Rumble House a creative hub in downtown Calgary

Downtown art auction house Every week, lots of local artists cram into a tiny southwest building to sell their work. Kevin Green has more.

On Wednesday nights in downtown Calgary, a tiny building in the west end of 8th Avenue turns into a crucible of creativity.

It’s called Rumble House, where for the past six years artists have gathered to paint, draw, sculpt and create.

The evenings start at 7 p.m. with a wheel being spun to generate three themes, then artists get to work.

At the end of each two-hour session, another crowd fills the space and the works are auctioned off. Half the proceeds stay with Rumble House to offset costs, and the other half stays with the artist.

The brainchild of Calgary teachers Jessica Szabo and Rich Theroux, the weekly events actually started as small gatherings, but soon grew.

“Within the first week, kids were coming in with their backpacks and professional artists were showing up, and we didn’t have the heart to turn them away so we shifted our model,” said Theroux.

“We wrote a manifesto for everybody. Now it sounds trite but six years ago we called it inclusionism and it seemed mind blowing. When you invite everybody in on the premise of inclusion, you get a diverse group of people.”

The idea was to do eight weeks over the course of a summer, but this past Wednesday the group marked it is 311th edition.

“I’m still learning new things and still discovering new things about myself and the community,” said Theroux.

“It’s just a way to connect in a way that I hadn’t been connecting before.”

At the end of this week’s Rumble House, the pieces of artwork created sold for between $10 and $150 each.

Theroux says he and Szabos don’t make profit.

“We lose money here, but we get to live like kings and queens,” he said.

“We get invited to dinners and meet amazing people. It’s kind of a currency beyond money where we’re living like wealthy people without spending money.”

Artist Riley Madaire, 15, has been attending sessions for the past year.

“The atmosphere and the people,” she said when asked what drew her to the space.

“It’s kind of all inclusive. It definitely inspires me hearing everyone’s stories and looking at the art that everyone does.”

(With files from CTV's Kevin Green)