Culture class of ’21

PHOTOS BY KRISTY REIMER Ones to Watch 2021

This year our annual Ones to Watch feature focuses on 10 young adults excelling in the arts. Nominated by their teachers, they are ready to take the world by storm through their music, acting, films, illustrations and so much more.

NAME: BRYAN JOHN FLANNIGAN Age: 17 High school and year graduated: St. Martin De Porres, 2021 Art form/discipline: Filmmaker Future plans: I plan to further my career in filmmaking at SAIT’s film and media program in the fall. “Aha” moment: I had made little videos for fun with my buddies at school and one day my friend Josh Wade sent me a post for the Airdrie Film Festival. The post was talking about how the youth category for that year’s festival had a challenge of using just your phone to film. So I entered not expecting I would win the youth category for that year. After that I saw how much filming meant to me and took things more seriously.

NAME: CHARLEA DAUPHINEE Age: 18 High school and year graduated: Bert Church, 2021 Art form/discipline: Acting and singing, primarily in a musical theatre setting. Future plans: After high school I plan to go to university for musical theatre and hopefully pursue it as a full-time career. “Aha” moment: I remember in elementary school we would always go on field trips to see the local high schools’ musicals and it was the thing I most looked forward to every year! Once I hit middle school I was able to do my first show (Legally Blonde Jr) and I absolutely fell in love with musical theatre. Performing on the stage, becoming someone new, expressing a story and such intense emotion through song, I loved everything about it.

NAME: HOPE BROWN Age: 18 High school and year graduated: Bert Church, 2021 Art form/discipline: Visual arts and writing Future plans: I plan to attend Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) with the intention of earning my bachelor’s in graphic design. Later, I plan on publishing books and continuing to create in order to build a successful life for myself. “Aha” moment: Throughout my entire life, I have always found joy in drawing and creating characters and stories. When I was very young, I found art to be a fantastic way to tell the stories I had in my brain as I had not yet learned how to write properly. I remember one day, when I was about 10 years old, I was sitting at my kitchen table and sketching away on a sheet of printer paper. Of course, being 10, the sketch was mediocre, but I was so proud of what I had created. I think it was at that moment where art had become less of a hobby and more of a passion as I realized that I could tell and create incredible stories through a visual medium. From there on out, I’ve been drawing constantly and eagerly expanding my skills.

NAME: KACEY REICHERT Age: 17 High school and year graduated: George McDougall, 2021 Your art form/discipline: I primarily focus on creating 2-D physical artworks through mixed media, often served through both realism and my take on a fantastical/storybook style. However, recently I have been experimenting more with a larger variety of materials and mediums, such as even returning to some 3-D figures and attempting completely new background techniques! Future plans: This has always been hard for me to determine. I have never necessarily had a clear vision of the future and how it will affect me through what it brings/how it unfolds, but I have definitely been encouraged and interested in a career within the arts. I have taken art courses since kindergarten and it has been one of my hobbies/ passions for as long as I can remember. Although I am taking a gap year, I was accepted into the University of Alberta for their general Art and Design program. I applied to a post-secondary education in order to both strengthen my skills and abilities, whilst also giving myself career opportunities in the future. Recently, I have been debating becoming a tattoo artist in order to express my artistic creativity while also experiencing a career in which I could help add something to others’ lives. But nothing is set in stone, and I’m glad to be taking a gap year to aid in this self-discovery journey! “Aha” moment: Throughout my entire life I have been interested and passionate about the arts and how I could improve myself through the evolution of my physical artwork. But I’d say the moment when I truly realized that this could be something to legitimately pursue and something that was truly possible, was when I completed my Advanced Placement art course this (senior) year. It was single handedly the newfound and unique challenge that forced me to evolve and increase both my confidence and capabilities. It allowed my mind to be solely concentrated on how I could improve my ideas and execution, how to expand my thought process and just overall understanding of what I enjoy doing. By just doing art. Something I have done all my life but not in such a complex and extensive sense. Being the only AP student in my school’s grad year was stressful at first, but towards the end I truly do think it was entirely worth it, as I was able to unlock more information about myself than I ever have in past years, and create a series of paradoxical artworks that I am 100 per cent proud of.

NAME: KAIYA SENECAL Age: 18 High school and year graduated: George McDougall, 2021 Art form/discipline: I especially love to work with chalk pastels, pencil crayons and pencils. I think incorporating colours into art makes the image much more appealing; it really brings whatever I’m working on to life because of the meanings we tend to associate with colour. Future plans: Next June, I will be diversifying my art disciplines while studying Film Production at the Vancouver Film School (VFS). After I graduate from VFS, I plan on working as a director/writer, making movies with beautiful cinematography that tell compelling stories related to the human condition. I plan on continuing to draw and create artwork while working as a director. “Aha” moment: When I was about 13 years old, I decided I wanted to become an actress. I took classes, went to camps, was in drama and studied movie and television scenes so I could re-enact them. This love for acting translated into a love for directing when I was about 15 and realized the amazing ability directors have to tell stories. Throughout the year as I discussed career paths with many adults in my life, I ended up hearing the same thing over and over: most people weren’t happy with their jobs. However, the moment that really cemented this decision for me was during English class when we were reading The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. It suddenly clicked for me: The Road Not Taken was about life regrets, it was about the path in life that you decide not to take, it was about the “what if’s” of long-lost opportunities. It was at that moment that I realized I could not take “the road more travelled” simply because of the security it provided me. I had to take the “road less travelled” and give my passions a shot or else I’d regret it for the rest of my life, never knowing what could have been.

