History

1979 – 80

Centre Art Video is established as the Video Art Program of Off Centre Centre (The NEW Gallery), an artist-run-gallery in Calgary .

1983

EMMEDIA is registered as a non-profit society; its mandate to promote the production/exhibition of video art.

1984

In April 1984 EM moved to its own facility and creates an annual Resource Access Scholarship Program assisting post-secondary arts, communications and graduate students in their first video productions.

1985

EMMEDIA initiates 1st Plains Canada Independent Film/Video Conference-Exhibition.

1989

Founding member of the Alberta Media Arts Alliance (AMAAS), later incorporated in 1991.

1991

EMMEDIA and CSIF co-sponsor the Independent Media Arts Alliance (IFVA/AVCI) AGM and SHOWCASE

1992

EMMEDIA and CSIF collaborate to present annually the Youth Summer Media Arts Camp.

1994

The annual Bars ‘n Tone Award is created to technically and financially assist producers with an independent video production.

1997

EMMEDIA co-sponsors The Digital Diversity Conference with The Alberta College of Art and Design.

1998

EMMEDIA launches Digital Direct: The Pilot Project, a mobile digital editing system that visits First Nations and rural Alberta communities that otherwise would not have access to this technology.

2000

EMMEDIA initiates Media Jams, where mid-career and senior artists have free access to EM’s equipment and facility for the purpose of exploration, experimentation and project development. EMMEDIA initiates Media Jams, where mid-career and senior artists have free access to EM’s equipment and facility for the purpose of exploration, experimentation and project development.

2001

EMMEDIA organizes In-Sight, The Second Alberta Media Arts Alliance Conference/AGM in Red Deer, Alberta, including the presentation, Alberta In-Sight, a selection of fourteen Alberta Video, Film and Animation Works.

EMMEDIA in partnership with CSIF, Stride Gallery, Art Gallery of Calgary, The New Gallery, The Nickel Arts Museum and Truck Gallery presents Mountain Standard Time: A Performance Arts Festival.

2002

EMMEDIA introduces three new multimedia labs to its resources devoted to development of New Media Art.

2002

EMMEDIA hosts the open-access Compression Camp, with 24 artists creating new work during the G8 Conference, for webstreaming on www.activist menu.com, developed by Tom Andriuk, NUTV. The larger Activist Menu project also included screenings at EM, CSIF and QAS, and linkages with Labour and the Arts.

2003

EMMEDIA establishes the Echo Award to acknowledge individuals whose contributions have resonated in the community. The first recipient was EMMEDIA founding member, Grant Poier.

2003

EMMEDIA initiates its first Finishing Fund Program to assist artists with completing works in progress.

2003

EMMEDIA’s Newsletter, Handheld Media grows up into a magazine with an ISBN and is deposited in the National Deposit.

2004

EMMEDIA assists in founding the Calgary Underground Film Festival and continues to sponsor them with staff and equipment resources.

2005

EMMEDIA receives The TELUS Artistic Innovation Award, which exemplifies artists or organizations whose artistic work introduces, opens, extends or challenges conventional boundaries.

2006

EMMEDIA provides assistance in the creation of a video promoting the arts for Calgary Arts Development Authority. It was used to support their presentation to Community & Protective Services Committee for increased arts funding from the City of Calgary. The motion passed unanimously.

2010 March 27

EMMEDIA celebrates 25 years of supporting and presenting media artists with the publication of a 400 page retrospective publication and DVD set called Expanded Standard Timeline : Artists and Electronic Media in Calgary, EMMEDIA 1980 through 2005…

2010

The first EManimenteur in-house mentorship program residency is held. “EManimenteurs” residents on location at EMMEDIA helped over the duration of their contracts to nurture, inspire and educate emerging local artists to produce & deliver video & audio projects.

2010

The first Output/Input Retrospective (2010, 2017). The Retrospective media arts exhibition and screening showcased archived video & installation work of past and present members of EMMEDIA’s artist membership.

2011

Foundation of the Youth Queer Media Program (YQMP) with the teamwork of Fairy Tales Film Festival, (now the Calgary Queer Arts Society). This program was established to help queer youth write, produce and screen video works to be screened at the Fairy Tales Film Festival.

2012

Debut of Particle + Wave (2012-2020) Media Arts Festival. An annual weeklong media arts festival comprised of exhibitions, screenings and an audiovisual performance by local, national and international media artists at multiples art venues around Calgary.

2015

Merger of EMMEDIA’s Handheld and CSIF's Answer Print artist run center publications to form Luma Film & Media Art Quarterly online publication. Luma is a quarterly publication about independent film and media art, including critical essays, news, reviews, event previews, interviews, reflections, and photo/video essays.

2016

Origin of alterNATIVE (2016-2019), an annual Indigenous audiovisual performance and video screening art series hosted as part of Alberta Culture Days. Alternative showcases a rich landscape of film, music and other multimedia works produced by Indigenous artists in the pursuit of reclaiming, preserving, and revitalizing the cultures of the Indigenous peoples of Canada.

2016

First Spectral Illuminations Projection Mapping Exhibition (2016-2019) co-presented with Beakerhead Art, Science and Engineering festival. Participating artists took part in instructional projection mapping workshops and exhibited their works to the public at the Lougheed House (Memorial Park Library for special one-night event.

2017

Moved to our current space in the Southwest community of Sunalta in Calgary @ 2005 10th Ave SW. We share a building with several other fine artist run centers and located in walking distance from the Sunalta LRT station.

2019

Launch of Rita McKeough: Works with the help of arts organizations TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary and Mountain Standard Time (M:ST).Rita’s publication illustrates the collaborative artistic process and pedagogy of her momentous audio, installation and performance work dating back to the 1970’s across Canada and her ongoing contribution to the contemporary Canadian art community.

2020

COVID ATTACKS! Our website gets a makeover, and a 'pivot and prosper' model gets put into place to offset the quarantine protocols that affected the nation, including 'contactless' rental transactions, video tutorials and livestreamed workshops