Joel Robison. Photo: Joel Robison
Cranbrook comes out to celebrate diversity
by Margaret Tessman
A serendipitous encounter with a storefront display in Calgary was the inspiration for “Faces of Pride,” a celebration of diversity in Cranbrook now in its third year. Key City Theatre colleagues Brenda Burley and Galen Olstead were at a conference in Calgary during Pride Week in 2022 and happened upon a display of photographs that captured members of the pride community and their stories. Burley remembers being electrified. “I immediately thought, ‘We have to do this in Cranbrook. How do we go about it?'”
Shaun and Lu. Photo: Brian Clarkson
That original spark evolved into a plan to ask a different Cranbrook artist each year to photograph individuals from the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Key City contacted photographer Joel Robison, whose cool self-portraits and whimsical style seemed like an ideal fit for the project. Robison agreed to participate, and the response from the queer community was overwhelmingly positive. “We were going to cap the numbers at twenty-five, but that first year we ended up with forty-two portraits of subjects ranging in age from teens to seventy,” says Burley.
2023 Faces of Pride gallery reception at Key City Theatre. Photo: Brian Clarkson
Portrait subjects were asked to supply their own biographies and were given the scope to be as silly or vulnerable as they wanted to be (“What’s your favourite junk food?” was one of the bio cues). The mounted photos were displayed at Key City Theatre for the month of June, with an opening reception to kick off the exhibition. Because the theatre closes for the summer, downtown businesses were approached to sponsor a portrait for the rest of the season. “Cranbrook Tourism was a great support, along with Rotary and other clubs and organizations that stepped up,” Burley says. Key City produced a “Faces of Pride” ArtWalk map with a QR code that could be used to access the biographies.
Key City Theatre celebrates Pride Week. Photo: Brian Clarkson
Robison returned to photograph the 2024 subjects. He had married and was living in the U.K. but when he and his husband returned to Cranbrook he again agreed to take on the job. “When Joel was growing up in Cranbrook, it wasn’t as safe as it is now,” says Burley. “By making himself and the queer community visible, he is paving the way for others.”
Blaise. Photo: Joel Robison
Burley feels that the display ended up opening doors on many levels. “The portraits acted as a tool for demystification,” she says. The lesson for the community as a whole became “If you meet somebody, you meet somebody on the level of where they are.” On a personal level, Burley was moved to tears by the 70-year-old subject who had moved to Cranbrook to care for his mother and didn’t know anyone in the queer community. “The Pride party was his first integration into that network.”
Dust. Photo: Stephanie Moore and Morgan Turner
For 2025, local photographers Stephanie Moore and Morgan Turner came on board, and the portrait subjects were expanded to include families and allies. Moore and Turner posed their subjects in the studio in a casual way that allowed them to come across as themselves. Galen Olstead writes on the Key City Theatre website that “This project has always been about visibility, belonging and joy. With Stephanie and Morgan at the helm, we’re seeing a beautiful expansion of what that joy can look like. It’s moving, it’s personal and it’s filled with heart.”
Gary. Photo: Stephanie Moore and Morgan Turner
Burley agrees: “I think what I’ve been moved by is that the project has been transformational and has involved so many layers of the community. The message is, ‘We’re here and we support you.'”
keycitytheatre.com/faces-of-pride
