Deborah Herringer Kiss (left) and Christine Klassen are keeping the arts alive in Calgary through their passion and leadership. (Photo by Riley Brandt)
There’s a common misconception that Calgary doesn’t possess any arts or culture. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Just ask Christine Klassen, BFA’97. “We do not lack arts and culture; we lack recognition of our arts and culture,” she states. “There is a key difference. We have a huge creative community in this city and it needs to be celebrated.”
Klassen celebrates art every day as director of The Weiss Gallery. Running a thriving gallery, especially in an oil and gas town, requires savvy leadership. “A passion for art is obviously key,” she says. “But I think success for a commercial art gallery truly lies in creating a connection between people and art. I really enjoy acting as a liaison between the person visiting our space and the artists we work with and their processes, and art-making practices as a whole.”
Fellow arts alumna Deborah Herringer Kiss, BA’93, returned to the University of Calgary after completing her art history degree to take business management courses through Continuing Education. She knew that beyond a love of art, strong management and integrity were essential to fruitfully opening her own gallery, which she did in 2002 with the Herringer Kiss Gallery.
“Calgary is a boom town and it can be feast or famine, in the arts particularly,” she points out. “You have to be able to manage your resources to ride out these waves. Reputation is everything to me. I am good to everyone I work with…treating everyone with respect, honesty and consideration. This has helped the gallery grow as artists, suppliers, bankers and clients like and trust me.”
Herringer Kiss also connects art with the community by offering scholarships and holding charity fundraisers through her gallery. “We would not survive in a bubble; we have to reach out and warmly extend a hand,” she emphasizes.
In the same vein, she and Klassen also volunteer with Calgary’s Artwalk to promote the arts community. Thanks to their efforts, Artwalk held its 2011 kickoff at the University of Calgary with the unveiling of the Reinhard Skoracki sculpture outside of the Energy Environment Experiential Learning (EEEL) building.
It’s through the passion, leadership and work of advocates like Herringer Kiss and Klassen that the arts in Calgary remain alive and well. Klassen sums things up: “What it comes down to is art [should] be seen as a necessity in our lives and not a luxury.”
