages who travelled 2 hrs from Kindersley, SK, to take workshops in Hanna

- Congratulate Michelle in Longview who not only organized her local tour but also participated in singing and guitar classes. Way to lead by example, Michelle!

-Applaud parents in Hanna who gave their kids permission to attend as many workshops as they liked even if it meant missing school. “Who can miss this type of educational opportunity?” one parent (and school board trustee) is quoted as saying.

- Cheer on the mayor of Grande Cache who not only endorsed the ACE ARTS Tour initiative but also got up and danced with her granddaughter in the Pre-school dance class

Like this list, we intend that the proverbial show will go on! There is just too much potential for the arts and culture to affect the quality of life in rural Alberta for us to stop now. So stay tuned….