Sparrow Artspace

Game Night: Parallel Play with Shea Iles Shea Iles

Friday, July 17, 2026
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Tickets $0-$25, please register on our website (link in bio)

During his performances/workshop/hang session, Shea Iles invites folks from the audience to join him on stage to play a solo card game while he improvises on guitar alongside them. (If you don’t know any solitaire games, that’s okay — Shea will teach everyone a really easy one at the start so that anyone can have a turn.) This is a kind of collaboration he has come to really enjoy: two people doing their own thing, side by side, connected only by circumstance. Shea will also talk about why he loves games, what he thinks they can do, and how he’s working to integrate them into his artistic practice.

This is part of the HOME residency in July/August 2026 and gratefully funded by Calgary Arts Development.

Shea Iles Shea Iles

I’m a Métis beader and musician from Grande Prairie with a love of games of any kind. I bead to connect with my heritage, I play music to learn my ears and my hands, and I play games to explore patterns, rules, and complex relationships. I’m interested in the interaction between composition and improvisation, and how to factor my physicality into my music-making. In my beadwork, I like to recreate symbols, manufactured objects, and other things that feel like “nature” to me, as a self-proclaimed indoor cat. More and more, these things are converging into one unified artistic practice through which I can explore myself and the world around me.

Game Night: Parallel Play with Shea Iles

Friday, July 17, 2026
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Tickets $0-$25, please register on our website (link in bio)

During his performances/workshop/hang session, Shea Iles invites folks from the audience to join him on stage to play a solo card game while he improvises on guitar alongside them. (If you don’t know any solitaire games, that’s okay — Shea will teach everyone a really easy one at the start so that anyone can have a turn.) This is a kind of collaboration he has come to really enjoy: two people doing their own thing, side by side, connected only by circumstance. Shea will also talk about why he loves games, what he thinks they can do, and how he’s working to integrate them into his artistic practice.

This is part of the HOME residency in July/August 2026 and gratefully funded by Calgary Arts Development.

HOME Opening Reception

Saturday, July 18, 2026
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Free, please register on our website (link in bio)

Join artists-in-residency Kseniia Koshmai, Yu Chen, Jona Redwood, Shea Iles and Ezgi Turker for the reception of HOME residency, which creates space for dialogue between these perspectives, fostering connection while honouring the distinct histories, relationships, and experiences each artist carries.

This is part of the HOME residency in July/August 2026 and gratefully funded by Calgary Arts Development.

BADGES & BEADS for Canada Day!

Join friends and family on July 1st for a day of lively performances and activities. Festivities start at 11 a.m. and take place throughout downtown, including Prince’s Island Park, Eau Claire Plaza, Sien Lok Park, the Municipal Building, East Village and The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland.

Visit Sparrow Pop-Up at Sien Lok Park on Riverfront Ave & 1st St! We invite you to think about what home means to you and make your own badge or beaded bracelet. You can also meet some of our wonderful board directors/artists and meet one of the July/Aug artist-in-residence Ezgi Turker.

Each location offers unique activities and experiences that reflect the diversity of communities that call Canada home. Easily get around to all the celebrations with the free Canada Day shuttle which runs between Eau Claire and East Village from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with buses arriving every 15 minutes. End the day with a spectacular fireworks show above Stampede Park shortly after 11 p.m. For the best viewing location, please go to Max Bell Centre.

For the full event schedule and an interactive map, visit calgary.ca/CanadaDay.


📅 WHERE TO FIND SPARROW POP-UP next!

📍 Canada Cultural Day (City of Calgary) 🗓 Wednesday, July 1 · ⏰ 11am–5pm 📌 Sien Lok Park, Riverfront Ave & 1 St SW, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Ezgi Turker 🤝 Sparrow board: Danielle Piper, Dorothea Buchlinski & Sandra Neill ✨ Theme: HOME — Badges & Beads

📍 Bridgeland Riverside Farmers’ Market 🗓 Thursday, July 2 · ⏰ 3:30–7:30pm 📌 917 Centre Ave NE, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Jona Redwood 🤝 Sparrow board: Sandra Neill

📍 Dalhousie Farmers’ Market 🗓 Thursday, July 9 · ⏰ 3:30–7:30pm 📌 Dalhousie Community Centre, 5432 Dalhart Rd NW, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Yu Chen 🤝 Sparrow board: Lesia BEar

📍 Heritage Park Market Nights 🗓 Saturday, July 11 · ⏰ 12–6pm 📌 Heritage Park Plaza, 1900 Heritage Dr SW, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Kseniia 🤝 Sparrow board: Mellissa Fonseca

🎨 SPARROW POP-UP — free art, out in the community! 🌳

This summer, Sparrow Arts Society is bringing free, drop-in art-making right to Calgary’s community markets. No experience, no required skills, no cost — just show up, make something, and meet the working artists behind it. Every pop-up is co-designed with our artists-in-residence, so what you create connects to real, living artistic practice.

👋 Meet Sydney, our Pop-Up lead
Sparrow Pop-Up is led by Sydney Poirier, our Community Engagement Coordinator and AUArts Work-Integrated Learning practicum student. Sydney is a BFA student at Alberta University of the Arts whose own painting practice explores how we experience reality in an increasingly digital world.

📅 WHERE TO FIND US

📍 Bridgeland Riverside Farmers’ Market 🗓 Thursday, June 25 · ⏰ 3:30–7:30pm 📌 917 Centre Ave NE, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Page Cowell & Ellie Ryan🤝 Sparrow board: Jamie Mason from Rawry & Pohly ✨Theme: Sep, Sew Sprawl - sewing fabric apples

📍 Canopy Art Market (Canopy Studios | Art + Wellness) 🗓 Sunday, June 28 · ⏰ 1:30–7pm 📌 Canopy Studios, 1723 9 St SW, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: TBA 🤝 Sparrow board: Mellissa Fonseca

📍 Canada Cultural Day (City of Calgary) 🗓 Wednesday, July 1 · ⏰ 11am–5pm 📌 Sien Lok Park, Riverfront Ave & 1 St SW, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Ezgi Turker 🤝 Sparrow board: Danielle Piper, Dorothea Buchlinski & Sandra Neill ✨ Theme: HOME — Badges & Beads

📍 Bridgeland Riverside Farmers’ Market 🗓 Thursday, July 2 · ⏰ 3:30–7:30pm 📌 917 Centre Ave NE, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Jona Redwood 🤝 Sparrow board: TBD

📍 Dalhousie Farmers’ Market 🗓 Thursday, July 9 · ⏰ 3:30–7:30pm 📌 Dalhousie Community Centre, 5432 Dalhart Rd NW, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Yu Chen 🤝 Sparrow board: TBD

📍 Heritage Park Market Nights 🗓 Saturday, July 11 · ⏰ 12–6pm 📌 Heritage Park Plaza, 1900 Heritage Dr SW, Calgary 🎨 Featured artist: Kseniia 🤝 Sparrow board: TBD