Big and bold: a vision for the arts in Calgary

Alex Sarian discusses the future of arts in Calgary —
where we've been and where we need to be.

Wednesday, May 14 
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
The Ranchmen's Club

Alex Sarian

Alex Sarian is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Audacity of Relevance: Critical
Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture (ECW Press, 2024), and President & CEO of Arts
Commons (soon to be Werklund Centre), where he is responsible for leading the $660 million Arts
Commons Transformation (ACT) project—the largest cultural infrastructure project in
Canadian history.

Prior to moving to Calgary in 2020, he spent 18 years in New York City, where he served as a
senior executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. A proud member of the 2022 class of
Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40, he holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University,
is a graduate of the CommunityShift program at Western University's Ivey School of Business,
and was an inaugural graduate of the Impact Program for Arts Leaders
at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.