Backyard Wilderness at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre

Backyard Wilderness, the city-wide art project, kicked off with the exhibition at the Helen Schuler Community Art Gallery (Monday, August 26 - Saturday, September 28, 2019).

100 Clay Skunks

Urban animal location map.

"Buck," linocut by Leila Armstrong, 2019.

Backyard Wilderness Artist's Talk

Backyard Wilderness

Artist's Statement: There is a disconnect between people’s everyday lived experience and their conception of nature as something external and removed. This leads to a concern that we will have no inclination for protecting the biodiversity with which we engage every day. Given that 81% of Canadians reside it urban centres (Statistics Canada, 2011), it is important to understand how city dwellers define and interact with urban wildlife and wilderness.Through an investigation into the urban ecology of Lethbridge, my aim is to challenge people to rethink their conceptions of nature as detached from our daily lives. One of the intended outcomes of my research is to increase awareness of, and the need for, engagement with urban ecologies as spaces in which humans and other species must live and thrive together.

Backyard Wilderness, a public billboard art project by Leila Armstrong. 

Backyard Wilderness will appear on 6 billboards throughout Lethbridge from September 9 – October 6, 2019.

South Lethbridge:

4 Avenue South and 4 Street South

13 Street South and 2 Avenue South 

Mayor Magrath Drive South and 5 Avenue South 

North Lethbridge:

Stafford Drive North and 5 Avenue North

13 Street North and 7 Avenue North 

Mayor Magrath Drive North and 2 Avenue North 

Backyard Wilderness, an exhibition by Leila Armstrong.

Backyard Wilderness will appear at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre Community Art Gallery from Tuesday, August 26 – Saturday, September 28, 2019.

Nature Centre's Location:
300 Indian Battle Road South
Lethbridge, Alberta

Backyard Wilderness, an exhibition of digital photography by Leila Armstrong.

Backyard Wilderness will appear on the indoor digital screen located in the lobby at Casa from September 7 - October 19, 2019.

Casa's Location:

230 8th Street, South
Lethbridge, Alberta

These projects are made possible through support from the City of Lethbridge Public Art Small Projects Program, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Casa Artist Residency Program, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants Program, the Canada Research Chairs Program, and PATTISON Outdoor Advertising. 

www.backyardwilderness.info

Leila Armstrong is a member of the Barrett-Henzi Lab at the University of Lethbridge.

 

Call for Submissions for Cabinet of Queeriosities IV!

Call for Submissions for Cabinet of Queeriosities IV

The Gallery at Casa is hosting Cabinet of Queeriosities IV. This is the 4th in a series of exhibitions celebrating LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer) history, identity, culture, and pride through a diverse range of subject matters and approaches. In the past, works shown as part of Cabinet of Queeriosities have included video, photography, mixed media, painting, drawing, ceramics, found objects, altered objects, assemblages and people’s collections of LGBTQ themed items (such a beefcake playing cards and beaver ornaments). The Gallery at Casa is a multi-use facility, and submissions should consider diverse audiences and ages.

This call is open to all artists. You need not identify as LGBTQ but submissions should in some way address LGBTQ history, identity, culture and/or pride.
Each artist, or group of collaborators, may submit up to 3 works.
This exhibition is curated and artists chosen will be paid an honorarium for participating ($25 - $150, depending on the number of artists included).
Artists must cover cost of shipping, if applicable.
Please include name, medium, year, and insurance value when dropping off work to Casa. You may also include a cv and brief statement, not exceeding 250 words.

Drop off your work in person between June 10 and 13, 2017. If you are submitting from out of town, ensure your shipped work arrives at Casa before June 13, 2017. The exhibition opens June 24 and runs until August 25, 2017. There will be an opening reception on June 24, 2017.

For more information, please contact guest curators and coordinator
Leila Armstrong at leila.armstrong@shaw.ca
Megan Morman megan.morman@uleth.ca
or Casa Curator Darcy Logan at gallery@artslethbridge.org

Prints

Badger Boy, 1 & 2, collages, 12"x16" each, 2015.

Self Portrait, silkscreen, 12"x16", 2015.

Badger, linocut, 12"x16", 2015.

Stella, linocut, 12"x16", 2016.

Moose, linocut, 12"x16", 2016.

Ghost Salmon, linocut, 12"x16", 2016.

Magpie, linocut, 12"x16", 2016.

Cabinet of Queeriosities 3 (2015)

The third Cabinet of Queeriosities that I've facilitated.

Arhea Robinson

Barely There, or Piles, 2015

thread on canvas

Heather MacDonald-Sorochan

Two-Spirited, 2015

clay

Lisa Lunn

For MJ, Bowie, my Barbies and my Ponies, but especially 4U, Prince, 2015

assemblage of found and altered objects

Trudi Sissons

Duplicity, 2015

mixed media collage

Trudi Sissons

EX-HIBIT, 2015

digital image

Klaus Pinter

Untitled, 2015

digital prints

Kasia Sosnowski

Close/Closed, 2014

plaster, condoms

Darcy Forrest

St. Christopher, 2015

oil paint, photographs, gold leaf, and kunzite on wood panel

Kiley Granberg

Bird of a Feather – Sheller’s Jay, 2015

gouache, gold leaf, collage, frame

Cindy Baker

Poop Sprinkles, 2015

glass, ceramic jar, gelatin capsules, glitter

Jennifer Davis

Fruitcake, 2015

fruitcake, glitter, and cake board

Rick Gillis

Lesbane, 2015

assemblage

Amanda Bigford

Hanky Panky, 2015

digital image 

G. Wayne Dwornik

Project: SOS, 2015

digital image

Len Komanac

Secret Hearts, 2015

acrylic on board

Giselle Peters

Flora, 2015

ceramic and fabric

Giselle Peters

Vase Form, 2015

ceramic and fabric

Giselle Peters

Skirted Vessel, 2015

ceramic and fabric

Frater Tham

“When We Care What Others Think We Lose Sight of Wonder,

When We Care What Others Do, We Miss the Mysterious,”

whispered the fairies. 2015

faux vintage photograph

Frater Tham

“When We Play We Grow Wiser, When We Judge We Grow Older,”

whispered the fairies. 2015

faux vintage photograph 

Frater Tham

“When You Support Others You Nurture Creation,

When You Disparage Others You Murder Worlds,”

whispered the fairies. 2015

faux vintage photograph

Frater Tham

“When We’re Self-Assured We Are Magical,

When We Are Self-Righteous We Are Miserable,"

whispered the fairies. 2015

faux vintage photograph

Megan Morman

Hankies, 2014

fused plastic beads

Rick Gillis

Marlene, 2015

assemblage, poetry, digital design

JB Groves,

Emergence, 2015

mixed media mono-prints on hardwood panels