For more information on our programs and events, contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator.

“My Testimonial” a play by Greg MacArthur
Mar
22

“My Testimonial” a play by Greg MacArthur

Join us on March 22 from 6 - 7 PM for a special performance of “My Testimonial,” a play written and created by Greg MacArthur. This event is free for Gallery Members. For non-members, regular admission applies.

“My name is Greg MacArthur. I’ve been teaching performance, writing and theatre creation in the Drama Department at a small liberal arts university in Lethbridge, Alberta. My creative research lies in the study of authenticity, the nature of the self, the quality of reality. I’m going to tell you about something that happened to me recently. This is a re-enactment. Or an enactment, maybe? Or maybe a pre-enactment: something that hasn’t happened yet but is about to happen. This is Lethbridge, Alberta. This is the Southern Alberta Art Gallery. This is now.”

“My Testimonial” was written and conceived by Greg MacArthur. It was developed with support from Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and The University of Lethbridge. It was originally developed with Justin Blum, Kim Collier, Greg MacArthur, Jake Rose and Madeline Hunter Smith. It will be performed by Greg MacArthur and Stephanie Wickham. Creative and dramaturgical support provided by Justin Blum.

Greg MacArthur is a playwright, dramaturg, theatre creator, and educator. For over thirty years he has been involved in the creation and development of over twenty new works for the stage. His plays have been produced extensively across Canada, as well as in South Africa, Germany, the UK, Mexico, Romania, Hungary, and the United States. He studied performance at Toronto Metropolitan University and holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies at The University of Lethbridge. He has taught at the University of Alberta, Concordia University (Montreal), the National Theatre School, and the University of Lethbridge, where he is currently an Instructor in the Department of Drama.

Please note that this performance includes strong language and dialogue about drug and alcohol use, child abuse, violence, murder, and sexual subject matter.

View Event →
Articulations with Erin Sutherland and Tiffany Shaw
Mar
23

Articulations with Erin Sutherland and Tiffany Shaw

Join curator and academic Erin Sutherland and artist/architect Tiffany Shaw as they discuss decolonial strategies in art, architecture, and curation.

This program is free to attend and will take place online via Zoom. Registration is required. To register for this event, please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator hkehoe@saag.ca.

Erin Sutherland is an independent curator and Associate Professor in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Calgary. Originally from northern Alberta, Treaty 8 territory, Erin received a PhD Cultural Studies and MA Cultural Studies from Queen's University. She is also a founding member of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective in Edmonton. She has curated a number of performance series and gallery shows including Talkin’ Back to Johnny Mac (2015), which engaged with the 200th birthday celebrations of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald. Other curatorial projects include Let’s Talk about Sex, bb (2018) co-curated with Carina Magazenni and Buffalo Boy: Hubris (2020).

Tiffany Shaw is a Métis architect, artist and curator based in Alberta. She holds a BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University, a Masters in Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and is currently working at Reimagine Architects and recently started an Indigenous owned consulting company, named Reimagine Gathering. Shaw has exhibited widely including the Architecture Venice Biennale, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Pier 21, Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the Chicago Architecture Biennial. She has been the recipient of multiple public art commissions such as Edmonton's Indigenous Art Park and Winnipeg’s Markham Bus Station. Among her public art projects Tiffany has produced several notable transitory art works and is a core member of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective.

Oscillating between digital and analogue methodologies Shaw’s work gathers notions of craft, memory and atmosphere. Her practice is often guided by communal interventions as a way to engage a lifted understanding of place. While born in Calgary and raised in Edmonton, Shaw’s Métis lineage derives from Fort McMurray via Fort McKay and the Red River.

View Event →
Curator’s Tour
Mar
28

Curator’s Tour

Join Associate Curator Adam Whitford for a tour of the Gallery’s current exhibitions, Structural Integrity curated by Noa Bronstein featuring artists Caroline Bonnet, Christine Howard Sandoval, and Erdem Taşdelen, A Malevolently Bad Map by Bridget Moser, and IMIITAIKS’IISTSIK’OONI by Sikapinakii Low Horn. This tour is free for Gallery Members. For non-members, regular admission applies.

View Event →
Crafternoon: Introduction to Zines
Mar
30

Crafternoon: Introduction to Zines

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for Crafternoon, a self-directed art activity in our Creativity Centre. This month we will be making mini zines! Zines are small non-commercial non-professional publications. Similar to magazines and comics they use images and writing to tell stories and share ideas and messages. Because they can be made independently they’re often used to share unheard stories and voices with communities. Join us for this drop-in program where we will walk you through basic construction and share drawing and design tips so that you can make your own zines about all your interests and passions!This program is free with admission. All supplies are provided.

View Event →
Navigating Two Systems with John Chief Calf
Apr
5

Navigating Two Systems with John Chief Calf

The Gallery invites you to join us for the second of our multi-session speaker series Navigating Two Systems with John Chief Calf. In this second session, John will share some of the conflicts he has faced when navigating the two cultures and how these challenges come to a head when the cultures collide and clash. He will consider traditional and individual ways of interpreting conflict, and how their methods of mediation have developed and can be utilized. This session will consider not only how conflict arises and is dealt with, but also the resilience created by facing conflicts, and how such moments impact and inspire continued development. This event is free to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.

