Origins

In November 2014, Calgary’s own National Music Centre released a report on Alberta’s music industry, detailing the economic benefits of a strong provincial music industry and making recommendations to government and other sector partners. Through the support of Music Canada and the funding of Scotlyn Foundation the report, titled Fertile Ground: Alberta Music Cities Initiative, made detailed recommendations to stimulate the growth and sustainability of Alberta’s music industry through an economic lens. Alberta Music Cities was formed as a result of this report and has since been rebranded as West Anthem.

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Contact

Email: info@westanthem.com

Alberta spans five treaty territories and eight Métis settlements. Like their ancestors, many Indigenous individuals and families make their homes across the prairies, including the Blackfoot Confederacy – Kainai, Piikani, and Siksika – the Cree, Dene, Saulteaux, Nakota Sioux, Stoney Nakoda, and the Tsuu T’ina Nation. The Métis People of Alberta include the Six Regions of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit, both from here and as visitors from elsewhere, have helped care for these lands for generations. We recognize they have traditions and relationships to the land far outstretching the arrival of settlers.

We are extremely grateful for these lands on which we reside, work, and play. We make this acknowledgement as an act of gratitude and reconciliation. While championing the arts in Calgary and across Alberta, we intend for our work to contribute to the valuing of traditional art forms and result in greater opportunity for the creative Indigenous talent who walk these lands today.