BUMP Festival Arts Society

Since 2017, BUMP Festival has programmed
165 murals and 300+ Road Works across Calgary. We’ve worked with 160+ Canadian visual artists, 15 international muralists, and 120+ musicians and performers, producing over 100 public events, 7 graffiti jams, and activating 14 communities city wide. We must became a registered charity to continue our ambitious vision for the city and its evolving culture. Your support helps us continue creating space where local, national, and international artists can exchange ideas, collaborate, and speak through public art that is free, accessible, and embedded in the city. Support BUMP. Invest in art that moves the city. You can donate today at the link in our bio ❤️

Our 2025 Impact Report is out now. This year marked a major shift for BUMP. We just officially became the BUMP Festival Arts Society, which will allow us to deepen our public impact, support artists more sustainably, and build a stronger future for public art in Calgary and across Western Canada. Inside the report, you’ll find what the impact for the past year really looks like: the artists we commissioned, the communities we worked with, the scale of public programming, and the ways public art continues to reshape how we experience this city. If you believe in free, accessible public art and in paying artists fairly, this is the moment to get involved. Your donation directly supports artists, ambitious programming, and the next chapter of BUMP. Read the full 2025 Impact Report and donate via the link in our bio 🔗

When you zoom out, what do you see? Not just murals. Not just walls. But a city in the act of becoming. BUMP 2025 asked: What if a festival was also a place we imagined and created together? A place where art disrupts neutrality, memory lives on concrete, and culture reshapes the built environment. And we definitely got some fantastic answers from our artists. This year’s murals take us to all sorts of places, telling us stories, giving us symbols to carry with us, to spark memories, and to reimagine what our city walls can hold. Please meet this year’s summer murals: 
Nicole Boyce – Passage: abstract forms and colors evoke conversations on time, and transition, inviting open-ended reflection.

Megan Oldhues – Linens in the Wind: everyday intimacy in sunlit fabric and gesture. Steph Babij – Held By The Land: rivers, forests, prairies, mountains, guided by ancestral ties. Nathan Meguinis – Grandmother & Grandfather of the West Direction: Dèné Tsuut’ina teachings of love, strength and the next generation. Ratur – a fossilized traffic light reclaimed by nature, through it we witness ruin and rebirth. 
Absen – Road to Home: flipping the script, a girl rides into Calgary from the mountains, our city as destination. Drew Young – Barbed Oasis: barbs, irises tangled together, pain and beauty in one root. Matthew Springer – a jubilant marching band at Commonwealth, celebrating Calgary’s music and community. Together, these artists remind us: public space is not neutral. Cities are built not just for commerce and control, but for memory, imagination, and transformation. Much thanks to Jevan Bailey @jbvisualz_ our official BUMP Festival photographer for capturing all these beautiful final shots as well as the photographs you saw all summer on our feed of mural artists and their walls.

Join us for the BLOX Mural Tour in collaboration with BUMP 🎨 Take a guided walk through Beltline’s open-air gallery and learn more about the artists, stories, and inspirations behind the murals you pass by every day. 📅 Sunday, May 24 ⏰ 12 PM – 1 PM 📍Starting at BLOX Arts Centre — 834 11 Ave SW Free to attend, but registration is required. Find the link in our bio! #yycevents #muraltouryyc #bumpyyc #artyyc #beltlinetour

Thursday May 14 & Friday May 15 are the final two days to visit the Apothecary! Bring your friends, family and come take some medicine! 12 PM - 5 PM, [Running till May 15] 106–107, 111 3 Ave SE (Chinatown)
!!! FREE ENTRY !!! Artworks are for sale, a price list is available in the gallery space.

