| Now that Calgary is beginning to dry out from the Great Flood of 2005, it’s time to get back to the business of enjoying life and art.
A good place to start is the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, where The Lives and Legacy of Peter and Catharine Whyte: Their Story is currently on display. It’s an exhibition that tells the story of how a young socialite from Boston and a resident of Banff got together in the 1920s to become the guiding force in an arts community nurtured by the Canadian Rockies. Their legacy continues at the Whyte Museum and this show explains why thousands of artists today owe a debt of gratitude to two people who lived their lives for the love of art.
Also at Banff, CAMPsites at the Walter Phillips Gallery in The Banff Centre takes a look at why many of us spend time crammed inside tents and trailers in the great outdoors. Curated by Melanie Townsend of Museum London in Ontario, the show uses photographs, video, sculpture and installation to explore the culture that surrounds the world of temporary homes. The opening reception for the exhibition is July 16 at 2 p.m. Stay overnight at one of Banff’s local campgrounds to get the full effect.
At the University of Calgary’s Nickle Arts Museum, another facet of our cultural identity is explored in Editions and Impressions: Collectors and Their Love of the Works of L.M. Montgomery. L.M. is, of course, the initials of Lucy Maud, the native of Prince Edward Island who wrote Anne of Green Gables. Find out more about how that book about a little girl, first published in 1908, spawned an honest-to-goodness national legend. Also at the Nickle, until July 29, is the photography of Nickle curator Christine Sowiak.
At the Glenbow Museum, Voices of Southeast Asia features the art, experiences and objects of people from south China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. One part of the show is Seven Faces, which profiles seven Calgarians originally from Southeast Asia and helps viewers understand more about their lives and how they came to live here. It offers a fascinating exploration of culture, immigration and politics.
It may be a surprise to some, but Alberta is home to a long list of sculptors who have gained international recognition. Famed New York art critic Clement Greenberg once said that Western Canada – and Edmonton in particular – had some of the very best sculptors in the world. Form-Space-Concept-Metaphor, the new exhibition at Triangle Gallery, is a chance to find out why.
Sincerity Overdrive, featuring the work of Brent Wadden, Hannah Jickling, Mark Soo and Stacey Watson, opens Friday, July 8 at Stride Gallery (1004 Macleod Trail S.). This artist-run gallery is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. If you haven’t been there before, go see why it has been a force to reckon with for two decades.
For those who want to combine art and the Stampede, try Art Central, which is hosting the Great Western Hat Stir-Up. Featuring an exhibition, parade and silent auction, this event will showcase decorated cowboy hats by local artists who don’t usually work in the genre of western art. The opening is Thursday, July 7 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., with music from the Ronny Hayward Trio. And if you can’t make the opening, check out the exhibition, which runs until July 17 and is capped off with a Stampede Breakfast that day from 10 a.m. until noon.
And if you just can’t get enough "Yeehaw!" and "Yahoo!" into your life, then mosey on down to The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth and check out the annual Western Showcase of Art, located in Halls C and D of the Round Up Centre. Included in the showcase is the Western Art Gallery and Western Art Auction. If you’ve always wanted to own a painting of cowboys wrangling "little dogies," this is your chance.
Less conventional views on the same western theme are promised at Room II Design’s Stampede Western Art Exhibition, which opens Thursday, July 7 and runs until August 7 at the gallery (5934 Centre St. S.E.). Featured in this show are works by Cree artist Eddie Chalifoux, who depicts the experiences of contemporary aboriginal youth, and Linda Red Hawk, who draws on the spiritual beliefs of the Algonquian people. Also contributing are metal artist-photographer Jeffrey Wilkins, mixed-media artist Mici Stone, watercolourist Dana Balbi, sculptor Jo-Ann Shaw and humourist Vicki Myers.
Have a happy July and stay dry. |
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