BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition December 2018

Cultivating 10 Years os Market Collective
Angela Dione was connected to a circle of artists and Angel Guerra
was fond of throwing house parties full of musicians. Together they
hatched a plan to throw a different kind of party where art and
music mingled across the open expanse of the Carpenter’s Union Hall on
10 St. NW in Kensington. Local, independent artists and designers set up
booths on the floor with their creative specialties on display and for sale,
while up and coming musicians took the stage to showcase their talent.
Presto! A different kind of party, a new kind of market, Market Collective
– MC est. 2008.
Word quickly spread and the event jumped to a bigger location down
the street and set up shop in the old Ant Hill Fabric building which was
sitting empty. The two-level space had a lot of potential with Dione and
Guerra envisioning a fabulous future that included DIY studios and a
rooftop patio wrapped around their fresh marketplace. Those plans where
shelved when the Ant Hill building was demolished in 2014. Undeterred,
MC sought even more adventurous locations venturing into the wilds of Inglewood’s
warehouse district along with moving into the gorgeous Chinese
Cultural Centre.
For MC’s 10 year anniversary, Guerra, who guides the organization now
that Dione is focused on her domestic life and a career elsewhere, has her
sights set on a blockbuster of party – two colossal weekends at the BMO
Centre. Where the auditorium at the Chinese Cultural Centre is around
10,000 sq. ft, the BMO space zooms up to 50,000 big ones!
“I feel if there was a time to take a risk,” says Guerra reflecting on her
single status. ‘It’s now.”
Dressed in jeans and a black leather biker jacket, she felt was fitting for
a BeatRoute interview (yes!), Guerra is both causal and confident. The two
metal pins she has attached to her jacket – a heart and a thumbs-up –say
it all. Guerra and the whole of Market Collective is a heartfelt, positive
creative endeavour that has had a significant effect on shaping the city as it
discovers itself. Guerra recalls one of the main reasons that motivated her
and Dione to put MC into motion.
Guerra didn’t flock to the West Coast, and MC certainly evolved and
flourished into a hub, a ground swell for a growing number of artists and
musicians who also decided to stay in Calgary. It also became a focal point
and a breeding ground for those who wanted come back from their far-off
adventures.
Guerra lists of a number of vendors who first got their start at MC then
when on to run successful operations elsewhere: Sidewalk Citizen Bakery is
now located the East Village; Plant, a terrarium enterprise keeps expanding
its shop in Inglewood; Cold Garden Brewery, also in Inglewood and in full
swing, first did face-to-face retail at MC; and Drizzle Honey, which sells in
Co-op stores and has gone national, sold its first jar of honey at MC. The list
goes on.
The economic outgrowth from MC where vendors with folding tables
have gone on to find rewarding opportunities on a large scale is impressive,
to say the least. Grassroots gone wild contributing to various communities
helping to build and develop what Guerra acknowledges as a “framework
for a new Calgary.” Indeed. And to help build community, MC as a source
and strength is community in itself. Guerra’s recalls how that came to be.
“In 2008, when we first started, the arts scene in Calgary was just budding
and, in my opinion, it was fairly intimidating. You had to be ‘cool’ to show
up to somewhere. Market Collective was a bit of a response that we wanted
to grow that scene, but also a response for it to be friendly and accessible,
not where you didn’t know the right people or didn’t feel in place. We were
always looking how to make Market Collective progressive, cutting edge
and cool in Calgary, but make people feel accepted and welcome in it. Always
trying to marry those two concepts: how to make it forward thinking
and also a safe space. And I think Market Collective is really one of the first
places that tied those two things together in the city.”
She adds, “From there it also grew with what happened between markets.
People would stay connected, get on social media and watch each
others’ business grow.”
Market Collective, catalyst and cultivator.
by B. Simm
ANGEL
GUERRA
“In 2008 what we were noticing is that everyone who was doing
something interesting, once they graduate high school or university
they moved to Toronto or Montreal. One summer 20 people I knew
moved to Vancouver. And what became part of our conversation was,
‘What could we start that keeps our artists and musicians in Calgary?’”
Guerra herself make the trek out to Vancouver at the tail-end of her
university years looking for a new frontier. But she kept coming back
home each time another MC event took place, and after “three, four
markets” was faced with the proverbial – should I stay, or should I go?
“I had found this really old truck to cart things around, like 1500
dollars. But didn’t own much of anything else. Then I painted my
room and got this bed for Christmas. I remember lying on my bed
surrounded by these newly painted walls and cried all weekend. I
didn’t want to be tied to Calgary. Subconsciously, painting my walls
was a symbol that left me feeling, ‘Oh no, am I really going to be
here?’ I was faced with a hard decision. Do you go and follow your
plans, or stay and watch something come into fruition, who knows?
…I think I made a good choice.”
30 | DECEMBER 2018 • BEATROUTE
I feel if there
was a time to
take a risk.
It’s now.
PHOTO: Sarah Allen