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The Story of Hope and Resilience: Documenting Christy Morin’s Revitalisation of Alberta Avenue
The Story OF HOPE & RESILIENCE
Edmonton’s 118th Avenue is rich in history and is one of the oldest roads in the city. When the Yellowhead Trail was built in 1970, the adverse consequence was that it moved goods and services away to another part of town. Over time, businesses gradually died and a new dawn set in a once prosperous part of Edmonton. Riddled in parts with drugs, addictions, prostitution, violence and poverty, 118 Avenue is now a hub of arts and culture in Edmonton. Christy Morin is the Executive Director of Arts on the Ave.
Arts on the Ave is a “group which started as a collective of like-minded individuals who planned, developed, implemented, managed and worked together towards their common goals”. Arts on the Ave Edmonton Society is a registered non-profit, charity organization that is engaged in the long term development of 118th Avenue (75th - 106th
Streets) into a community art district. They started in 2005, incorporated into a society in 2007 and since then the creative coalition has experienced exponential growth with a current involvement of over 200 multidisciplinary artists and invested community members. It may be difficult to get your mind around what Arts on the Ave is all about without understanding the importance of their flagship festivals. There are two festivals which have defined the inner city causing ripples of social change. The festivals are: Kaleido Family Arts Festival (currently Kaleido on Tour) and Deep Freeze: A Byzantine Fete. The festivals
Documenting Christy Morin’s Revitalisation of Alberta Avenue.
provide a way to address the magnitude of social problems and to bring life into Alberta Avenue. Kaleido is about surprises, spontaneity, and bringing art to life. It can also be magical. The festivals take away the stigma of the poverty you find in parts of Alberta Avenue. Deep Freeze: A Byzantine Winter Fete celebrates Franco-Canadian, Ukrainian, and Métis cultures and has done so for the past 14 years.
Christy tells us that festivities help to break down some of the barriers that exist within a community. The soul of the community was found through people, she said. When you look at what has been achieved on 118th Avenue, you begin to see that all things are possible when people gather. Over the years, they created beauty through festivals. This means a lot to the people in the surrounding areas of 118 Avenue.
Recognizing during the pandemic in 2020 that Kaleido couldn’t exist in its traditional form, one day Christy was inspired by the sounds of an ice cream van. She decided that the Kaleido Festival could go mobile—on tour—and this is what they did in partnership with Alberta Health Services and the Edmonton Police Service. They created four flat deck trailer ‘floats’, taking performers through communities. It was really special. Arts on the Ave released a documentary titled Kaliedo: 15 years in the Making and it tells the story of Christy Morin through the eyes of the festivals she produces.
Understanding how Christy and her team achieved this is the story behind Arts on the Avenue and the success of 118 Avenue. Christy always thought about ways to help bring the community together. About fifteen years ago, she and her neighbours started gathering in each other’s homes, and also started putting out little notes in the Rat Creek Press (the community newspaper) asking for those who were creative souls to come together for a cup of coffee or glass of wine to chat.
They started off showcasing arts very slowly and saw how much beauty and excitement it brought to the neighbourhood. This gave them the real desire to want to do more, to bring more of that beauty and excitement and it sort of created what we now know as Arts on the Ave. The rest, as they say, is history.
With initiatives such as Families Helping Families, Arts on the Ave strives to be relevant to new immigrant families who may be struggling with food insecurity. The Carrot is another symbol of pride and community. It is a coffee shop for art lovers but more like a melting space for all. The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse is a volunteer-powered cafe and art gallery. It showcases local artisans and it has engaged and empowered artists and community members since 2007. There is something for everyone, including children, at Arts on the Ave. She hopes to see more healing, more togetherness and more great things happening in her community.
To find out more about Arts on the Ave, please visit
