2026 Gallery Hop!Join Us for the 2026 Gallery Hop! The Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge is pleased to invite the community to the 2026 edition of the 5 Stop Gallery Hop, a lively winter tradition that celebrates the creativity of local artists. This annual event creates an inviting and accessible way for people of all ages and levels of art experience to explore downtown Lethbridge’s Art scene. Visitors are welcomed to wander from one participating gallery to the next at their own pace, enjoying a relaxed evening centered on artistic creativity.This year’s hop features five unique venues: Trianon Gallery, L.A. Gallery, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG), Casa and Legend Gallery. Each location will showcase a wide variety of work by southern Alberta artists, including painting, photography, ceramics, mixed media and more. The event highlights both ermerging and established artsists and offers and excellent opportunity for the public to engage with the vibrancy of the local arts community.We encourage everyone to make their calendars and join us for an inspiring evening the brings people together through creativity and community spirit. We look forward to seeing you as we kick off another memorable Gallery Hop in downtown Lethbridge.What's happening at the SAAG:

• Drop-in art activities

• Refreshments

• University of Lethbridge Philosophy Club providing patrons the opportunity to ask any question they’d like to a philosopher

• Current Exhibitions by David M.C. Miller and Nancy Valladares

Date: January 24th, 2026
Time: 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Visit us this Friday, January 23, 2026 for a free Community Day generously supported by PATTISON Outdoor Advertising, the Gallery's 2026 Media Sponsor. Visitors will receive complimentary admission to the Gallery from 11am to 7pm, and have access to our current exhibitions for this sponsored Community Day, including Nancy Valladares' Image Metabolisms and David M.C. Miller's Other Suns. Thank you to our friends at PATTISON Outdoor Advertising!

Join us for a special reception from 5-7PM on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 to celebrate 50 incredible years of contemporary art and community at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin.

We’re pulling out all the stops to say thank you! Our first 100 guests will receive a complimentary poutine from our pop-up Poutine Bar by Owl Acoustic Lounge, plus a piece of limited edition 50th anniversary swag! All guests will receive a complimentary drink ticket for a beverage from our drink sponsor, Annex Ale Project, and of course, a slice of anniversary cake.

Our current exhibitions by David M.C. Miller and Nancy Valladares will be on view throughout the reception and artists Gillian Goerz and Eric Dyck will be capturing your favourite Gallery memories all night long through their live drawing. Come prepared to share a favourite story!

This special anniversary event is free to attend and we hope you’ll bring along all the Gallery lovers in your life! Your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbours are all welcome as we celebrate our past and look forward to the next 50 years together.

While the celebration is free, donations will go a long way in making our 50th Anniversary year shine. Donations, including sign-up for our monthly giving program Centennial Club, and be made via CanadaHelps: www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/southern-alberta-art-gallery-association/

Thank you for your important support. We cannot wait to celebrate this Golden Anniversary with you!

Artist Bios:

Gillian Goerz is a cartoonist, writer, graphic recorder, and illustrator. Her work has been seen in the New York Times, the Walrus, The Globe and Mail, and her clients include Audi, Volkswagen, The Canadian Opera Company and more. Gillian has a passion for communication, and sharing ideas and stories through multiple mediums. Her first kids graphic novel Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer (Dial) spent 7 weeks on the Canadian Best Seller list, received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly, and was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review. The sequel Shirley & Jamila’s Big Fall (Dial, Dec, 2021) won the Doug Wright award for excellence in Canadian Kids Comics. Website: www.gilliang.com 

Eric Dyck is a cartoonist and creator of Slaughterhouse Slough. Eric also teaches cartooning & comic classes for children, and his freelance illustration work can be found through Lethbridge and elsewhere. Website: www.ericdyck.com

Additional information on our current exhibiting artists David M.C. Miller and Nancy Valladares and their exhibitions can be found on our website: www.saag.ca/current

Seniors are welcome at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. for a free guided tour, art activity, and refreshments with Outreach Coordinator Bariyaa Ipaa.

Join us this Friday, Jan. 2 for the first Free First Friday of 2026! The Gallery is open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. with complimentary admission all day long.

If you’re a middle or high-school-aged youth looking to explore your artistic side in a warm and welcoming environment, join us that afternoon from 1-3 p.m. for our drop-in Youth Art Club program. Bring your own art to work on or make something here while also taking in a tour of the current exhibitions. Supplies, snacks, and refreshments are included in this program.

