How can art build bridges between individuals and communities?

In this inspiring conversation, we sit down with Bethel Afework, the founder and director of a thriving recreational art center, to explore how art can be a powerful connector across cultures, generations, and backgrounds. She shares how creativity often transcends spoken language—allowing people to express themselves, connect with others, and build a sense of belonging in their communities.

Whether you’re passionate about community impact, curious about the deeper role of the arts, or dreaming of starting your own arts center, this conversation is full of wisdom, heart, and practical advice. Don’t miss her actionable tips for turning a creative vision into a welcoming, inclusive space for all. 

More from Bethel and Alcove Centre for the Arts here: https://www.alcoveartscentre.ca/

Transcript

Lisa: 0:02

Hello, it's Lisa and Lauren from Art is Moving, Take an Art Break podcast. We're really excited today. We're with Bethel. She's from the Community Center in Calgary. It's an art center called the Alcove. So Bethel, introduce yourself. Tell our audience about you and the Alcove.

Bethel: 0:20

Hi, everyone. My name is Bethel Afflework. Thank you for the introduction, Lisa. And yes, we are... from calgary alberta also known as mokinstans from treaty seven territory and we are Alco Center for the Arts, and we are a recreational art space. So I play the role as one of the co-founders of that space and also the executive director. And it's been really awesome being able to run a brick and mortar space since April 2023 in the heart of downtown of the city. So that's just a little bit about me. And I'm sure we'll be talking a little bit more about what I do during the podcast, too. That sounds

Lauren: 1:07

awesome. Yeah, so we just like to ask a question as a jumping off point. The question we wanted to chat with you about today is how can art build bridges between individuals and communities?

Bethel: 1:22

Well, I think art is one of those phenomenal things where You don't need to know the language, maybe. You know, there's so many ways to connect with art without having to even maybe speak the same language or... It's a beautiful way to also share culture. Like when you're traveling, if you go out to dance and you hear music, like, you know, you don't need to know the local language or things like that, but you feel the music, right? If you're looking at visual art, that is something that means something to you without needing to, without, without, yeah, without needing to like actually be able to speak. I think that's the one thing is that a lot of times when we are talking about communication, we always think about talking, but that actually is a huge barrier, right? And I think even as English speakers, there is this notion that we'll go around and things will be accommodated for us and things like that, and that's obviously not true and shouldn't be true, but that's kind of how we sometimes move through the world. A lot of things are translated and things like that, and I think that With language, there's so many languages that are spoken, you know, in North America and all around the world. And I think that we could learn so much from one another if we allow art to be the means of communication. And at Alcove, that is what inspired us as well, because we believe that arts is the means to connect with one another, because we find a lot of times that it's In our city and in a lot of cities in North America, the means to connect would be like, you know, over food or over coffee or over a drink. But, you know, those things as well. I feel like push you to actually have physical conversations. But when you're making art, you know, you could just be beside someone and you are connecting with them just by merely maybe collaborating on a collage. And maybe you don't speak at all. Maybe you're actually hard of hearing. You know, maybe there's so many different things that art can help break that barrier for. And I think it's really awesome with music. You can share so much around music and things like that and different art mediums. So I feel like if there is an art, our main medium to connect and have conversations forces us to actually physically be talking. But art allows you to just be, I feel. And you can just be in the room, be in the space and connect with people without having to even say a word. So that's.

Lisa: 4:13

True. That's a good one. So art is a universal language basically, but it's not even a language. It's almost like being, it's like people, because we found that being present in the moment with somebody. And I think, and I think also it's, there's a vulnerability to it. Do you know what I mean? Because there's so much, sometimes there's so much judgment around that. So let's go to the alcove and your inspiration. Tell us a little bit more about it and any like, stories where have you seen that art has become a bridge? Any like testimonies?

