HOME: Artist Residency
Exploring belonging, identity, and connection through art.
Sparrow Arts Society is a Calgary-based non-profit organization dedicated to supporting artists and strengthening community through creativity, collaboration, and connection. Operating from the historic DeWaal Building in Bridgeland, Sparrow Artspace provides artist residencies, exhibitions, workshops, and creative opportunities that help artists grow while making the arts accessible and welcoming for everyone.
Meet Yu Chen - Oil Painter
Yu Chen is a Calgary-based oil painter whose work explores identity, belonging, and cultural exchange through portraiture. Collaborating with immigrant artists from diverse backgrounds, she creates meaningful portraits that celebrate traditional attire, personal stories, and the connections that unite people across cultures
Meet Kseniia Koshmai - Miniture Artist
Kseniia Koshmai is a visual artist specializing in miniature painting and mixed media. Her detailed works explore themes of memory, belonging, and identity, reflecting on how the feeling of home can be carried through life's journeys, even when a permanent place no longer exists. Through everyday objects, she invites viewers to reconnect with meaningful memories and moments.
About our Residency
In the summer of 2026, I am honoured to participate in the HOME Artist Residency at Sparrow Artspace alongside four incredible artists from diverse cultural backgrounds. Together, we explored the many meanings of home through our unique artistic practices, creating an exhibition that invited visitors to reflect on identity, belonging, memory, and connection.
Meet Shea Iles - Musician/Beader
A Métis beadwork artist and musician from Grande Prairie, she creates work inspired by her heritage, music, and a fascination with patterns and relationships. Through beadwork and sound, she explores identity, creativity, and the connections between the natural and everyday worlds.
Meet Ezgi Turker - Dancer
Ezgi Türker is a Turkish interdisciplinary artist and contemporary dancer based in Calgary. Drawing on her background in the social sciences, her work explores themes of identity, memory, climate justice, and human connection, creating immersive experiences that encourage reflection, dialogue, and a deeper understanding of our relationship with one another and the world around us.
What does it mean to find home?For some, home is a place. For others, it is found in family, culture, memories, or the people we meet along the way.Created for the HOME Artist Residency, this installation reflects the journeys that shape who we are and the connections that bring us together. A world map serves as the foundation, with handcrafted dreamcatchers representing each of the five resident artists. Threads trace our individual paths from our countries or places of origin to Calgary, weaving across the map in different directions.Some paths are direct, while others twist, cross, and even return to familiar places. They represent the unique experiences, challenges, relationships, and moments that have shaped each of our lives. Although every journey is different, they have all led to this shared moment in time—a place where strangers became collaborators, friends, and part of one another's stories.For me, this installation is a reminder that home is not always where we begin. Sometimes, home is found in the people who walk beside us, the communities that welcome us, and the connections we create along the way.As you explore the installation, I invite you to reflect on your own journey. Where has your path taken you? Who has shaped your understanding of home? And how have the people you've met become woven into your story?
