How Calgary Expo’s Artist Alley brings unique communities together; an interview with Yuki Tanaka
By Ben Read, May 21 2026—
Calgary Expo’s “Artist Alley” gives the chance for creators to share and sell their artwork. It gives creators the chance to get their work out there and to connect with like-minded people who resonate with their creations.
The Gauntlet got the chance to speak with Yuki Tanaka, a Calgary-based creator who goes under the handles @thenekodama and @smirkingcat on Instagram and X, for their experiences with their art and on participating in the Artist Alley.
“There’s really two different artworks I have here because the plushies are really cute and round, and then the other side is my passion, fighting games,” Tanaka said.
Tanaka’s artwork varies between their plushies and fanart of characters from fighting games. Their plushies are of cats shaped into a ball, which they call “Nekodamas”. The name “Nekodama” comes from the Japanese words “Neko” and “Dama”, meaning cat and ball respectively. They are meant to represent cats that can easily fit into your hands and are good for cuddling, Tanaka creates each Nekodama themselves and each one is a cute, unique plushie.
On the other hand, Tanaka takes inspiration from fighting games such as Guilty Gear, Marvel vs Capcom, and Melty Blood in their artwork. They were inspired by the character designs within these games and wished to display these designs in their own work.
Tanaka described interacting with the communities behind these fighting games is what makes the majority of the Expo so fun.
“[It is] 75-80% of the fun at conventions like Calgary Expo” said Tanaka.
Conventions like Calgary Expo are where a lot of subcultures within gaming communities are able to coalesce and unite due to their shared passions for these games.
“It’s great that community is in that acronym [FGC]. It really does feel like it’s a great medium to connect people,” Tanaka said.
Fighting Game Community, also known as FGC, is the acronym used to describe the fighting game community Tanaka identifies themselves with. They mentioned how the acronym containing the word community felt fitting. Due to the niche nature of the interest, fighting games are capable of bringing like-minded people together to create connections between them. Tanaka said the fighting game community is where they get to indulge their passions.
“I’m really here to connect with people […] that’s definitely the core of my artwork.” said Tanaka.
Artwork acts as a link to connect people. This is especially prevalent within spaces such as Calgary Expo, wherein people with certain interests will want to meet and interact with others who share the same fan spaces as they do in order to express the love they have for the communities they are a part of. Tanaka mentioned that talking to other people in these communities was their favourite part of Calgary Expo. Being able to interact with others face-to-face within this community and create those connections contributes to the enjoyment of being within fan spaces.
Those interested in exploring more of Tanaka’s work can find it on their website, or on their respective Instagram accounts for Nekodama and fanart for fighting games.