Say hi to some of the CAMP BUMP youth cohort!!! 💗 If you haven’t heard the news, CAMP BUMP is a new youth mentorship initiative we just launched! This inaugural cohort brings together 22 high school students under the age of 18 from equity-seeking communities across Calgary, from schools throughout the city. Together, they joined our wider Road Works program to create their own solo barrier works across Calgary. You’ll be seeing some of their barriers out there near the patios this summer 💥✨🧨 We’re super proud of what these fantastic kids made, can’t wait for you to run into these CAMP BUMP canvases under the sun. Video by @jbvisualz_

Behind every great CAMP BUMP artist this spring was a mentor helping guide the way. For the inaugural year of CAMP BUMP, we were proud to bring together four incredible BUMP Festival alumni and leading voices from Calgary’s arts community to mentor our cohort of 22 youth artists as they created their first large-scale public artworks across the city. Say hello to Kat, Matthew, Josee & Harvey 💗💗 From helping students navigate technique, composition, colour, and materials, to conversations around storytelling, confidence, collaboration, and what it means to create work in public space, these mentors played an essential role in shaping the experience of the program. CAMP BUMP is a brand new program rooted in the belief that public art grows through knowledge sharing, experimentation, and intergenerational exchange. This program is presented in partnership with the City of Calgary, and reflects a shared commitment to building pathways for emerging voices, and expanding what public art can be.

In 2026, we are proud to have just launched CAMP BUMP, a new youth mentorship initiative designed to grow and evolve year after year. This inaugural cohort brings together 22 high school students under the age of 18 from equity-seeking communities across Calgary, from schools throughout the city. Together, they joined our wider Road Works program to create their own solo barrier works across Calgary. Guided by four standout BUMP Festival alumni (@kat_simmers @springatus @joseelaguita & @harveynichol.ca ) and leading voices from Calgary’s art scene, participants were mentored through every stage of the process. From technique and material to style, storytelling, and the realities of working in public space, each artist was supported in bringing their vision to life at scale. CAMP BUMP is rooted in the belief that the future of public art is already here, waiting to be inspired and given portals to leap through. By creating space for young artists to experiment, and contribute to the city’s visual language, we are investing in the next generation of cultural producers shaping Calgary in real time. This program is presented in partnership with the City of Calgary, and reflects a shared commitment to building pathways for emerging voices, and expanding what public art can be. Ammazzzing Poster by @springatus

The 2026 Road Works cohort have been painting and getting to know each other on our site the past two weeks through all of our eccentric weather 🙂‍↕️✨❄️ 🌧️ ☀️ 🫡 Barriers hitting the streets sooooooon. Photos by @jbvisualz_

Thank you Mayor Farkas (@jeromyyyc ) for stopping by the 2026 Road Works site this weekend and getting a sneak peek into a special BUMP youth program we are kicking off this year (😱 full announcement soooon) Photos by @jbvisualz_

The Apothecary space will be open this week, free to the public till Sunday. Bring your friends, family and come take some medicine! 12 PM - 5 PM, Wed-Sun [Running till May 15] 106–107, 111 3 Ave SE (Chinatown)
!!! FREE ENTRY !!! Artworks are for sale, a price list is available in the gallery space. [pictured here is ‘The Shape of You’ by @katiegreen which is for sale 👁️ ]

WE’RE HIRING FOR SUMMER 2026 ✨ BUMP Festival Arts Society is gearing up for our 10th year and we’re building a team to help bring this summer of public art and play to life. As we move toward August, we’re expanding our crew with three seasonal roles: 💥Mural Coordinator
✨Festival & Events Coordinator
🧨Marketing & Communications Coordinator We’re a small but deeply collaborative team that believes in showing up for the work and for each other. Expect a space where ideas are shared openly, different perspectives are valued, and everyone contributes to shaping the city in real time. If you’re excited by public art, community, and building something meaningful over the summer, we want to hear from you. How to apply: 
Please visit the link in our bio or yycbump.ca to learn more about each role. All applications must be submitted through our portal, which is linked within each job posting. You’re welcome to apply for multiple positions. If you have questions, email [email protected] & info@yycbump ,ca Application Deadline: May 7, 2026 at 11:59 PM MST Join the movement!