The ever-blooming Bella

Dean Brad Mahon shares the Taylor Centre’s definition of what it means to Centre the Arts

Brad Mahon in the lobby of the Bella Concert Hall with team members wearing Centre the Arts apparel.

We love music, but we don't always show that affection through financial support.

So, we dreamed up this movement—a masterpiece that puts the arts first, at the centre. At the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts, we want to Centre the Arts.

Every movement needs some buzz. We needed community support and partners who believed in the same thing we did, so we reached out to Local Laundry. We knew that as a proud alum of Mount Royal University, Dustin Paisley would get us, and he did. #hometownhero #youbelonghere

"As the Bella continues to bloom, even during a pandemic, we think we have the opportunity to bring the arts, academia, and all of you closer together."

Brad Mahon, PhD 

We collaborated with Local Laundry to create a design based on our flagship venue: the Bella Concert Hall. Now, if you haven’t been to the Bella, you must visit once we reopen. We are currently in the midst of a long intermission due to COVID-19. I can assure you, in addition to being acoustically perfect, she is gorgeous too. Inspired by Alberta through and through, the Bella features the colours of the wheat fields and glacial lakes, mixed with the Rocky Mountains, all with an iconic wild rose built right into the ceiling. That wild rose, which so perfectly renders the Bella, was the sweater design's inspiration and represents centreing the arts. It's great to have petals around the outside, but it's the core that matters.

Watch a video highlighting the incredible architecture of the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts and Bella Concert Hall.

Investing in the arts is investing in where you live. The "Centre the Arts" campaign is essential to living in a vibrant community. We are fortunate to live in a great city with special artists enriching our lives, regardless of whether we experience that art online or in-person.

As the Bella continues to bloom, even during a pandemic, we think we have the opportunity to bring the arts, academia, and all of you closer together.

I hope you will continue to engage with the arts in our new reality because I promise you, there’s some great stuff happening out there.

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” - The Emperor, Mulan.

Let's make this flower bloom together. #CentreTheArts.

Brad Mahon, PhD
Dean of the Faculty of Continuing Education and Conservatory Mount Royal University

Buy your Centre the Arts sweater or toque today to help raise funds for the MRU Conservatory Academy Endowment Fund. Proceeds from sales go toward subsidizing students' tuition, and many graduates go on to have lifelong careers contributing to the arts.