Please note that Youth Art Club is for youth ages 12+. Those under the age of 12 are encouraged to join us with their families for our monthly Crafternoon, sign-up for Coulees & Culture, and participate in our other all-ages arts-based programming.

Join us for special holiday edition of Crafternoon, our monthly a fun and family-friendly art activity. This month we’ll be making festive ornaments and cards using a variety of materials, including cyanotype prints, watercolours, paper cut outs and more. All supplies are provided and there will be free apple cider and hot chocolate for attendees.

Join us for Bletcher Hour, the Gallery’s monthly critical reading group. Readings explore key themes of the exhibitions and current events, with the intent to deepen our understanding of the artworks and their context within our community.

This month will be reading sections of Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photography by Siobhan Agnus. In this book, Agnus explores the inextricable links between image-making and resource extraction, revealing how the mining of bitumen, silver, platinum, iron, uranium, and rare earth elements is a precondition of photography. This book was recommended by current exhibiting artist Nancy Valladares.

This program is free to attend. Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. If you cannot make it in person, online attendance options are available.

If you’re a middle or high-school-aged youth looking to explore your artistic side in a warm and welcoming environment, join us at the Gallery for our drop-in Youth Art Club program. Bring your own art to work on or make something here while also taking in a tour of the current exhibitions.  Supplies are provided and snacks and refreshments will be available.

This program is for youth ages 12+. Children under the age of 12 are encouraged to join us for Crafternoon and other arts-based programming. 

Seniors (65+) are invited to join us at the Gallery for a very special edition of our Seniors Tour & Tea program featuring multidisciplinary artist Kablusiak where attendees will make ukpik ornaments.

Ukpiks refers to the snowy owl and is a popular subject for Inuit handicraft ornaments and art. These items are cherished as both toys and decorative objects and are often made from traditional materials.

Kablusiak is a multidisciplinary Inuvialuk artist who creates work in a variety of materials including, but not limited to, soapstone, permanent marker, bed sheets, felt, fur, and words. Their work explores the dis/connections between existence within and without Inuit Nunangat, the impacts of colonization on gender and sexuality expressions, trying to make people laugh, and the everyday. Kablusiak holds a BFA in Drawing from AUArts in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, and currently lives and works in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan/Edmonton. Their work can be found in the collections of the Indigenous Art Centre, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Art Gallery of Alberta, Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, and Global Affairs Visual Art Collection, among others. Kablusiak was awarded the 2023 Sobey Art Award and is represented by Norberg Hall.

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for Crafternoon, a self-directed art activity in our Creativity Centre. All supplies are provided.

If you’re a middle or high-school-aged youth looking to explore your artistic side in a warm and welcoming environment, join us at the Gallery for our drop-in Youth Art Club program. Bring your own art to work on or make something here while also taking in a tour of the current exhibitions.  Supplies are provided and snacks and refreshments will be available.

This program is for youth ages 12+. Children under the age of 12 are encouraged to join us for Crafternoon and other arts-based programming. 

Join Curator & Exhibitions Manager Adam Whitford for a tour of the Gallery’s current exhibitions featuring work by artists Nancy Valadares and David Miller

Limited space, registration required

$10 members | $15 general

Have you ever wanted to make your own book? Join us for this hands-on workshop to have the chance to make your own book. Participants will learn how to use the equipment in our Tiny Press Studio, and will make their own handmade book.

Participants will have the chance to make a blank notebook or bind their own printed materials. If you want to bind your own writing or art, please bring two printed copies to the workshop.

This workshop is open to ages 12+. The majority of the bookbinding process requires standing. Accommodations can be made. This program is $10 for Gallery members, or $15 for general attendees. Space is limited so registration is encouraged. You can register at the front desk or by emailing hkehoe@saag.ca If you have any questions about the printing process, how to print your materials, or if program cost presents a barrier please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Events Coordinator, hkehoe@saag.ca.

Tiny Press at SAAG is a handmade bookbinding studio at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin, in Lethbridge, Alberta. Tiny Press prints, binds, and distributes books by hand, creating original work with writers and artists of the region, about topics that are important to us. Tiny Press is a community resource, and social gathering place for those interested in learning about publication, and connecting with others through a DIY mentality.

