In a year of disruption, cancellations and uncertainty, these local entertainers became stars of 2020

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Tank Standing Buffalo, artist and filmmaker
Artist Tank Standing Buffalo drew on his talents as an artist and a painful past to create the six-minute animated film RKLSS. The film chronicles his imprisonment in Ontario when he was only 15. Part-Anishinaabe, the artist grew up in Chatham, Ont., as the oldest of eight children. He eventually moved to Calgary and parlayed his love of graffiti and comic books into filmmaking. RKLSS was created after he received a scholarship for the Quickdraw Animation Society. It premiered this September at the Toronto International Film Festival and also screened last month at Quickdraw’s Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival.

Jae Sterling, visual artist, hip-hop performer
One of the city’s leading voices in hip-hop, Jamaican-born artist Jae Sterling also hosted his first art exhibit in 2020. The colourful and politically charged Riding Horses with White Men opened at the nvrlnd art gallery this summer. He also drew praise, and more than a little controversy, as the artist selected to create a mural to reflect the Black Lives Matter movement in Calgary. His piece, titled The Guide and Protector, was painted on an apartment building in Chinatown and was inspired by the story of John Ware, a legendary Alberta rancher.

Sykamore, singer-songwriter
Even by 2020 standards, Carseland native Sykamore had a strange year. After spending two years in Nashville, the singer-songwriter made her debut at the Bluebird Cafe, an iconic Music City club that has kickstarted many country music careers over the years. It was on March 4, one day before a deadly tornado swept through Tennessee. She was left without electricity for a few days but made her debut anyway. A few weeks later, COVID-19 shut down Nashville and the rest of the world. Regardless, the artist decided to soldier on. She released a new EP called California King in April, her debut for newly formed Music Knox Records, which was founded by Nashville powerhouse producer Michael Knox.