John Chief Calf was born and raised on the Blood Reserve and was a Child and Youth Care worker from 1985-1997. He received his BA/BEd from the University of Lethbridge in 2005. Chief Calf has taught for the Calgary Board of Education, Siksika Board of Education, Red Crow Community College as well as the Lethbridge Catholic Division, and is currently with the Lethbridge School Division as a humanities teacher. He is a self-taught artist and has sold artworks locally, corporately, and internationally.Did you know the Southern Alberta Art Gallery offers free admission on the first Friday of every month? Join us and explore our current exhibitions featuring artists Bridget Moser, Caroline Monnet, Christine Howard Sandoval, and Erdem Taşdelen, and Sikapikakii Low Horn and check out the Shop at SAAG’s feature artist Mad Fish Glass.

View Event →
Crafternoon with Lauren Kurmey
Apr
20

Crafternoon with Lauren Kurmey

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for Crafternoon in our Creativity Centre. This month we are excited to feature artist Lauren Kurmey, our upcoming Shop Feature Artist! 

Lauren will lead participants through a drawing workshop, demonstrating how to capture animal characteristics in art. Using local animals, participants will learn how to recognize and recreate the features of our familiar Lethbridge friends! The workshop is appropriate for all ages and skill levels. Whether you’re a confident drawer or interested in developing a new skill, this workshop is for you! 

We will be hosting two sessions, one from 1 - 2:30 PM and one from 2:30 - 4:00 PM. This program is free with Gallery admission and all supplies are provided. Attendees are welcome to bring their own materials and sketchbooks if preferred, including digital drawing materials. Registration is encouraged. You can register by contacting Program & Event Coordinator Heather Kehoe hkehoe@saag.ca or in person at the desk. You can also sign up on the day. Please ensure you arrive on time for the beginning of your session. 


Lauren Kurmey is a self-taught artist who draws, crafts, and infuses good vibes into all this cool stuff! She’d been drawing, saying hi to wildlife, and sitting too close to the screen since childhood, putting her heart and soul into her products. Sharing them with like-minded people is a dream come true. From familiar nature friends to anime & video game favourites, her work invites you to surround yourself with the things you love, so you can feel comfy, cozy, and completely at home in your space.

View Event →
ART AUCTION 2024
May
4

ART AUCTION 2024

Art Auction returns to the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin on May 4, 2024. Art Auction is the Gallery’s longest-running, much beloved annual fundraiser—and an important opportunity to contribute to the Gallery’s work making southern Alberta a place where contemporary art creates and supports vibrant communities. Funds raised through Art Auction are invested right back into delivering the Gallery’s core mission by supporting programming and exhibitions throughout the year.

Purchase your tickets today for this gala event featuring an incredible collection of artworks donated by past exhibiting artists and southern Alberta’s visual arts community. All artworks will be viewable in-person at Art Auction, with a special selection of works exclusively available during the event’s live auction.

TICKETS

• Members $150: Individual tickets available to current Gallery members.

• Non-members $175: Individual tickets available to non-members.

• Table of eight: $1,200: Purchase a full table of eight to guarantee seating with your preferred table mates and access member pricing for all your guests. Book early to select your table!

Tickets include a sit-down meal and select beverages. For assistance with your ticket purchases or inquiries about your current membership status, please contact Visitor Services Coordinator, Keelan Cashmore at kcashmore@saag.ca or 403.327.8770x21

SUPPORT ART AUCTION 2024

Sponsorships are central to making this event a night to remember and a fundraising success. We invite you to consider sponsoring Art Auction 2024 to provide key support to the Gallery while highlighting your brand at the event of the season!

Our sponsorship package includes multiple opportunities for supporting this including sponsorships, donations, and advertising. Take a look to see what choice is right for your business and contact us to discuss how you can be a part of the magic!

View Event →

Art NOW series presents Sikapinakii Low Horn
Mar
15

Art NOW series presents Sikapinakii Low Horn

In this artist talk, Sikapinakii Low Horn speaks about their current exhibitions at Casa (Kah’kano’kitopi Saatstakssin, on view until March 23) and at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (IMIITAIKS’IISTSIK’OONI, on view until April 20), as well as their research on Blackfoot cowboys.

Blackfoot artist, Sikapinakii Low Horn, is a member of the Siksika First Nation, which is part of the Blackfoot Confederacy in southern Alberta. They graduated with their Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2019 and is currently studying for their Master of Fine Arts. Low Horn is researching the topics of Blackfoot Cowboys in Alberta but their overall practice as a mixed media artist, is to tell the stories of their people. Educating others about the Blackfoot people in hopes of creating a comfortable space for all.

Image: The Dog Days, digital illustration, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. 

Free admission, all are welcome to attend.

View Event →
Bletcher Hour
Mar
14

Bletcher Hour

Join us Thursday, March 14 from 6 to 7 p.m. for Bletcher Hour, the Gallery’s monthly critical reading group.

Readings explore key themes of the exhibitions and current events, with the intent to deepen our understanding of the artworks and their context within our community. This month we will be reading the essay “Welcome to Winnipeg: Making Settler Colonial Urban Space in ‘Canada’s Most Racist City’” by Heather Dorries. Heather Dorries is of Anishinaabe and settler ancestry and a member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Treaty 1. She is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed to the Department of Geography and Planning and Centre for Indigenous Studies at the University of Toronto. In the essay, Dorries analyzes the controversial 2015 McLean’s Article “Welcome to Winnipeg: Where Canada’s Racism Problem Is at Its Worst.” The article analyzes the article itself and the reaction to it, exploring the limitations of damage-focused reporting of racism. This essay is featured in the book Settler City Limits: Indigenous Resurgence and Colonial Violence in the Urban Prairie West. This book was recommended by curator Noa Bronstein, who curated our current exhibition Structural Integrity. This program is free to attend.

Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. If you cannot make it in person, online attendance options are available. Please note that this month's essay discusses injustices done to Indigenous peoples in Canada, including racism, enforced social and economic inequality and the ongoing human rights crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women - specifically the death of Tina Lafontaine. If you would like to discuss any content in advance of the program please contact Heather Kehoe.

View Event →
Tiny Press Workshop: bind your own book!
Mar
9

Tiny Press Workshop: bind your own book!

Have you ever wanted to make your own book? Join us for this hands-on workshop to have the chance to make your own book. Participants will learn how to use the equipment in our Tiny Press Studio, and will make their own handmade book. 

Participants will have the chance to make a blank notebook or bind their own printed materials. If you want to bind your own writing or art, please bring two printed copies to the workshop. 

This workshop is $15 for general attendees and $10.00 for SAAG members. Please register in advance. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite or through the front desk at the Shop at SAAG. This workshop is open to ages 16+. The majority of the bookbinding process requires standing. Accommodations can be made. If you have any questions about the printing process, how to print your materials, or more please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator.

Tiny Press at SAAG is a handmade bookmaking studio at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin, in Lethbridge, Alberta. Tiny Press prints, binds, and distributes books by hand, creating original work with writers and artists of the region, about topics that are important to us. Tiny Press is a community resource, and social gathering place for those interested in learning about publication, and connecting with others through a DIY mentality. 

View Event →
Navigating Two Systems with John Chief Calf
Mar
1

Navigating Two Systems with John Chief Calf

The Gallery is excited to host the first of our multi-session speaker series Navigating Two Systems with John Chief Calf. In this first talk, John will discuss his perspectives on education and share the inspiration for this program series. In our first session, John will speak about challenges and complexities of living in two cultures. He will speak about navigating Indigenous and European environments and how they continue to be a constant challenge today. This event is free to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.

John Chief Calf was born and raised on the Blood Reserve and was a Child and Youth Care worker from 1985-1997. He received his BA/BEd from the University of Lethbridge in 2005. Chief Calf has taught for the Calgary Board of Education, Siksika Board of Education, Red Crow Community College as well as the Lethbridge Catholic Division, and is currently with the Lethbridge School Division as a humanities teacher. He is a self-taught artist and has sold artworks locally, corporately, and internationally.

Did you know the Southern Alberta Art Gallery offers free admission on the first Friday of every month? Join us and explore our current exhibitions featuring artists Bridget Moser, Caroline Monnet, Christine Howard Sandoval, and Erdem Taşdelen, and Sikapinakii Low Horn and check out the Shop at SAAG’s feature artist Mad Fish Glass.

View Event →
Crafternoon: Experimental portrait photography
Feb
24

Crafternoon: Experimental portrait photography

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for Crafternoon, a self-directed art activity in our Creativity Centre.  This month we will be taking experimental self-portraits. Inspired by Bridget Moser’s work and her exhibition A Malevolently Bad Map, we will make props and costumes that help tell stories through photographs. This program is free with admission. All supplies are provided. 

View Event →
2024 Arts Writing Prize: Open for Submissions
Feb
18

2024 Arts Writing Prize: Open for Submissions

SAAG ARTS WRITING PRIZE 2024

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS CLOSES MARCH 30

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin is excited to announce the 13th annual SAAG Arts Writing Prize. This prize aims to recognize and support emerging writers whose writing relates to the field of contemporary art. Art writing is essential to supporting a healthy art ecosystem, providing access points for contemporary art practice, engaging different voices in the field, and encouraging and developing discourse in the arts. 

Writers can be considered for one or both of this year’s categories: Arts Writing and the Aruna D’Souza Award for BIPOC Writers. The requirements and prizes for each category are listed below. All entries are eligible to be published in the 2024 SAAG Arts Writing Prize Reader, made in-house at the Gallery’s Tiny Press. All submitters will be provided with a complimentary copy of the reader. 

This prize focuses on submissions of writing about contemporary art. This includes but is not limited to: exhibition reviews, critical essays, ekphrasis, etc. We will also consider experimental and innovative approaches to writing about contemporary art, including poetry, prose, creative fiction, etc. 

CATEGORIES & PRIZES

ARTS WRITING 

  • Winner: $1000.00CAD cash prize, opportunity for a paid public program ($500.00CAD) with the Gallery, opportunity for an arts writing mentorship (Please see the FAQ for more details). 

  • Runner-up: $250.00CAD cash prize. 

ARUNA D’SOUZA (BIPOC)

  • Winner: $1000.00CAD cash prize, opportunity for a paid public program ($500.00CAD) with the Gallery, opportunity for an arts writing mentorship. 

  • Runner-up: $250.00CAD cash prize.


ELIGIBILITY 

Writers must be at least 18 years of age at the time of entry. The competition is open to anyone residing in Canada, regardless of citizenship status, and to Canadians living abroad. 

For the purposes of the award, an emerging writer is defined as anyone who has not published more than one piece of art writing in a recognized print or online publication, exclusive of student-run journals and magazines, as well as self-published works. Submitters may be asked to provide evidence of publication history upon request. 

