Alberta Culture Days – September 2023
Alberta Culture Days are an opportunity for Albertans to discover, experience and celebrate arts and culture through local events and activities across the province. This event is part of National Culture Days, which includes more than 800 communities from coast to coast, to increase awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.
Events and Programs at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie
In-Person Events:
Weave Party
Saturday, September 16, 2023
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie
We’re having a Weave Party and you’re invited! Watch how cloth is woven and yarn is spun by experienced Weavers. Help add colours, textures, and patterns, to the community tapestries crafted for Weave and Intertwine: Interactive Community Art Exhibition. Join the Saskatoon Lake Weavers, a generous and welcoming community, and watch their fascinating Spinning and Weaving Demonstrations!
Everyone is welcome to this FREE event. All materials are provided. *While quantities last.
Take Home Art Activities:
Free Creativity Kits
September 1 to 30
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Reception Desk
We have created one FREE take home creativity kit for you to explore your creativity and enjoy art-making your way! Draw, colour, glue, layer and enjoy! Feel free to mix and match the materials provided however it makes sense to you! Pick up your FREE Creativity Kit at the gallery during our regular hours. Kits are for all ages. Limit 1 of each kit per person. *while quantities last.
Balance Creativity Kit
Inspired by our current exhibition Powwow! Ohcîwin: The Origins, this free creativity kit invites you to design a cloth sharing symbols meaningful to you, your family, and your culture.
If you are an organization or group interested in a larger order of any creativity kits, please contact garry@aggp.ca or call 780-357-7480.
Exhibitions on Display
Powwow! Ohcîwin: The Origins
On view until October 8th
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie
Powwow! Ohcîwin* The Origins features 7 Powwow dance styles, with full Regalia and craft work. Curators and creators Patrick Mitsuing and Marrisa Mitsuing have gathered the stories, worked with the Artisans, and carefully built the Regalia for this exhibition organized by the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery. Working with a diverse team of Indigenous Artists from Western Canada and the US they assembled each of the individual dance regalia on display. During the 2019 and 2020 Powwow season, they met with knowledge keepers across North America to record the origin stories of the dances they perform.
Honing this exhibition to represent our specific region, guest curator Fran Rogers-Chowace brings us a collection of work titled Sakâwiy’niwak— People of the Forest (The Woodland Cree). This sub-exhibit creates space for local Powwow dancers and Woodland Cree history to shine, featuring work by local artists, the Traditional Paths’ Society dancers and local elders / knowledge keepers.
* Ohcîwin is a Cree word meaning “The Origin” or telling of a story where something originated.
Edward Bader: Drawing Conclusions
On view until September 17th
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie
Drawing Conclusions is a retrospective exhibition of artist Ed Bader’s drawing practice, spanning over 3 decades of work. Investigating the relationship between the local and global, Bader examines how history, society and culture determine our experience of place and time, utilizing narrative signifiers found in pop culture. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Bader is interested in the performative aspects of queer identity, gender roles and how sexuality impacts our relationship to place. Through the inherent directness and intimacy of traditional drawing methods, Bader’s work reveals metaphysical questions below the surface: a meditation on purpose and the meaning of existence depicted through the life’s work of an artist.
Weave and Intertwine: Interactive Community Art Exhibition
September 7, 2023 – March 30, 2024
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie
Weave and Intertwine explores the intricate nuances of weaving as an artform as well as a community practice. Integrating hands-on studio-based learning, exhibition and interpretive gallery space, Weave and Intertwine encourages the interactive exploration of the multi-faceted ancient craft of weaving in a vibrant artistic atmosphere.
At its simplest, weaving involves two sets of threads: the warp and weft. These threads are intertwined with each other to form a fabric or cloth. The weft runs horizontally and is interwoven with the stationary, often vertical, warp. Generally, a device called a loom holds the warp under tension so that the weft can go easily over or under them. Its moving parts separate the warp threads so that the weft threads can be sent across the warp in one movement.
Weave and Intertwine invites all community members to share their creativity by adding colours, textures, and patterns to collaborative tapestries for display in an evolving community art exhibition. Enveloped by the exquisitely handwoven cloths from the Saskatoon Lake Weavers, Weave and Intertwine shares a refreshing blend of traditional textiles woven by experienced Weavers and contemporary tapestries co-created by new Weavers.
Thank you to all contributing artists for sharing their creativity and inspiration.
How Does a Moose See the World?
Artworks from the Permanent Collection
On view until November 19, 2023
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie
How Does a Moose See the World? is a selection of work from our permanent collection exploring the theme of animals in art. This exhibition celebrates the lives of animals and acknowledges their intrinsic value as beings rather than interpreting their existence from the human perspective, inviting us to see the world of animals from their point of view. How Does a Moose See the World? showcases the legacy of Canadian artists and the inspiring animals that have captured their imagination. As we explore these artworks, we are reminded of the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world, and of the need to protect and preserve the habitats of these stunning creatures.
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