Bethel: 4:48

Yeah, I mean, I mean, there's so many. And sometimes when you think of these, you're like, oh, what? What is the answer to this question? But I would say that a lot of friendships and bands have been born out of that space. I think that's a really cool thing to see. I find that a lot of people When I ask them, you know, how did you make, not a lot, but like when I see people in the space, I meant to say, I would ask like, oh, how did you meet so-and-so? You know, you guys seem so close. Or how did you get into this band? And they'd say, oh, I met them at a jam session or I met them at a workshop. I've also had lots of different generations, like maybe a mother, a daughter and a granddaughter and things like that, where they're like Alcove is the one place we feel like we could go and all enjoy together and all do a workshop and connect with one another so breaking those bridges intergenerationally and yeah a mother and a son even said that too they're like I don't really know how to connect with my son but coming here and doing workshops is our way of being able to even communicate and just learn a little bit more about one another and that i think that's i think that's what's been really awesome is that when you come in there is that very welcoming just ability to strike a conversation and not even strike a conversation. If you don't want to speak the language you want, if it's playing an instrument or if it's making visual art, that there will be people that connect with you as well. So bands have been formed. Friendships have been formed. Relationships have been formed. Family bonds have been strengthened. So, you know, that's, that's what I've been seeing in this space for sure.

Lauren: 6:35

Awesome. That's awesome. And you're mostly process based or. Are there, I'm hearing music and what are some other things that the center offers its community?

Bethel: 6:52

Oh yeah, so it's four main art disciplines. So we have music and performances. We have visual arts. So that's photography, painting, collaging, things like that. We have textiles, that's a big one. So we do a lot of crocheting, punch needling, embroidery, those types of arts. And then the last one is creative writing. So there is opportunities to learn about spoken word, for example, at a spoken word workshop recently. And sometimes we do host creative writing workshops. So those are the four main, I'd say pillars. Nice.

Lisa: 7:34

Yeah. Very cool. Do you guys have a larger vision? Would you want to become a bigger art center and more of an anchor in the community? And do you find that you're an anchor in the community?

Bethel: 7:47

Yeah, I feel like with the presence, the small presence we have now has already been growing into being an anchor and we're growing to be more known in the community, which is such a blessing. I would hope we'd have more of a purpose-built space. There are, like, Thursday nights are bursting through the seams in that space. Now it's so busy. And I think that what it is is the space itself. We have... retrofitted an old shoe store to become an art space but we hope that you know one day there is like a kitchen that we could use and a paint sink and and these things that are really important that we've just you know been making means with what we have but yeah that's, that's, that's the vision is that there's a bit more of a purpose built space. Cause everything that's in the space right now is super DIY. You know, it used to be an old shoe store. We did the rooms, we, we did all those things. So that was us retrofitting it. You know, there's a lot of outlets in the space, you know, there's, there's been some problems with electricity sometimes, you know, that's, that's really what the vision is, is, you know, Yes, bigger, but I think what's even more important than just size is the purpose-built space that will help us carry out and make it easier to run a community art space.

Lauren: 9:15

Yeah, I think obviously you believe in a community art space is sort of a vital thing for a community. Why is that? Why a community art space? What can that bring to a community that nothing else can?

Bethel: 9:38

I think that art beyond... any other activity, whether you consider yourself an artist or not, like art truly does improve your wellbeing. And it's so ingrained in human society from the beginning, right? The chances that if someone completely doesn't indulge in any art, I don't know how that's even possible, right? Like people either watch a movies, Or they listen to music or they walk past a mural and it does make them feel a little bit better than looking at gray and brown buildings all day, right? So even if you yourself are not an artist, I think beyond sports, I think beyond any other activity, any other niche activity, art is the most universally accepted and needed piece of human life, you know, because humans before and after, not even before, even right now, I think it's just taken away here in colonial culture and Western culture. Because when we grow up, us and the co-founders, Dennis Lee and Sason, we've talked about how in our cultures, everyone dances, everyone sings at weddings. You are not an artist. It's not gate kept, right? There are tribes that sing and dance every night. There are rituals and things like that that are very artistic and creative at the end of the day. Even if you look at religion, like religious art, like anywhere you go, art is just there. And it's been there since the beginning. And I think that it is very low barrier, extremely low barrier. You don't need much to make art. You know, you could be drawing chalk on the street. You could make a collage with scraps. But it's crazy because I feel like art became the most gatekept art. in Western society, even though it is the most low barrier, it became the most gatecapped. I feel like there's a lot of opportunities for sports and for things like that. But for some reason for art, if you want to learn piano, it's classical piano and it's private lessons. If you want to pick up a paintbrush, it's so expensive sometimes to pick up a paintbrush and you don't want to commit to all of that. Even if you don't know if you're going to be... wanting to continue doing it further. And I think that for me, whether someone is a artist or not an artist, people do enjoy the process of just being creative and it's just so good for your wellbeing. It really breaks down a lot of barriers. It helps you, it feels meditative, it's therapeutic. There's just so much there that has been taken away by, you know, colonialism and Western society and has become for a more elite group that understands a certain type of art and enjoys a certain type of art. Right. And so at Alcove, you know, we really want people to feel like you could be scribbling and making stick men and we don't care. And so that type of space to really just feel like, you could be as you are, wherever you are at whatever level. And you also don't need to create, you don't need to actually produce. I think that's the biggest thing too, that in this society, it's like art is about like producing something like this is not about producing, but it's actually the process of being and making that's more important. And so I think it's just important because I think that it's stripping down, you know, humans to the core, you know, Before any sort of other activity, like arts was the mean of, you know, we used to drum and just dance and sing and everyone did it. You know, you didn't have to be good at it. You just kind of became part of that community and did that. So I think it's really stripping down humans to their roots and just, you know, getting them connecting on a base level and on a level where everyone could meet each other at.