Writers may submit one piece of writing for consideration. Submissions are limited to 1000 words. Participants may be considered for both awards depending on their eligibility. Submitters must identify which awards they would like to be considered for. All submissions must be original and previously unpublished, inclusive of online publications. 

The Gallery is committed to continually working towards more equitable systems and practices. We welcome applications from candidates who identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, d/Deaf and disabled, and from historically disadvantaged backgrounds.

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Electronic submissions are preferred. To apply please complete the application form and send a formatted PDF file of your submission to hkehoe@saag.ca. This PDF will be included as-is without any formatting changes or copyedits in the 2024 reader. 

Writers retain all copyrights to their submitted work. The two winners and two runners-up of the awards will have their work published in the SAAG Arts Writing Prize Reader 2024. All other submissions are eligible to be included in this publication, but writers who have not been selected for an award may choose to opt out.


JURY 

The SAAG Arts Writing Prize and Aruna D’Souza Award is assessed by a peer jury of arts writing professionals. The 2024 Arts Writing Prize jury will include editor, writer, and curator Aruna D’Souza, editor of Galleries West Shelley Boettcher, and writer Henry Heavy Shield. 

The Arts Writing Prize and Aruna D’Souza Award will be assessed based on the following criteria: 

  • Artistic Impact (30%): The submitted piece of writing is effective and interesting. The submitted piece of writing demonstrates a new and exciting contribution to the field of art writing. 

  • Connection to art (30%): The submitted piece of writing provides a unique and insightful perspective on contemporary art, art history, and/or artistic practice.

  • Originality (20%): The submitted piece of writing shows imagination, creativity, and individuality. The submitted piece of writing demonstrates a unique perspective.

  • Technical excellence (20%): The writer demonstrates a high level of skill in their craft, and rigor and intentionality in their chosen format. 

While we appreciate the time and effort taken to write and submit work to the prize, we are not able to provide individual feedback or comments on submissions. 

Please review the full Call for Submissions and FAQ prior to submitting. If you have any additional questions or accommodation requests, please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator. 

View Event →
Bletcher Hour with Erdem Taşdelen ONLINE
Feb
15

Bletcher Hour with Erdem Taşdelen ONLINE

Join us virtually on Thursday, February 15 from 6 to 7 p.m. for our first Bletcher Hour of 2024, featuring guest Erdem Taşdelen. 

Erdem Taşdelen’s art is featured in the Lower Gallery exhibition Structural Integrity, on at the Gallery until April 20. He has selected excerpts from Kate Brigg’s This Little Life for this month’s reading and will co-lead this month’s discussion. 

Kate Briggs is a translator and professor at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam. In This Little Life, Briggs presents a genre-bending exploration of the practice of literary translation. Recounting personal experience and historical practice, she presents translation as a complex and intensely relational activity. Accompanying this reading is an excerpt of Taşdelen’s exhibition booklet for A Minaret for the General's Wife, bridging between the themes of Brigg’s studies and his artistic practice. 

Our discussion will take place online via Zoom. This program is free to attend. Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. 

Erdem Taşdelen is a Turkish-Canadian artist who currently lives and works in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Through the use of diverse materials and media, he constructs semi-fictional narratives that incorporate unique historical figures, events and texts to implicate contemporary sociopolitical realities. Selected exhibitions include The Power Plant (Toronto); Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (2023); BüroSarıgedik, Istanbul; The Plumb, Toronto; Richmond Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Burlington (2022); Mercer Union, Toronto; Oakville Galleries (2021); Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga; AKA artist-run, Saskatoon (2020); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; The Bows, Calgary; Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen (2019); VOX, Montréal; Bonington Gallery, Nottingham (2018); Pera Museum, Istanbul; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Or Gallery, Vancouver (2017); Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg (2016); Sabancı Museum, Istanbul (2015). Taşdelen’s work has been reviewed in publications including Artforum, Flash Art, ArtAsiaPacific, Canadian Art and C Magazine. He has been an artist-in- residence at the Delfina Foundation, London; Rupert, Vilnius; and KulturKontakt Austria, Vienna. In 2019, he was long-listed for the Sobey Art Award.

View Event →
SAAG’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Feb
9

SAAG’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Better late than never, it's our 48th birthday and we're throwing a party! Join us to celebrate with food and drinks from our amazing partners Two Guys Pizza and Theoretically Brewing Co. Share a photo of you and your friends in our current exhibitions during the event and tag the Gallery to be entered to win a SAAG Birthday Giveaway package. General admission is $10, but folks under 25 get in for $5 with valid ID. Admission includes a slice of pizza, cake, and a drink (while supplies last). Get your tickets in advance through EventBrite; this is an event you won’t want to miss!

View Event →
Art NOW series presents Erdem Taşdelen
Feb
9

Art NOW series presents Erdem Taşdelen

Art NOW presents: Erdem Taşdelen
Noon | February 9, 2024
University Recital Hall, University of Lethbridge

Erdem Taşdelen will speak about the making of A Minaret for the General's Wife, his installation featured in the exhibition Structural Integrity at Southern Alberta Art Gallery, on view until April 20. He joins us virtually in the recital hall for this presentation.

Erdem Taşdelen is a Turkish-Canadian artist who currently lives and works in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Through the use of diverse materials and media, he constructs semi-fictional narratives that incorporate unique historical figures, events and texts to implicate contemporary sociopolitical realities.

