About this Event
*Part talk show, performance and craft gathering. Experience artists in performance and conversation w/ host Kenna Burima and Eddy Robinson followed by a collective craft activity. Craft supplies, and tea and coffee incl!
Please note! This ArtistSpeak* takes place @ the Trico Changemakers Studio @ MRU! Doors @ 4:30pm. Event starts @ 5pm. How to get there, transit and parking is included below.
There will be a registered social worker in attendance to hold space for the anticipated converations around mental health.
ArtistSpeak* is supported by The Art for Social Change Network: Calgary Hub and The Institute for Community Prosperity.
Join hosts Kenna Burima and Eddy Robinson as they delve into the intersections of mental health and creativity, featureing an incredible line up of artists sharing how their mental health, creativity and artistic practice intersect.
Eddy Robinson (they/them) is a harm reduction and gender diversity educator, advocate and activist. Eddy makes magical things and shows us how crafting can change the world, one scrap, one knot, one knitted blanket at a time.
Kenna Burima (she/her) is a songwriter, educator, producer and writer. She likes to have big conversations with friends, family and strangers and believes artists are the most powerful people on the planet. She is currently balancing raising a 8 yeard old kid, writing a book on creativity and writing songs for her fourth solo album.
Featured Artists:
Dr. Shumaila Hemani is an award-winning artist-scholar, trauma-informed coach, and founder of the deep listening path, a Calgary-based social enterprise. A certified positive neuroplasticity teacher and a founding support member of the global compassion coalition, established by dr. Rick Hanson, she combines music, mindfulness, and deep listening to foster resilience and address burnout—particularly among changemakers, creatives, and advocates navigating systemic inequities. Recognized for her thought leadership by ceo weekly, Canada’s national observer, Calgary herald, Edmonton journal, and oc87 recovery diaries, dr. Hemani is celebrated for pioneering insights into the systemic roots of burnout. She has facilitated workshops with the Canadian poverty institute, Alberta Ecotrust, and other organizations, guiding communities toward sustainable well-being.
Stacey Perlin is Chairperson of the Perlin Foundation for Wellbeing and Lead Facilitator for BlissFest Labs. These organizations promote mental health literacy and support healthy brain development. She guides a community of volunteers, artists, and professionals through arts & culture projects she’s designed that support the local mental health ecosystem. Her work features programs such as pop-up zones for emotional regulation at festivals, facilitating mental health information through play and art, and supporting Art for Social Change initiatives. Stacey has become recognized as an engaging speaker and authority within the arts and culture, and mental health ecosystems.
Her song "Anticipating" was featured in a national suicide-prevention awareness tour, and her forthcoming memoir, "writing in the wound: acculturation, trauma, and music," explores displacement, immigration precarity, and the transformative power of music as a form of resistance and recovery.
Ryan Wesley Gray is a Calgary-based actor, writer, and arts professional whose work explores mental health, identity, and social change. His solo play Somebody, a semi-autobiographical reflection on depression and stigma, earned acclaim at the Common Ground and Calgary Region One-Act Play Festivals. Ryan believes in art’s power to bring people together, foster empathy, celebrate our shared humanity and differences, and nurture mental well-being and growth. Offstage, he previously worked with Vibrant Communities Calgary and now contributes to Calgary’s arts and community sectors through Ghost River Theatre, cSPACE, and as Chair of the Betty Mitchell Awards.
PARKING:
Nearest parking lot - East Gate Parkade (Evening parking rate of $8.75 applies) - MRU Visitor Parking Map.
The paystation for the East Gate Parkade is located on P2 Level (coins, Visa or Mastercard only).
P lease click here for a link to the East Gate Parkade QR code.
Trico Changemakers Studio is located on the Third Floor of the Bisset Business Building.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Trico Changemakers Studio, 4825 Mount Royal Gate Southwest, Calgary, Canada
CAD 0.00
