SUMMER HOURS:
Monday   10am - 3pm
Tuesday - Saturday    10am - 4pm
Sunday and Holiday    1pm - 4pm

ON THE GRID                                                                                        January 24 - February 21
Courtesy of AFA TREX program                                              Reception: January 27, 1-3pm


Grids surround us every day. They are the steel, timber, brick and mortar foundation of our buildings, the mapped roads that shape our cities, the network that brings power into our homes, and the binary system that allows our electronic devices to function. Architects use grids when drafting blueprints; accountants use them in the form of ledgers; graphic designers use them as a tool to create balanced designs.


In the visual arts, the grid is most often associated with mid-20th-century Minimalism, Op Art and Color Field painting. Artists associated with these movements were interested in the flatness of the picture plane, which led the American art critic Clement Greenberg to proclaim in 1954 that “pictorial space [in painting] has lost its ‘inside’ and become all ‘outside.’”
He declared that painting was headed in a progressive trajectory toward greater abstraction, flatness and purity of form—a direction embraced by a number of leading artists throughout the United States, Europe and Canada. These artists were not concerned with painting for the purpose of representing the natural world. They wanted to create art for art’s sake. Art that alludes to itself. Art that was about pure form. Art devoid of an explicit narrative. The grid became the perfect emblem for this pursuit.
Like its presence in our day-to-day lives, the grid manifests literally and covertly in the artwork selected for this exhibition. In some instances, it is a visible, blatant motif, and in other instances, its presence is implied through the measured, and sometimes, modular construction of the compositions. This collection of work is intended to remind us of the grid’s tremendous influence on 20th-century art and architectural discourse, but also to lead us to contemplate its enduring presence.

On the Grid is comprised of 17 works of art from the collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) by 7 artists: Helen Archer, Charles Boyce, Ihor Dmytruk, Christian
Grandjean, Harry Kiyooka, Bill McCarroll and Frank Stella.
—Curated by Shannon Bingeman
—Developed by the Alberta Society of Artists

NO PARTICULAR TOPIC                                                                         February 24 to March 25
                                                                           Opening Reception: Saturday, March 3, 1-3pm

The annual No Particular Topic exhibition is a non juried show. All Works, in all media, submitted are on display.

EMERGENCE                                                                                                 March 31 to April 29
                                                                        Opening Reception: Saturday March 31, 1-3pm

"Emergence" is our annual show featuring the Artwork of students from Crowsnest Consolidated High School and Livingston High School. This show has been curated by Karen Tamminga-Paton and Sherry Chanin. The works consist of watercolors, charcoal drawings, steampunk sculptures and more. Come support our young emerging local artists on Saturday March 31st at 1pm-3pm for the Opening Reception.

JOURNEYS TO ABSTRACTION                                                                             May 5 to June 3
by Helen Newsome                                           Opening Reception: Saturday May 5, 1-3pm


"I have always been fascinated with the interplay between real and imagined images. Often, I am asked, “Where do your paintings come from? How do you start an abstract painting?”

The idea for this exhibit, is to show the relationship between what is real and what is imagined. The representational pieces, are at varying levels of realism, just as the abstracts are at varying levels of abstraction. They all revolve around people as I see them." - Helen Newsome

 The Crowsnest Pass During Its Heyday                                              June 9 to July 8, 2018
 by Donna Bilyk                                                 Opening Reception: Saturday June 9, 1-3pm


Ever since I was 18, growing up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, I had a vision that one day I would own an old building and have my studio and gallery combined in that space.

This dream came true, when I purchased a Historic building in Coleman, Alberta in 2015.

Quickly, I became curious as to what this place I now found myself in was like back in its "heyday".

I spent a week going through the 1,000's of photographs in the museum's archives, and from these I managed to narrow it down to just over 100. From this, I then forced myself to reduce it down to 11 photographs. Eleven images, with my vision to bring them to life in large scale charcoal drawings. Charcoal seemed to be the best medium to me, as it spoke to the coal mining history of this area.

I hope this work will help to transport the viewer back to a simpler time, a time when jobs were plentiful and the Crowsnest Pass was booming.

Soundscapes                                                                              July 14 to August 26, 2018
Curated by Sherry Chanin                              Opening Reception: Saturday  July 14, 1-3pm

So much of what we enjoy in our environment is based on the sounds we hear – the cry of birds, the rush of water, the rustle of leaves in the wind, the crackle of thunder, the patter of rain, the laughter of children playing at the park, the sound of the train as it makes its way through the mountain passes, a dog barking in the distance, people’s voices at a café. Together we create a symphony of sound, or soundscape, that is unique and distinctive to every environment. The term “soundscape” was first noted by Michael Southworth in an article in 1969 titled “The Sonic Environment of Cities” and fleshed out eight years later by Canadian composer and naturalist R. Murray Schafer in his seminal work, “The Tuning of the World.” Archibald Lampman, an early Canadian Confederate Poet, wrote the poem, Voices of the Earth, that describes the “music of the spheres”, an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies – the sun, moon, and planets, as a form of music – the medieval Latin name for music. This music is not audible, but simply a mathematical concept. He goes on to describe the sounds of nature, man, primordial energies, the contrast between the physical and metaphysical/spiritual harmonies, which could be represented visually through either realistic or abstract patterns and rhythms. The dance of life is one of movement, forward progression with crescendos and diminuendos, that we are inexplicably a part of, that form and define who we are, whether it is silent or audible. I invite you to consider how you have been impacted by the soundscapes in your life and the greater symphony that you are a part of, and share your interpretation of this theme in our show for this summer.

Curatorial by Sherry Chanin
We have not heard the music of the spheres,
The song of star to star, but there are sounds
More deep than human joy and human tears,
That Nature uses in her common rounds;
The fall of streams, the cry of winds that strain
The oak, the roaring of the sea's surge, might
Of thunder breaking afar off, or rain
That falls by minutes in the summer night.
These are the voices of earth's secret soul,
Uttering the mystery from which she came.
To him who hears them grief beyond control,
Or joy inscrutable without a name,
Wakes in his heart thoughts bedded there, impearled,
Before the birth and making of the world. 

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/voices-of-earth/

Color on Colour                                                                                    September 1 to 30, 2018
by Mali Vargas and Errol Lee Fullen                                                      Opening Reception: Saturday September 1st, 2018 1-3pm

Color on Colour - Night & Day

"Colour is a power which directly influences the soul" - Wassily Kandinsky

Visitors to this dynamic new exhibition of Calgary painters Mali Vargas and Errol Lee Fullen may be surprised to discover that although their work seemingly floats in the esoteric realm of Contemporary Colour Abstraction, its sources and inspiration are grounded in the physical act of their painting experience. 

Although the works in this collection both obviously showcase the movement and physicality of their creation - the visual result is contrasted in what can be thought of as Night & Day. Vargas’ work evokes lyrical and optimistic lightness which is juxtaposed with Fullen’s deeply colourful nocturnal and subterranean undercurrents.

Color on Colour is an intriguing exhibition that highlights two colour laden approaches from opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. 
Allied Arts Council of Pincher Creek
We wish to gratefully acknowledge our relationship with the Allied Arts Council of Pincher Creek. We will keep you informed of the ongoing schedule of exhibitions happening at their Lebel Gallery, in Pincher Creek. Check out their website here: