Last night, Calgary celebrated its designation as Canada’s Cultural Capital in the best way possible — with a red-carpet gala unveiling the Fashion Calgary Portrait Campaign, and I got to be part of it.

I was named one of 25 Cultural Ambassadors, a group of Calgarians from media, sports, politics, and the arts who are shaping the city’s cultural life right now. Photographers Rafal Wegiel and Fashionista Ania Basak spent weeks capturing each of us not in a studio, but in our own worlds — the places that actually define who we are. Seeing those portraits unveiled tonight, alongside everyone else’s, was something else entirely.

Beyond the photography, the whole project has been about giving back — the campaign partners with charitable organizations across the city, so tonight wasn’t just about the images, it was about what they’re doing for Calgary.

And then there was the stage. I performed at the gala tonight, and got to share it with Oscar Lopez, the Juno Award-winning guitarist — playing alongside an artist of that caliber, in celebration of a city I love, is a night I won’t forget anytime soon.

Walking out of the gala tonight, what stays with me isn’t just the portrait or the spotlight — it’s what this campaign represents: a city recognizing its own culture-makers and asking us to give something back in return. I’m so grateful to have been part of it, violin in hand, on a night that captured Calgary at its most creative.