Selected exhibitions include The Power Plant (Toronto); Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (2023); BüroSarıgedik, Istanbul; The Plumb, Toronto; Richmond Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Burlington (2022); Mercer Union, Toronto; Oakville Galleries (2021); Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga; AKA artist-run, Saskatoon (2020); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; The Bows, Calgary; Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen (2019); VOX, Montréal; Bonington Gallery, Nottingham (2018); Pera Museum, Istanbul; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Or Gallery, Vancouver (2017); Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg (2016); Sabancı Museum, Istanbul (2015).

Taşdelen’s work has been reviewed in publications including Artforum, Flash Art, ArtAsiaPacific, Canadian Art and C Magazine. He has been an artist-in- residence at the Delfina Foundation, London; Rupert, Vilnius; and KulturKontakt Austria, Vienna. In 2019, he was long-listed for the Sobey Art Award.

Image: Erdem Taşdelen, A Minaret for the General's Wife. Installation view at Mercer Union, Toronto, 2021. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.

Thank you to the Southern Alberta Art Gallery for their collaboration on this presentation.

Free admission, all are welcome to attend.

View Event →
Drop-in Drinks and Crafts at the SAAG with Downtown BRZ
Feb
2

Drop-in Drinks and Crafts at the SAAG with Downtown BRZ

We’re excited to be part of Downtown BRZ’s Hot Beverage Week! Join us for a day of art activities and cozy drinks! We’ll have hot chocolate and apple cider available. All supplies are provided and your first drink is free! 

Did you know the Southern Alberta Art Gallery offers free admission on the first Friday of every month? Join us and explore our current exhibitions featuring artists Bridget Moser, Caroline Monnet, Christine Howard Sandoval, and Erdem Taşdelen, and Sikapinakii Low Horn and check out the Shop at SAAG’s feature artist Mad Fish Glass. 

View Event →
Jan
27

Exhibition Opening reception

Join us at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery on Saturday Jan. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. to celebrate the opening of our newest exhibitions Structural Integrity curated by Noa Bronstein featuring artists Caroline Bonnet, Christine Howard Sandoval, and Erdem Taşdelen, A Malevolently Bad Map by Bridget Moser, and IMIITAIKS’IISTSIK’OONI by Sikapinakii Low Horn along with new Shop at SAAG feature artist Mad Fish Glass.

⁠Enjoy the artworks and refreshments, mingle with the community and meet the artists. The opening reception is free for Gallery Members or with regular admission.⁠

View Event →
Jan
27

Articulations with Noa Bronstein and Sikapinakii Low Horn

Join curator Noa Bronstein and exhibiting artist Sikapinakii Low Horn for an in-person conversation about our new exhibitions Structural Integrity and IMIITAIKS’IISTSIK’OONI.

Noa Bronstein is a curator and writer based in Toronto, whose practice is often focused on the social production of space and thinking through how artists disrupt and subvert systems including those registering across social, political and economic structures.

Noa has previously stewarded two leading artist-run centres through her role as the Executive Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography and Gallery TPW. In 2018, in her position as Senior Curator at the City of Mississauga, she oversaw the opening of the Small Arms Inspection Building with programming by local and international artists, including Diane Borsato, Stephanie Comilang, Amy Malbeuf, Dawit L. Petros and Kara Springer, and partnerships with the Peel Aboriginal Network and the Toronto Biennial of Art, amongst many others. Noa has curated and programmed projects/exhibitions at institutions across Canada, including at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Contemporary Calgary, The Rooms (St. John’s), Doris McCarthy Gallery (Toronto) and The New Gallery (Calgary). Her writing has appeared in publications including Artforum, Border Crossings, C Magazine, Canadian Art, esse art + opinions and The Journal of Curatorial Studies. Noa is currently the Assistant Director of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.

Sikapinakii Low Horn is a member of the Siksika First Nation which is a part of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Southern Alberta. They graduated with their Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2019 and are currently attending the University of Calgary as a Master of Fine Arts graduate student. Low Horn is researching Blackfoot Cowboys in Alberta but their overall practice as a mixed media is to tell the stories of their people. Educating others about the Blackfoot people in hopes of creating a comfortable space for all.

Their exhibition Structural Integrity and IMIITAIKS’IISTSIK’OONI will be on view at the Gallery until NEW DATE

The Articulations Art Lecture Series offers presentations from contemporary practicing artists and arts professionals. Local and international artists, curators, critics, art historians, theorists, and filmmakers share their practice and engage with the audience in open, critical discussion.

Virtual ASL Interpretation Services may be provided upon request by Deaf & Hear Alberta. For accommodation, contact Program and Event Coordinator Heather Kehoe at hkehoe@saag.ca or Associate Curator Adam Whitford at awhitford@saag.ca.

View Event →
Bridget Moser Performance
Jan
27

Bridget Moser Performance

Join the gallery for Bridget Moser’s performance, THE WORM THAT DESTROYS YOU at 1:30 PM on January 27, 2024 to accompany the opening of her exhibition A Malevolently Bad Map. Guests are encouraged to arrive 15 minutes early. The performance will last approximately 30 minutes. We encourage you to stay after the performance for our Articulations talk and tour with curator Noa Bronstein and exhibiting artist Sikapinakii Low Horn. 


