Uptown 7th Art Gallery

Waiting for a train can be a pretty mundane part of your day. But then some giant, white bubbles appear floating high in the sky. You turn to see a human mannequin in the window and a musician playing in another window. Next to them is the storefront of an old restaurant with witty remarks and philosophical quotes written on its chalkboard exterior. Welcome to Uptown 7th Art Gallery, located next to the Seventh Avenue Southwest CTrain platform.

This is a big difference from what the area was like before Jonathan Sunstrum transformed these buildings into a creative space. Seventh Avenue used to be a much bleaker part of Calgary. When one of the local businesses closed down and the building fell into disrepair, Jonathan knew it could be put to better use. “I wanted to take a place and try to make it culturally interesting,” he says. “Even though this place is slated for demolition in the near future, I wanted to reinvigorate it in the interim.”

That was in 2012 and the building Jonathan thought he was temporarily saving is still standing. He has also taken over two other places beside it, opening Uptown 7th Art Gallery in 2015.