by daniel j kirk
“ Wayfinding is the process of helping individuals orient themselves and navigate a physical space or environment.”
In the fall of 2024 the HSCA was successful in applying for a micro-grant through Calgary Arts Development. The intention for the grant was to bring awareness to the changes happening to the front of the HSCA building’s main entrance way and to begin conversations about “wayfinding” in our community. Wayfinding is the process of helping individuals orient themselves and navigate a physical space or environment.
Partnering with Blank Page Studio to engage the community and develop an artistic outcome, the project officially began in April of 2025.
After some initial conversations, posing broad questions about “where we are?” and “how did we get here?” the idea that our community exists as three main sections within the whole became clear; Sunnyside, Hillhurst and Kensington.
Though very much interconnected, these three distinct areas remain separate in the minds of many. For example we found that just because someone finds their way to Kensington to shop or meet at a cafe, doesn’t mean they know that they are in the community of Hillhurst-Sunnyside.
We began working with the Kensington BIA to talk about ways to connect the business district and the greater community, sparking more conversations about signage and landmarks.
To bring some of this work back to the HSCA’s building, we will be completing the exterior mural around the new main entrance in June 2025.
We will continue to connect some of the imagery from the mural at the HSCA to the broader community, such as has already happened in 2023 with the murals at the Sunnyside Lift Station (by the curling club).
Stay tuned for other visual connections throughout Kensington, Sunnyside and Hillhurst in the coming months as we work to weave thoughtful threads throughout the area, bringing attention to our context.
To culminate this project we will host a circle at the HSCA in the fall of 2025 to better understand our community together and to ponder the questions of: “where we have come from?” and “where we are going?”.