Bridget Moser is a performance and video artist whose work combines strategies associated with prop comedy, experimental theatre, performance art, absurd literature, existential anxiety, and intuitive dance. She has presented work at venues including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Remai Modern, Saskatoon; le Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal; the Art Museum at the University of Toronto; Vancouver Art Gallery; Western Front, Vancouver; MSVU Art Gallery, Halifax; Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan; SPACES Cleveland; and Xing Raum, Bologna. Her work has been reviewed and featured in Artforum, Frieze, Canadian Art, C Magazine, Art in America, and Artribune Italy, and she has been shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award.

View Event →
SAAG’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Jan
12

SAAG’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

*THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FEBRUARY 9TH

It's our 48th birthday and we're throwing a party! Join us to celebrate with food and drinks from our amazing sponsors Two Guys Pizza and Theoretically Brewing Co. Share a photo of you and your friends in our current exhibitions during the event and tag the Gallery to be entered to win a SAAG Birthday Giveaway package. General admission is $10, but folks under 25 get in for $5 with valid ID. Admission includes a slice of pizza, cake, and a drink (while supplies last). Get your tickets in advance through EventBrite; this is an event you won’t want to miss!

View Event →
Crafternoon
Dec
16

Crafternoon

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for Crafternoon, a self-directed art activity in our Creativity Centre. This month we will be making thrifty creatures! Join us as we make soft and squishy friends out of second-hand clothing. This program is free with admission. All supplies are provided.

View Event →
Bletcher Hour
Dec
14

Bletcher Hour

Join us Thursday, December 14 from 6 to 7 p.m. for Bletcher Hour, the Gallery’s monthly critical reading group. Readings explore key themes of the exhibitions and current events, with the intent to deepen our understanding of the artworks and their context within our community. 

This month we will be reading selections from Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky with Exit Wounds. Ocean Vuong is a Vietnamese American poet, essayist, and novelist. In his debut poetry collection, he unflinchingly faces the legacies of violence and cultural displacement while assuming a position of wonder in the face of romance, family, memory, grief, war, and melancholia.

This program is free to attend. Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. If you cannot make it in person, online attendance options are available.

View Event →
Carrying Baggage with the Trap\Door Artist Run Centre
Dec
2

Carrying Baggage with the Trap\Door Artist Run Centre

We’re excited to partner with the Trap\door Artist Run Centre to feature their exhibition "Carrying Baggage”,  a unique travelling exhibition being shared in a series of formal, semi-formal and guerilla venues around Lethbridge throughout the fall and early winter of 2023. The work will be on display at the SAAG on Friday December 1 and  Saturday December 2. 

"Carrying Baggage” asked artists to create work that could fit into small to mid-sized hardside suitcases, new or old.  The only condition being that the luggage itself is an integral component to the work.  The thematic considerations were open, and the various artists have reflected on motifs including movement, travel, history, the baggage they carry, and the public vs private. The show is being presented at various cultural institutions, shopping centres, live music venues, and pop-up locations.  “Carrying Baggage” demonstrates how artists can turn a suitcase into a piece of art, and Trap\door Artist Run Centre is excited to carry them into a wide array of public locations. This exhibition features the work of the following artists; Seema Karchoo, Heather Kehoe, Harley Morman, Kalina Nedelcheva, Arianna Richardson and Noble Seggie. 

As an artist-run centre without a fixed and permanent venue, Trap\door is interested in situating work in spaces where artists and the public can intersect.  Historically, they have done this with pop-up galleries, ephemeral public artworks, and relational projects.  A registered non-profit operating out of Lethbridge, Trap\door has acted as a siteless & nomadic artist-run centre since 2004.  Oscillating between periods of activity and dormancy, "Carrying Baggage" is their first post-Covid initiative.

View Event →
Free First Friday: Carrying Baggage with the Trap\Door Artist Run Centre
Dec
1

Free First Friday: Carrying Baggage with the Trap\Door Artist Run Centre

We’re excited to partner with the Trap\door Artist Run Centre to feature their exhibition "Carrying Baggage”,  a unique travelling exhibition being shared in a series of formal, semi-formal and guerilla venues around Lethbridge throughout the fall and early winter of 2023. The work will be on display at the SAAG on Friday December 1 and  Saturday December 2. 

"Carrying Baggage” asked artists to create work that could fit into small to mid-sized hardside suitcases, new or old.  The only condition being that the luggage itself is an integral component to the work.  The thematic considerations were open, and the various artists have reflected on motifs including movement, travel, history, the baggage they carry, and the public vs private. The show is being presented at various cultural institutions, shopping centres, live music venues, and pop-up locations.  “Carrying Baggage” demonstrates how artists can turn a suitcase into a piece of art, and Trap\door Artist Run Centre is excited to carry them into a wide array of public locations. This exhibition features the work of the following artists; Seema Karchoo, Heather Kehoe, Harley Morman, Kalina Nedelcheva, Arianna Richardson and Noble Seggie. 

As an artist-run centre without a fixed and permanent venue, Trap\door is interested in situating work in spaces where artists and the public can intersect.  Historically, they have done this with pop-up galleries, ephemeral public artworks, and relational projects.  A registered non-profit operating out of Lethbridge, Trap\door has acted as a siteless & nomadic artist-run centre since 2004.  Oscillating between periods of activity and dormancy, "Carrying Baggage" is their first post-Covid initiative.

Did you know the Southern Alberta Art Gallery offers free admission on the first Friday of every month? Join us and explore our current exhibitions featuring artists Gabi Dao, Elisa Harkins, and Megan Feniak and check out the Shop at SAAG’s feature artist Indig Busy-ness. 