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery’s annual Holiday Market will take place on Friday Nov. 14 from 5 - 9 PM and Saturday Nov. 15 from 10 AM - 5 PM. Our Holiday Market features a variety of talented local and regional artists. This is the perfect place to shop local this holiday season. Find something for your friends, your family, or yourself!

2025 Holiday Market Vendors

• Green & Groovy

• Sewing and Ceramics

• Sof Made

• Nature Girl - Lauren Kurmey

• Howl Candle Co.

• Wild & Whimsy YQL

• Rose Clothes

• Nicole Riedmueller

• Melanie Barnett Ceramics

• Knothole Photography

• Spark of Sugar Confectionery

• Elm Charm 

• Stefanie Smith Ceramics

• Mimizart

• Tracey Halladay Photography

• Cherry Bomb Crochet 

• Star Mountain Soapworks

• Slough Comics & Press

• Rainbow Bazaar Art Collective

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery’s annual Holiday Market will take place on Friday Nov. 14 from 5 - 9 PM and Saturday Nov. 15 from 10 AM - 5 PM. Our Holiday Market features a variety of talented local and regional artists. This is the perfect place to shop local this holiday season. Find something for your friends, your family, or yourself! 

2025 Holiday Market Vendors

• Green & Groovy

• Sewing and Ceramics

• Sof Made

• Nature Girl - Lauren Kurmey

• Howl Candle Co.

• Wild & Whimsy YQL

• Rose Clothes

• Nicole Riedmueller

• Melanie Barnett Ceramics

• Knothole Photography

• Spark of Sugar Confectionery

• Elm Charm 

• Stefanie Smith Ceramics

• Mimizart

• Tracey Halladay Photography

• Cherry Bomb Crochet 

• Star Mountain Soapworks

• Slough Comics & Press

• Rainbow Bazaar Art Collective

What does it mean to build worlds with images? What can practices of preservation from the past teach us about examining our visual present? Join artist and educator Nancy Valladares for this workshop exploring these questions and many more.

Valladares, who teaches Design and Technology at Parsons in New York, has explored imagemaking across scales: from the analogue to the computational, to the intimate and the infrastructural. Drawing from her practice investigating photography's ecological footprint, this workshop examines the personal image against the landscape of vast data flows, training algorithms, and an image culture accelerating beyond recognition.

As images multiply and circulate at unprecedented speeds, participants will engage questions of data privacy, digital stewardship, and what it means to archive with intention. When photographs can be infinitely generated and manipulated, preservation becomes both personal and political. We will examine ways of anchoring memory and building histories in an era of post-truth.

Through worldbuilding and storytelling strategies, we'll imagine alternative futures for our digital lives. What could data sovereignty actually look like? How might communities design systems where we control our own images, narratives, and digital traces? By treating the future as a space we can actively shape, participants will move beyond critique toward practices of care, consent, and collective ownership.

This workshop is an open invitation to look closely at what we save, what we share, and what gets taken from us in the process. Open to artists, creatives, writers, or anyone curious about these questions.

Requirements: Bring questions, examples of images you keep, memories of the ones you've lost, and the ones you want to protect in the days to come!

$10 for members, $15 non-members. Materials will be provided. Space for this workshop is limited; contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register.

Seniors (65+) are welcome at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for a free guided tour, art activity, and refreshments.

Join us at the Gallery to celebrate the opening of our newest exhibitions featuring work by Nancy Valladares and David M.C. Miller.

DOORS | 3 P.M.

OPENING REMARKS | 3:30 P.M.

ARTIST TALK AND TOUR WITH NANCY VALLADARES AND DAVID M.C. MILLER | 4 - 5 P.M.

RECEPTION | 5 - 8 P.M

GALLERY CLOSES | 8 P.M.

Osmanthus & JJL's 2025 Fall Tour will end at Lethbridge's iconic Southern Alberta Art Gallery, joined by local electronic duo Blue Cliff.

Eventbrite: https://Osmanthus-JJL-BlueCliff.eventbrite.ca

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/share/19UnpE27xK/

OSMAMTHUS
Starting as a one-off pairing for a small gallery show in 2019, the Calgary based duo of Laura Reid(violin) and Krzysztof Sujata (synthesizer and voice) quickly grew in activity, resulting in their 2024 debut album 'Between Seasons'. Combining Reid’s classical prowess and ear for melody and texture with Sujata’s electronic experience and penchant for paced improvisation and minimalism, they straddle the line between acoustic and electronic music, and accentuate how truly insignificant the distinction between the two worlds is.