Lisa: 13:52

I mean, have you ever thought the why? Why? I mean, we live in this society, so we know, we know. But have you thought of why? Why is this? Why is this gate? Why is it? Why is it considered just for the elite? And why is it programmed into us? You know, what's the why? Like, why is it like that? Yeah, why in North America, in Western culture, say it be, it's been, like you said, like it's primal to dance and sing and drum and scribble and, you know, put my hand on the cave. You know what I mean? It's something that's very, it's our soul. So why was that stripped away from us in this Western world?

Bethel: 14:37

I mean, I think that it, there is advantages of creating better capital when people are believing in individualism. I think that art is a really beautiful thing. And if that thing is stripped away, people will focus more on work. People will focus more on building capital. So that's how we've been able to create very rich societies affluent in terms of capital because when you think about people's day-to-day schedules people a lot of people that just go to work and then come home

Lauren: 15:20

right like right one of the things that people say is i don't have time to make art right i don't have time and it's like and you they've been made to think they don't have time

Bethel: 15:30

right Yeah, exactly. And they also prioritize working, right? So work actually overshadows any of the free time they could be making art. Whereas like, you know, our societies are very fast paced. So it does, there is a lot of cramming things into a schedule. Right. A lot of feeling, a feeling like there isn't time, right? Like the only time you can relax and do things is when you're on vacation or-

Lauren: 15:58

Right, totally.

Bethel: 16:00

Right, but- Other societies, there are places in the world now where every day people are getting together to drink coffee. I'm talking about places even in Italy. I'm talking about Europe too. This is not just slowed down societies. People have two hour lunches there. people are slowing down drinking their morning coffee. I was like, it's a Wednesday. Does no one have anywhere to be here? Wednesday at 8 a.m. So I think that the reason, yeah, why it has been stripped down is really just because of the type of society they were looking to build, which is one that built a very strong capitalistic one. And you know what? If people were just more community-based and felt like they didn't need to do as much to survive you wouldn't be able to build that type of society. So it's really trying to bring it back because- we can tell that obviously this way of life does really hurt people and it's not sustainable. And a lot of the means of people trying to find community and therapy is still not working. I believe in going to therapy and such, but I know lots of people that come to Alcove and be like, this is my therapy, just coming to listen to music and seeing people. And it makes me feel less lonely, right? Like going to a therapy. Like that, that might help dig through your problems, you know, help you navigate issues. But once that one hour conversation is done, where's your community where you can actually just hang out and talk to and maybe not about your life, but just be as a human and feel like you're seen and alive and cared for. So,

Lauren: 17:45

yeah. And I also think it's like right when. when you're not someone who is necessarily ingrained art making in your life on a daily basis or on a regular basis, it kind of hits you in the face how therapeutic it is. You know, Lisa and I talk about how we take it for granted, the benefits of art. And we're constantly reminding ourselves that it's not part of everybody's vocabulary. And that's why we have these conversations, not only to remind ourselves, but also to to keep the conversation going because it still needs to happen because we don't live in a world where it's okay to take an hour out of your work day to walk in nature or draw something or listen to the, you know, the music of nature. I don't know, paint with your coworker, which I mean, imagine how cool that would be. So I'm just going to keep talking about it, you know? And I think that also, like Lisa mentioned earlier in the conversation about there's this sense of vulnerability across the table. I also think that is something that only exists because we're not a community that connects across an art table very often. You wouldn't feel vulnerable if you were doing it all the time. It would feel, I mean, I think it would feel like right. It would just feel normal. Wouldn't that be great if sitting at your... I love the idea. I like art centers because you mentioned sports. There's public parks that are dedicated to sports playing, which is also a great way to connect with your community. I love the notion of the community center is that as well. It's this place that the community can go to and connect in that way. And it's really about giving people the opportunity to discover how they can connect with one another. And I think it's even more vital than we maybe even realize right now, because it's like, I don't know how you're feeling, but I'm feeling a lot where there's just like, we're just getting more separate, separate, separate. And we almost have to fight to be more connected right now for lots of reasons. that we would probably not have time to go into.