View Event →
Curator's Tour
Nov
30

Curator's Tour

Join Interim Curator Adam Whitford for a tour of the Gallery’s current exhibitions, What breaks on the horizon? by Gabi Dao, Teach Me a Song by Elisa Harkins, and In honoured dust by Megan Feniak.  Learn more about the exhibitions, the artists, and the Gallery.

This tour is free for Gallery Members. For non-members, regular admission applies.

View Event →
Crafternoon
Nov
25

Crafternoon

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for Crafternoon, a self-directed art activity in our Creativity Centre. This program is free with admission. All supplies are provided.

View Event →
2023 Holiday Market
Nov
17
to Nov 18

2023 Holiday Market

SAAG 2023 HOLIDAY MARKET
November 17, 5 - 9 PM
November 18, 10 AM - 5 PM

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery’s annual Holiday Market will take place on Friday Nov. 17 from 5 - 9 PM and Saturday Nov. 18 from 10 AM - 5 PM. Our Holiday Market features a variety of talented local and regional artists. This is the perfect place to shop local this holiday season. Find something for your friends, your family, or yourself!

We’re excited to feature the work of:

View Event →
Bletcher Hour
Nov
16

Bletcher Hour

Join us Thursday, November 16 from 6 to 7 p.m. for Bletcher Hour, the Gallery’s monthly critical reading group. Readings explore key themes of the exhibitions and current events, with the intent to deepen our understanding of the artworks and their context within our community. 

This month we will be reading Jan Johnson's essay "We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee: The Engaged Resistance of Folk and Rock in the Red Power Era" from Indigenous Pop: Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop. The essay looks at the 1960s folk singer/songwriter Peter La Farge and 1970s rock bands Redbone and XIT as important examples of artistic engagement in the Red Power movement.

This reading was recommended by artist Elisa Harkins to accompany her exhibition Teach Me a Song on display at the Gallery until January 13 2024.

This program is free to attend. Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. If you cannot make it in person, online attendance options are available.

Please note that this month’s chapter discusses injustices done to Indigenous peoples, specifically American Indigenous people, including mentions of residential/boarding schools, assimilation, racial and colonial violence, and dated terminology in reference to Indigenous peoples. If you would like to discuss any content in advance of the program please contact Heather Kehoe.

View Event →
Free First Friday
Nov
3

Free First Friday

Did you know the Southern Alberta Art Gallery offers free admission on the first Friday of every month?

Join us on November 3 to explore our current exhibitions featuring artists Gabi Dao, Elisa Harkins, and Megan Feniak and check out the Shop at SAAG’s feature artist Indig Busy-ness. 

View Event →
SAAG SOCIAL 2023
Nov
2

SAAG SOCIAL 2023

SAAG Social returns to the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023! Join us to celebrate the importance of connecting with community and raise funds for the Gallery through an evening of refreshments, prizes, and contemporary art featuring ice cream from Milkman Milk Bar and beer from Theoretically Brewing Co. with more vendors to be announced soon. Tickets are on sale now! Each ticket includes two free drinks and two complimentary food items. Special thanks to our Presenting Sponsor Subaru of Lethbridge and Friends sponsors Alpine Drywall, Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge, and WA Environmental Services Ltd.

Ticket Prices
Gallery member: $35
student/U25: $25*
Non-member: $49*

*discounted membership available

Now in its third year, SAAG Social is an incredible opportunity for the Gallery to showcase leading local businesses that contribute to the vitality of our community. Check out our current sponsorship opportunities to find the one that’s right for you. To learn more about how you can showcase your brand to our attendees and be an essential part of this fun-filled evening, contact our team at development@saag.ca or call 403-327-8770.

For any questions about purchasing your tickets or other information, contact our team at development@saag.ca or call 403-327-8770.

View Event →
BATSTRAVAGANZA with Helen Schuler Nature Centre and Alberta Community Bat Program
Oct
28

BATSTRAVAGANZA with Helen Schuler Nature Centre and Alberta Community Bat Program

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery is excited to partner with Helen Schuler Nature Centre and Alberta Community Bat Program to present this special Halloween event centered around our favorite furry flying creatures: bats! Join us at the Gallery to learn about the important role bats play in our community. We will have games, crafts, and candy. Visitors of all ages are welcome. Wear a costume and get in free! 

While you’re in the Gallery be sure to check out Gabi Dao’s video Lucifer Falls from Heaven at Dawn in the lower gallery exhibition What breaks on the horizon? to follow the story of Lucifer the bat marionette as they search for their bat companions. 

This event coincides with International Bat Week. Visit the website to learn more about the other events going on and how you can take action to protect bats in your community.

View Event →
Bletcher Hour: Waking Death Collective
Oct
26

Bletcher Hour: Waking Death Collective

For our October Bletcher Hour we are excited to partner with the Waking Death Collective, a multidisciplinary trio of artists Annie Martin, Shanell Papp, and Mia van Leeuwen who came together with a shared interest in contemplating themes of death, impermanence, dying, and grief, expressed in their respective artistic practices. The trio have organized a two-month series of exhibitions and programming that centers the important role art has to play in supporting people’s communion with death. 

