Edmonton is home to an amazing collection of artists, musicians, and writers who captivate the city with their emotions and ideas. The following Edmontonians will be sharing their work and hosting library programs as our new Capital City Featured Creators.
Featured Artist
Leila Zolfalipour is an Edmonton-based visual artist originally from Iran. Her practice explores identity, multiculturalism, and our connection to the natural world. Through painting, sculpture, and digital media, she reinterprets Persian motifs and weaving traditions, focusing on the untold stories of women involved in creating Persian carpets.
Leila holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of Alberta, graduating with distinction in 2024. She is a Juried Member of the Alberta Society of Artists and has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. Her work integrates Persian carpet patterns into the Canadian landscape, using natural materials such as wood and clay sourced from the local environment, to explore the interplay between heritage and place.
She is the recipient of awards, including the EAC Individual Grant, the Elizabeth Ann Burgess Award for Contemporary Arts (2023, 2024), and the 2024 Alberta Culture Days People’s Choice Award. Her most recent project, generously supported by the Edmonton Arts Council, is set to be exhibited across Alberta. In addition to her artistic practice, Leila teaches workshops that engage diverse audiences in painting and drawing. She has also served as an assessor, consultant and juror, and she continues to foster dialogue on cultural appreciation and belonging through her art.
Follow her on Instagram and check out her website to learn more.
Upcoming Program:
Mosaic of Being: Art, Nature and Cultural Connection
Sunday, December 14
This engaging artist talk and hands-on workshop explores connections between culture, identity, and the natural world. Participants will have the opportunity to see Leila’s original paintings and sculptures up close, including works from her recent series generously supported by the Edmonton Arts Council (EAC).
Featured Musician
Tamarack Cunningham is a composer, songwriter, and maybe the seventh-best ukulele player in Edmonton (there’s no official ranking). Everything from traditional Métis tunes to indie rock to electro-acoustic soundscapes. Pioneer in the genre of post-bardcore (not a typo).
Upcoming Program:
Finding Your Voice as a Songwriter
Thursday, December 11
In this workshop, Tamarack Cunningham will share concrete strategies for finding your voice as a songwriter. It'll cover everything from text analysis, the importance of karaoke, and the "Hey Ya!" problem, to exercises and practices for writing, the interplay of lyrics and music, and more. If you've ever struggled to write songs that feel authentic to your personality and experiences, or even someone else's personality and experiences, this zoom session will give you some excellent pointers to get started.
Featured Writer
Elisabeth Shenher is a writer from Edmonton, Alberta. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and she teaches writing through the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society. Her fiction has appeared in The Fiddlehead, won the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Furious Fiction competition, and has been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She is the recipient of grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and was previously a participant in the Banff Centre’s Emerging Writers’ Intensive.
Currently, she is working on a novel and a short story collection. In her writing, she explores themes surrounding current issues such as climate change, social media, and the ways people find hope in bleak situations. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, yoga, and collecting more books than she has time to read.
Learn More!
- Capital City Art promotes and celebrates local visual art and artists in Edmonton. The Library connects Edmontonians with visual art through the promotion of local artists, curation of community art in all our locations, and classes or events linked to EPL's art collections.
- Capital City Press is a gathering place, both digitally and physically, for the exchange of ideas and education on the craft of writing. It gives Edmontonians a chance to discover fantastic local writers and discuss their creations. Capital City Press aims to help support and grow writing in the community.
- Capital City Records celebrates Edmonton's music scene and its history. This special digital collection includes some of Edmonton’s best contemporary local music, as well as a gig poster archive and NTT Films' Dead Venues documentary. Anyone can stream albums and, with your library card, you can download your favourite tracks.
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