Bethel: 20:06

For sure. And sports is a big example because I was inspired by YMCA to build Alcova as well. I volunteered there for most of my teen years. And even though I didn't really consider myself an athlete, I did feel welcomed and low barrier to like play basketball there or swim or something like that. and um it was one of those places where it's like yeah you can drop in and it's like there's an elliptical and different equipment for you to use so the idea was like every time we hear about a recreational center opening up our mind specifically goes to oh it's a sports place but now that's why we call ourselves a recreational art space because this is arts for recreation as well. And it's really definitely modeled by, inspired by like YMCA of like, you can come in, like we don't have memberships or anything, not necessarily. So like you can just drop in during our hours and just like how YMCA is different sports equipment. We have different arts equipment and just like how they have classes. We have classes and just like they have sometimes events, we have events, you know? So that was how we were trying to get people to envision this space when we were still opening up or like, it's like the YMCA for arts like but where because I know YMCA also has an arts branch but yeah is that the larger model of the sports is actually the arts

Lauren: 21:29

yeah yeah that's awesome

Lisa: 21:32

it's wonderful any other insights on how art is a bridge and then let our audience know how they can connect with you and maybe open an art center in their community if they have the means

Bethel: 21:47

oh yeah oh yeah So art as a bridge is just, you know, we see it in our day-to-day life. Art is definitely the bridge to making connections to understanding, to sharing culture. I think I'll leave it at that. And with that said, if you want to connect with us, you could always check out our website, which is Alcove Arts Center. That's A-L-C-O-V-E artscenter.ca. So that's our website. Or you can check us out at Alcove Arts Center on Instagram. And if you want to ever visit our center, we are located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, just up north, but also very close to the south of the border, just like three, four hours away from the Montana border if you're driving. Love it. so that's where we're located and if you ever want to open up an art center and you don't know where to start I'd say start small and also the way that we framed opening up our art center is a way to revitalize vacant commercial spaces that was hard to find so that's actually so like right now we pay you know just for people to understand we pay like Below market rate, because the idea is that we are activating a space that would have otherwise sat vacant. So it's not only solving the problem of like community and arts, but it's also trying to navigate and build up buildings that would essentially just be sitting there vacant. That would be. you know, a hole in the downtown and we're just bringing life to it, you know? So I think that for us, we started with pop-ups and really was able to establish our concept by doing pop-ups. And then we were able to do pop-ups in commercial spaces. So we showed like before and after pictures of what those commercial spaces look like. And then we were able to sign a temporary lease by those examples we were able to bring. So I'd always tell people, you know, if you're trying to do something and you're trying to start something, you know, opening up a space overnight isn't really feasible, but doing something once a month might be, you know, doing something once a quarter and building it out. Because we started with hosting an event called Raw Voices once a month. And that started eight and a half years ago. And that started. And then we wrote a business plan like four years ago. And then we started doing pop-ups in 2021. And then we got this space in 2023. So, you know, you really just got to trust the process and you just got to let time also do its thing. And you also just got to feel confident in yourself that you can take on something. Right. And so by starting small and by outgrowing those things and feeling confident in those things will help you get to the next step. But if you live in a city where space is an issue, like spaces, there's lots of vacant, empty spaces, you know, start talking to, you know, your city council or start building those relationships now and planting those seeds while doing smaller things, because when the time comes, they'll know who to call. So I always do believe in, you know, you plant those seeds in hopes that maybe five years down the line, something will happen. You things don't happen quickly. So, and good things don't come fast either. So you just gotta take time. Love it. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. Yeah. Thank you for inviting me. Yeah. Where can I find this podcast? Like where does this get posted? Yeah,

Lauren: 25:37

I will put it on our website and then