As part of this program series, artists Annie Martin, Shanell Papp, and Migueltzinta Solís will lead our October Bletcher Hour. Each has selected a text that reflects on mortality, the nature of impermanence and grief, and the things that haunt us. This month’s texts include: 

  • “Shimmer: When all you love is being trashed” by Deborah Bird Rose, from Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet: Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene 

  • “Everything dies, including information,” by Eril Sherman, MIT Technology Review 

  • “The Delicious Word Death” from A Walk Through the Forest of Souls: A Tarot Journey to Spiritual Awakening by Rachel Pollack 

Join us and the artists in person on October 26 for an open discussion. Everyone is welcome to join and refreshments will be provided. If you are unable to attend in person, virtual options are available. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator to sign up.

Annie Martin’s practice traverses sound installation, drawing, painting, textile, performance and video. Her work has been exhibited widely in Canada, and also internationally. Martin received her MFA from Concordia University in 1994. She lives and works in Lethbridge, Alberta, in the traditional territory of the Blackfoot confederacy, and is an Associate Professor in the Art Department at the University of Lethbridge.

Shanell Papp maintains her research-based studio practice from her home, working primarily in textiles/sculpture and frequently in photography, video, drawing, and AI. Exhibited widely and published in multiple textbooks, foreign art books, and interviewed multiple times by the CBC and in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! – the work seems to have many connections. Papp holds an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan and is currently an MLIS student at the UofA. Papp lives in Lethbridge, in the traditional territory of the Blackfoot confederacy.

Migueltzinta Solís is a queer trans Chicanx/mestizXXX interdisciplinary artist, writer, and educator. His creative practice revolves around immersive experience, blending elements of site-specific performance, video, installation, virtual design, painting, writing, and textile. Migueltzinta writes across multiple genres and forms, working towards a counter-institutional poetics of knowledge dissemination. Theme parks, amateur porn, Indigenous futurities, colonial imaginaries, queer materialities, and (un)belonging have been recurring interests in Migueltzinta’s practice. Migueltzinta holds an MFA in Art and a PhD in Cultural, Social and Political Thought from the University of Lethbridge/Iniskim in Treaty 7, traditional Blackfoot territory, where he is now Assistant Professor of Indigenous Art Studio.

The Waking Death Arts & Culture Event Series is a program of events that focus on death and related themes, bringing together audiences, artists, and guest speakers. The arts have an important role to play in supporting people’s communion with death and this series offers to create a space in which participating artists can share work with the Lethbridge community that reflects on our shared mortality, the nature of impermanence and grief, and the things that haunt us. Find out more about their programming at https://wakingdeath.ca/.

View Event →
Oct
18

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery will hold its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the Gallery (601 3 Avenue S, Lethbridge, AB, T1J 0H4).

AGENDA

  1. Welcome and Land Acknowledgement

  2. Call to Order

  3. Approval of the Agenda

  4. Approval of the Minutes from Oct. 21, 2021 and May 25, 2022 Annual General Meetings

  5. Board Chair's Report of the Board

  6. Executive Director's Report of the Administration

  7. Presentation of the Financial Statements and Report of the Auditors

  8. Election of the Directors

  9. Adjournment

The Gallery is now welcoming applications from qualified individuals to join its volunteer Board of Directors. For more information, please review the Call for Board Nominations and the Board of Directors Roles and Responsibilities .

The Annual General Meeting is open to all active members. If you aren't already a member or your membership has expired, please click the link below to sign up. Membership status inquiries can be directed to Keelan Cashmore, Visitor Services and Volunteer Coordinator.

View Event →
Experimental Film Development Workshop with Gabi Dao and Terrance Houle 
Oct
17

Experimental Film Development Workshop with Gabi Dao and Terrance Houle 

ASL interpretation services and accessibility accommodations are available for this event by request. If you require an interpreter, please contact us two days before the event so that we may book an interpreter.

Join artists Gabi Dao and Terrance Houle for this special hands-on film development workshop. Attendees will have the chance to explore analog film development processes to conjure otherworldly images. 

Attendees will meet at the Gallery for the workshop introduction. From there, participants will pair up to photograph around Downtown Lethbridge using provided film cameras. The film will then be developed at Casa using the artists’ experimental emulsions and sound-based photo development techniques. There will be a 30 minute break during the workshop and snacks will be provided. The photos will be compiled into a collaborative film to be screened at the end of the workshop.

This workshop is $10 to attend or free for Gallery members. Attendance is limited and registration is required. Please register through EventBrite. A limited number of complimentary tickets are held for Deaf and/or hard of hearing guests, and guests that face other barriers including but not limited to physical or financial barriers. ASL interpretation and other accommodations will be provided. If you have any questions please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator. 

Gabi Dao is an artist and organizer currently based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Dao’s research-based practice culminates in collage, sculpture, sound and moving image installations. They also generate olfactory experiences in both their installations and their small-batch perfume business, PPL’S PERFUME. Through non-linear conceptions of memory, time and truth, Dao confronts Western ocularcentrism and the rigid binarism of capitalism. Dao also engages with writing and community building in their work. See their work in the Gallery: What breaks on the horizon?

Terrance James Houle (born 1975) is an Internationally recognized Canadian interdisciplinary artist and member of the Kainai Nation. His work ranges from subversive to humorous absurdity to solemn and poetic artistic expressions. His work often relates to the physical body as it investigates issues of history, colonization, Aboriginal identity, and representation in popular culture, as well as conceptual ideas based on memory, home, and reserve communities. Houle works in whatever media strikes him and has produced work in photography, painting, installation, mass marketing, performance, music, video, and film.[4] Houle is based in Calgary, Alberta.

Thank you Canada Council for the Arts for their support of this program.

View Event →