When Ishita Singla, founder and artistic director of Madhuban Performing Arts, first stepped into the Community Spaces chapter of the Evergreen Theatre Society, it was like being welcomed home.
“It felt so nice to be in a space where all you could hear was music and dance and feet tapping and joy,” says Singla, noting that her South Asian dance company struggled to secure stable space to rehearse and host public workshops before finding Evergreen.
“We’re a community of dancers who like to share our culture, and we are a little raw,” adds Singla, explaining that Madhuban is not a professional dance company. “If you walk into a space and you feel intimidated, then you’re not going to be able to create. But Evergreen provides a space which is open for all, and you see a lot of representation.”
FILLING A GAP
While many Calgarians may think of Evergreen Theatre’s educational musical theatre shows performed at schools around the city over the past 34 years, the organization has also provided purpose-built space for dancers, musicians, and other grassroots organizations, particularly in its present Mayland Heights location. In 2024, the organization reported to the Calgary Arts Development Authority almost 5,000 activities in the studio spaces, 800 of which were designated explicitly for youth.
Evergreen’s vast community was shocked when the organization announced that it would be closing its doors on June 30, 2025.
“It’ll be a really impactful loss, not only for the constituency of Calgary-Klein, but also for the city,” says Lizette Tejada, Calgary-Klein MLA and shadow minister for Immigration and Multiculturalism. “Several of the cultural groups within Calgary depend on Evergreen as a space to practise, to gather their members, and to keep their own traditions going.”
The decision is, “frankly, a devastating loss for the community. We strongly believe in the value of [Evergreen’s] Community Spaces,” says Melissa Tuplin, director of Community Investment and Impact at the Calgary Arts Development. “The Evergreen Community Spaces is home to a number of cultural organizations that are dedicated to the preservation and advancement of their cultural forms. It’s an incredibly important and vibrant environment.”
Tuplin adds that many of the organizations using Evergreen’s Community Spaces operate with little funding, whether from public sources or earned revenue.
“One of Evergreen’s mandates has always been to have accessible programming and space,” says Sean Fraser, executive director of the Evergreen Theatre Society. “We charged rates that were well under market value in order to make sure that people had access.”
Indeed, Evergreen stayed true to its mandate.
Trevor Rueger, executive director of the Alberta Playwrights Network, is a long-term tenant at Evergreen. His monthly rent of $450 has not increased in the 10 years he’s leased at Community Spaces. When Rueger first heard the news of Evergreen’s impending closure, he “was struck by how hard the organization’s team worked to ensure their Mayland Heights space stayed financially accessible over the past 10 years.”
Adds Karen Pysyk, chair of Yalenka Ukrainian Dancers: “Having access to Evergreen community spaces allowed our organization to grow significantly over the past three years.
The affordable nature of the space has allowed us to provide access to families with lower economic means.”
Pysyk says that, for Yalenka Ukrainian Dancers, which has operated in Calgary for 50 years, that meant supporting low-income families and families who fled violence in Ukraine.
FINANCIAL UPHILL BATTLE
However, providing financially accessible space came at a cost.
Ten years ago, Evergreen Theatre Society decided to move from its Currie Barracks location. Fraser contacted the Alberta Social Enterprise Fund (SEF) to discuss funding for a new space. Evergreen had previously secured and paid back a $40,000 loan from the fund in 2009. The negotiations were successful, and SEF loaned Evergreen Theatre Society roughly $4.9 million to purchase and renovate their current space in Mayland Heights. In January of this year, SEF notified the Evergreen Theatre Society that they had to repay the loan by March 15. Fraser subsequently negotiated with the fund to give Evergreen until June 30 to continue operating, as, without securing $5.5 million — which includes the initial $4.9-million loan and around $600,000 in back-interest payments — the company will be forced to foreclose.
Fraser adds that Evergreen Theatre Society has paid around $1.2 million in interest, accrued monthly, since 2015. He notes that Evergreen never missed a payment.
“[SEF] were the ones that agreed to interest-only payments, and not to not do a fully blended principal and interest payment. That is why the principal has not been touched at this point,” says Fraser.
While Ryan Young, director of SEF, was unavailable for an interview since SEF is still in discussions with Evergreen, he released a written statement that stated, “We recognize the role Evergreen holds in Calgary’s cultural community and that the completion of their 10- year loan term impacts many artists, employees, and patrons.”
In the statement, Young also noted that, “when loans are not repaid, it affects our ability to support other impactful community initiatives that also need resources.”
FINDING FUNDING
The performance branch of the Evergreen Theatre Society has received provincial and civic government funding for many years. When the society purchased its Community Spaces, they received an annual average of $66,000 from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) , totalling around $650,000 as of 2025. The Calgary Arts Development Authority (CADA) has provided the Community Spaces annual funding since 2019. In the 2023-2024 funding year, CADA granted Evergreen $45,000.
However, grants from both organizations are specifically allocated for operational use — including day-to-day operations, as well as programming.
“Our funding is not intended for the purchase of land and buildings,” says Tuplin.
In a written statement, Juliana Rodriguez, press secretary for the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, noted: “Alberta’s government is aware that the society has announced their closure due to ongoing challenges with outstanding debt. While we are committed to supporting the arts sector in Alberta, we do not provide funding for debt servicing.”
Says Fraser: “So, what’s the difference whether you invest and pay off our mortgage after we open, as opposed to before we open?” Fraser adds that MLA Tanya Fir, minister of Arts, Culture, and the Status of Women, and Mayor Jyoti Gondek have both toured the Community Spaces and acknowledged Evergreen’s impact.
While Mayor Gondek was unavailable for interview, a written statement says, “On January 31, my office received an email from Evergreen Programming asking for financial support from the City of Calgary to secure an extension with the SEF to continue operations. As mayor, I have no way of providing grants to organizations, so our Deputy Chief of Staff reached out to City Administration about this matter to see if anything could be done.”
Gondek’s statement continues that this information was shared with Evergreen, and that the company was referred to the CADA.
“The closure of Evergreen is disheartening, as small, grassroots community organizations like these provide critical arts and culture programming to our city,” completes Gondek’s statement.
“CADA has been fighting this battle alongside us for arts and culture spaces in Calgary,” says Fraser. Indeed, CADA is the majority shareholder of cSPACE Projects, which runs a Space Pilot project. The program offers “meanwhile leases” to small community and arts groups, enabling them to use vacant commercial space until a long-term tenant is found.
END OF AN ERA
While arts funding and policy continue to be a topic of discussion provincially and civically, it’s too little, too late for the Evergreen Theatre Society,
“As sad as it is, it’s just another example of how our system doesn’t really appreciate community, doesn’t really appreciate culture, it doesn’t really appreciate the arts,” says Fraser.
For Evergreen’s numerous long- and short- term tenants, the Community Spaces closure makes for an uncertain future.
“I’ve invested in converting my home basement space into [a] dance studio as a temporary solution until we are able to afford our own commercial space, but I don’t foresee that in the near future,” says Singla, adding that Madhuban Performing Arts will no longer be able to offer public workshops once they lose access to Evergreen’s Community Spaces.
Similarly, Pysyk notes that Yalenka Ukrainian Dancers may be forced to limit their community performances or have to increase tuition costs.
“We also may find that we’re in a position where we’re renting from many different places, which will have a huge impact on the culture and connection within our organization,” she says.
Evergreen’s closure leaves a hole in Calgary’s ecosystem of affordable arts spaces. Time will tell if that void can ever be filled.
