When Ebony Gooden moved to Calgary, she knew she wanted to teach people to listen to something other than just a voice.
“When I came here, I realized I had to fight for things to be accessible,” says Gooden, the only Black Deaf artist living in Calgary.
She’s now determined to make artistic experiences accessible to all. One of those experiences is The Room Sculpture Experience, a unique, hands-on event created by Ghost River Theatre artistic director Eric Rose.
“It’s really an immersive art-making experience,” Rose explains. “We allow people to come in, it’s guided, and they make art together — silently. What’s so beautiful about that is the language of art is the currency in the room.”
The 45-minute experience invites participants to use materials like giant inflatables, pebbles and mannequins to transform a dark, empty room into a life-sized sculpture. The focus is on collaboration and connection.
“One person puts something down, another person builds on that, and so on,” Gooden says. “It’s the collaboration or the ‘taking away’ together. There’s never a perfect shape.”
A special highlight of The Room Sculpture Experience is the Deaf-led sessions, guided by Gooden herself. These sessions, held on Oct. 4 and 5, put Deaf audiences at the forefront, reshaping the intersection of accessibility and art.
“I’ve worked with a number of Deaf actors and creators over the years,” Rose says. “And just to see the level of barrier that they’re facing just to be in the room really made me pause and consider how to change my practice.”
For Gooden, these sessions are deeply personal and serve as a reminder of the power of human connection.
“People can be so busy living that they forget to take the time to really connect to another human,” she says.
The Room Sculpture Experience is on stage at the West Village Theatre until Oct. 7. Tickets are available on Ghost River Theatre’s website.