Everywhere else, the month we're currently in is known as September, but in Airdrie, we know it as ARTember, a month to celebrate the diverse artistic and cultural community in the city.

And, according to the Chair of Creative Airdrie, Jennifer Benner, the celebration is well underway.  

When it originated, Benner says ARTember was meant to coincide with Alberta Culture Days.  "It started in 2010, so this is our eighth year.  I guess we have different seasons for different things, sports seasons and things like that, It was originally placed throughout September because we were tying it in with Alberta Culture Days which is always occurs on the last weekend of September (this year September 28th - 30th).  We just thought we'd make a month-long celebration."

The first event of ARTember for Creative Airdrie was last weekend's AirdrieFEST.  Benner says she thinks it was the best one so far in the city.  Creative Airdrie was involved with a booth, a paint wall for kids and were promoting volunteerism in culture and the arts throughout the year. 

Several more events will go throughout the month including the Mexican Independence Day Festival on Saturday at Nose Creek Park, the Desonus Charity Concert at the Bert Church Live Theatre on Saturday, September 22nd and the Airdrie Film Festival at the Roxy Theatre that's also on September 22nd.

Benner says the goal of ARTember is to bring attention to and help promote the arts and culture community in the city, but she also says there's a deeper motive for it.

"If we focus throughout the month of September and create these positive experiences and events that happen then the people that participate in that are more likely to engage with arts and culture events throughout the year if they create that connection.  Having a focus for a short amount of time to help engage as many people as possible, really does help out in the long run."

Benner says the arts community in Airdrie is a rich and diverse one and they want to showcase it as much as possible to allow them to see talent they might not otherwise know we have during ARTember.

"We want to keep people in Airdrie, supporting the local economy and supporting local vendors.  There's something for pretty much everyone this month."  

To see a full list of ARTember events go here.

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