With Studio M*’s move from Calgary, AB to Nanaimo, BC we no longer have the 920A Live-in Library. Stay tuned for the next iteration in the future.
FALL 2020
Thanks to all who joined the Plein Air Library evenings in our yard this summer and fall.
This is a drop-in event that is an on-going socially-engaged project of Studio M* in Barbara & Michael’s home space. All are welcome to come and share a cup of tea, explore the collection of books, engage in conversation and/or curl up with a book. Some evenings will include a theme, activity, or talk and others are open and relaxed. Youth and children are welcome although it is a library geared more for adults.
LISTEN to our guest speaker Nicole Hartley Bradford’s talk from January as she shares her journey with social permaculture. We had a lively conversation with neighbours and friends after Nicole’s talk. This recording does not include that conversation. Thanks to Thunder Earth Child for the photograph of Nicole & Michael from the evening.
“A Story Behind Every Book” evening photo
920A Live-In Library – east view from kitchen
“A library is simply a tool for divination – a subtle biography and character study of its owner. In a sense, we build a mirror unintentionally, but the result is an exceptional pool for reflection.”
– Gabriel Saloman and Aja Bond
Begun 44 years ago by Michael, this library combined with Barbara’s now has approximately 3500 books. It has had various iterations over the years. It was a community library in Calgary within the In Search of fearlessness Centre and Research Institute through the 1990s. During this time community members used the library and donated books to its collection. It is now housed in our residence in the Bridgeland neighbourhood and we envision it as an open access live-in library as an extension of Studio M*. We offer it as a practice of radical hospitality, inviting in the teachings that opening our doors to a public can bring to us and the community in a neoliberal world that is increasingly privatized.
The collection holds books and articles in a range of areas of study such as: art history, feminisms, adult education, education, art catalogues, women artists, art education, arts-based research, art therapy, self help, new age, esoteric, mythology, dreams, cultural studies, geography, the culture of fear, ‘Fear’ Studies, anthropologies, psychologies, sociologies, peer counseling, east and west spiritualities and religions, eco and women’s spirituality, men’s studies, environment and ecology, indigenous, urban studies, philosophies, animal behaviour, politics, integral and matrixial theory.
To visit the library by appointment contact studiomatrixial@gmail.com
Weekly open library hours Friday evenings from 6:30-9pm.
920A Live-In Library – south view from living room front windows
Studio M* 