calgary public library receives $300,000 from td to support indigenous artists
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calgary public library ceo sarah meilleur, left, and calgary public library foundation ceo tracy johnson at the central library on april 8, 2025.
gavin young/postmedia file
the calgary public library has received a $300,000 donation from td bank group to support its indigenous newcomer artist-in-residence and elder-in-residence programs.
the funding, announced tuesday, will support the programs through the next three years, according to tracy johnson, ceo of the calgary public library foundation.
the programs will offer paid opportunities for artists to “engage with community through art, storytelling and mentorship,” she said, by leading programs, hosting workshops and engaging with library visitors in one-on-one meets.
“these residencies play a vital role in fostering cross-cultural understanding and amplifying diverse perspectives across the city,” johnson added.
the donation follows the more than $2 million worth of funding that td has provided to the library throughout the years, a significant portion of which funded the construction of the td great reading room at the central library in 2018.
the residencies, according to johnson, have been ongoing for a number of years, although in different iterations. this one, she said, will support burgeoning artists and offer public workshops on the teachings of the medicine wheel, residential school legacies, smudge training and the difference between appreciation and appropriation.
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calgary public library ceo sarah meilleur said that with the help of td, the library can create “opportunities and give voices to historically underrepresented communities.”
one of the newcomer artists-in-residence for this year is morgan black, a member of ts’kw’aylaxw first nation, who since march has already offered a number of public workshops and one-on-one meets.
her work “incorporates scenes of reconnecting to traditional storytelling practices colonization and decolonization and taking a critical look at truth and reconciliation,” said meilleur, inspired by her own childhood memories of living on her ancestral land before moving away to treaty seven.
robert ghazal, senior vice-president and alberta region head for td bank group, said the donation comes as a result of a longtime relationship with the library foundation and is part of the bank’s commitment to its corporate citizen platform, which will see the bank donate up to $1 billion by 2030 to “support change, nurture progress and contribute to making the world a better place.”
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