This spring, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery’s feature artist is Lauren Kurmey/Nature Girl. Other exhibitions include shows by Harley Morman, Justin Patterson and the 47th Annual “Art’s Alive and Well in the Schools.”
In 1976, SAAG opened its doors. The following year, the art gallery made a commitment to providing formative opportunities for Lethbridge students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Through “Art’s Alive and Well in the Schools,” SAAG has honoured youthful creativity by exhibiting their work in a leading contemporary art gallery. Now in its 47th year, SAAG estimates “Art’s Alive” has exhibited nearly 17,000 pieces over the decades. This exhibition is a reminder, art is a fundamental aspect of learning and development. The exhibit was organized by the Lethbridge School Division, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate Regional Division and École La Vérendrye.
Harley Morman’s “Don’t Dream It, Be It” exhibit looks to fun and campy childhood material culture that, combined with self-portraits of the artist, signifies how identity and gender are constituted over time. Morman’s material choices are deliberately nostalgic, making the gallery feel something like a junior high school gym. References to the gym and the theatre stage meld together, as the games and sports of childhood are places where gender becomes a learned performance.
Justin Patterson’s graphite drawings on canvas are hazy retellings of his grandmother’s childhood experience on a small homestead in Saskatchewan. The drawings are excerpts from a story passed down to the artist of his grandmother’s younger sister who died from eating her own poisoned birthday cake that was intended for rats.
Lauren Kurmey is a self-taught artist who draws, crafts and infuses good vibes into “cool” stuff.