NAME: MACKENZIE SMITH Age: 18 High school and year graduated: George McDougall, 2021 Art form/discipline: Musician/cellist Future plans: This year it was exciting to open up Smith Cello Studios in Airdrie, to teach beginner cellists. My hope is to continue to grow the studio, and to further my music education as I continue to work with world-renowned cellist Morag Northey. Currently, I am enrolled at the University of Calgary and will be working towards my bachelor of education. I am excited to see where music takes me and hope to continually grow. Music is one of my passions and I hope to share my love with others. “Aha” moment: While I was planning out my future and post-secondary, I realized that I can’t leave music behind. It is a way to express, to refresh and to inspire myself. It is a way of life and once you experience its magic, you can never go back.

NAME: MADDIE MCKEE Age: 18 High school and year graduated: Bert Church, 2021 Art form/discipline: Musical theatre Future plans: I am attending the University of Lethbridge in the fall, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in both fine arts and education. I hope to teach musical theatre in the future and continue to perform live whenever theatres reopen! “Aha” moment: I began acting at age 12. I was the shy, silent, can’t-hold-eye-contact-for-mylife type, so my interest in theatre came as a big surprise to my parents. They reluctantly put me in acting classes at Torchlight Theatre. Through the classes, I grew more confident in both my acting ability and in myself. Eventually, I was asked to audition for their upcoming production of Robin Hood and was cast as Maid Marian. I had never been in a show before, let alone a leading lady! It was thrilling. I knew that nothing could compare to how I felt performing. As soon as I reached high school, I made sure to audition for every show. I was first cast as Alice in The Addams Family, then the next year as Ariel in The Little Mermaid. These roles ignited a burning passion inside me and led me to pursue theatre in Calgary. I became completely devoted to the theatre department and made sure to involve myself wherever I could. I had initially considered theatre a hobby, but my experience at Bert Church solidified my future plans and made me ultimately realize that theatre would be my career path.

NAME: MARK WADE Age: 18 High school and year graduated: Bert Church, 2021 Art form/discipline: I mostly specialize in digital illustration, and sometimes I like to make small animations or video clips. For all of that I use Clip Studio Paint EX, and a

Huion GT-191 graphics tablet. I do use traditional mediums like watercolour or acrylics sometimes too. I like to focus a lot on character art and design, and a lot of my illustrations are of characters I’ve developed myself, which I post on most social medias under ‘Record Pigeon.’ Future plans: I’m planning to go into art school to better sharpen my skills, and to do a little bit of networking. Once I have my degree I’m hoping that I’ll be able to focus on doing art as a full-time job, either as a freelance artist online, or working as a concept or comic artist. Currently, I’m working on developing and illustrating my own webcomic, which I hope to start posting in the near future! “Aha” moment: When I started getting really into designing and developing my own characters for comics and worlds I’d build in my head, which acted as a really big motivator for me to work on bettering my skills and learning new techniques to improve my artwork. The more I focused on doing that, and seeing my art improve by leaps and bounds, and the characters I was making feel more and more like they fit in the worlds they resided in, it hit me how much I’d love to do something like that for a living. Illustrating worlds, stories and characters that leap off the pages or screen and feel alive.

NAME: SHI ALLAMBY Age: 18 High school and year graduated: W.H Croxford, 2021 Art form/discipline: I am primarily a digital illustrator and graphic designer, though I share passions in character, story and tattoo design. Future plans: In the future I plan to pursue a career in tattooing. Eventually after pursuing an art education at AUArts in Calgary, I’d love to create both animated and live action feature-length films along with graphic novels. Telling stories through art is something I am very passionate about. “Aha” moment: I never really had an “aha” moment per say. Rather, I gradually found myself falling deeper in love with art as I grew from appreciating its beauty to respecting its principles. I am driven by the excitement that comes with starting a new project or the moment that I realize that something is going to turn out really cool. I’ve always been drawn to storytelling through art, I’ve always loved the stories and films I grew up with, so in some way I always knew that this is something I wanted to do.

NAME: VÉRONIQUE FORTIER Age: 17 High school and year graduated: George McDougall, 2021 Art form/discipline: The tenor saxophone is my main instrument, but I love playing and learning all kinds of different instruments. Future plans: I want to become a music teacher and inspire the next generation of musicians. My biggest inspiration is definitely Mr. Harris; I strive to be as amazing a teacher as he is. I want to share my passion for music and encourage kids to always do their best, just like him. “Aha” moment: I started playing saxophone in Grade 9, and I fell in love with it right away. I started practicing for hours almost every day and I wanted to be the best that I could. Throughout high school, I was always super involved in our band program. I was a part of all four ensembles and really, really enjoyed playing in all of them and I’ve always wanted to be a teacher as well so around Grade 11 I put them both together and decided that I want to be a music teacher. I think every kid should have a chance to try out some instruments and learn how to play because music is just so awesome!