National Music Centre launches online exhibition, Community Storytellers, on March 24
COMMUNITY ART AND ARTIFACTS TO BE FEATURED INCLUDE GORD DOWNIE PENNY TRIBUTE, BUCK SHOT'S GUITAR, AND MORE
(March 18, 2020— Calgary, AB) The National Music Centre (NMC) will launch the online version of Community Storytellers, a new temporary exhibition that honours the music stories of the Alberta community, on March 24.
The online version will serve as a preview of a much larger exhibition that will be unveiled when Studio Bell reopens later this year. It highlights eight different community stories, of the more than 30 narratives included in the onsite exhibit.
The Community Storytellers exhibition presents community members’ musical artifacts alongside their personal narrative, thereby allowing the community to become the storytellers. Interesting, unusual, and meaningful musical artifacts and stories belonging to our fellow Calgarians and Albertans are featured.
Visitors to the virtual installment will see a tribute to late musician Gord Downie—a 5x8-foot portrait of the Tragically Hip frontman constructed from over 11,300 Canadian pennies that took Airdrie’s Luke Carruthers over three years to make. Also included is a guitar zither from 1904 that was passed down through generations of a Vulcan, Alberta family; the 2004 CCMA Award for Record Store of the Year won by Megatunes Music Inc., a beloved Calgary/Edmonton record store owned by Mike and Joni Pleau; a guitar from the Calgary children's television series, The Buck Shot Show, loaned to NMC by “Buck Shot” himself; and four other artifacts and stories ahead of the onsite launch.
“The local community is one of the National Music Centre’s greatest audiences and supporters,” said Jesse Moffatt, NMC’s Director of Collections and Exhibitions. “Already music lovers, many in the community are also music collectors and regularly reach out with offers to donate or loan cherished instruments and music memorabilia to NMC. Their offers demonstrate a strong belief in our mission and competency in representing and caring for music history. This exhibition is NMC’s way of giving back to our community.”
Starting March 24, get a preview of the Community Storytellers exhibition online at studiobell.ca/community-storytellers. Do you have a music-related story that you want us to share? Email exhibitions@nmc.ca and tell us about it for a chance to be featured in the onsite exhibition that will open later this year.
About the National Music Centre
The National Music Centre (NMC) has a mission to amplify the love, sharing, and understanding of music and is preserving and celebrating Canada’s music story inside its home at Studio Bell in Calgary’s East Village. A registered charity with programs that include exhibitions, artist development, performance, and education, NMC is inspiring a new generation of music lovers. For more information about NMC’s onsite activities, please visit studiobell.ca. To check out the NMC experience online, including video-on-demand performances, made-in-Canada stories, and highly entertaining educational content, visit amplify.nmc.ca.
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Media Contact:
Julijana Capone, Senior Publicist
National Music Centre
T 403.543.5123
julijana.capone@nmc.ca | @nmc_canada