JJL
Born and raised in a family of musicians in Beijing, JJL spent her young life marinating in her parents’ musical training and influences. As a young adult, she left her hometown (and parents’ watchful eye) in search of her true musical self. Her recent solo project is a continuation of her self-exploration and musical experimentation. With her flutes and electronics, JJL hopes to express her unique musical character through the meditative process of creating self-sustaining music in realtime.

Blue Cliff
Blue Cliff is Eric Den Haan and Dillon St. Jean. Based in Lethbridge, Alberta, Blue Cliff creates experimental electronic music inspired by joy, curiosity, and adventure. Thank you for listening.

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for our special Halloween edition of Crafternoon, a self-directed art activity in our Creativity Centre. This month we will be making Halloween masks to wear. All supplies are provided.

If you’re a middle or high-school-aged youth looking to explore your artistic side in a warm and welcoming environment, join us at the Gallery for our drop-in Youth Art Club program. Bring your own art to work on or make something here while also taking in a tour of the current exhibitions.  Supplies are provided and snacks and refreshments will be available.

This program is for youth ages 12+. Children under the age of 12 are encouraged to join us for Crafternoon and other arts-based programming.

Join us for Bletcher Hour, the Gallery’s monthly critical reading group. Readings explore key themes of the exhibitions and current events, with the intent to deepen our understanding of the artworks and their context within our community. This month’s reading is from A Two-Spirit Journey: the Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby with Mary Louisa Plummer.

This program is free to attend. Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. If you cannot make it in person, online attendance options are available.

Seniors (65+) are welcome at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for a free guided tour, art activity, and refreshments. Join us at the Gallery this week to create comics with guest artist Leila Armstrong! Together we will explore the drawing prompts of renowned cartoonist Lynda Barry, best known for the underground comic “Ernie Pook’s Comeek.”

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin invites you to join us for a writing workshop led by exhibiting artist Namaakii Bee Bear Hat. Working from photos and memories, participants will be led through creative exercises to create poetic writings of their own stories about land. Participants are encouraged to bring their own photographs to work from. 

This workshop is free for members. For non-members, regular admission applies. There are a limited number of seats available for this workshop. We encourage you to register in advance to reserve your spot. Contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Events Coordinator, to register, for more information, or if program costs present a barrier.

Namaakii Bee Bear Hat is a Mohkinstsis based artist, whose Blackfoot and Cree/Dane-zaa ancestors have lived on the lands that are now part of Treaty 7 and 8, for many millennia. Her work explores this cultural lineage through installation, photography, text and collage. Bear Hat graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts in 2011, where she majored in painting. Her work explores identity and story-telling, wanting to give back to the rich stories of her home territories. Within her work, Bear Hat is unfolding that which ties her to these unique landscapes. 

Bear Hat’s most recent work, these trails are home, was a part of Story Keeping (2023) exhibition at The Nanaimo Art Gallery. Other recent exhibitions include, Big Rock River: Contemporary Indigenous Art in an Ancient Land (2022) at The Okotoks Art Gallery; Related (2022), at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Vancouver; Visions of the Hunt (2018), at the Esplanade, Medicine Hat; níchiwamiskwém | nimidet | ma soeur | my sister, Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA), Art Mûr, Montréal and I Believe in Living (2018), Untitled Arts Society, Calgary. Bear Hat has also been awarded the Joane Cardinal Schubert Memorial Scholarship in 2011 and the Sonia de Grandmaison Scholarship in 2013.

The Gallery will be closed today to honour the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Regular hours will resume Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Looking for a fun and family-friendly activity on a Saturday afternoon? Visit the Gallery for Crafternoon, a self-directed, drop-in art activity in our Creativity Centre. This month we will be doing miniature air dry clay sculptures. All supplies are provided.

Join the Gallery and the Galt Museum and Archives for this panel discussion on Sept. 26 which gathers voices at the intersection of art and environmental advocacy, exploring how Indigenous worldviews offer both ancient and urgent solutions to the climate crisis.⁠

Prior to the panel, attendees are invited to join us at the Gallery at 4:30 p.m. for a complimentary tour of the exhibition before heading to the Galt for the panel.

⁠In conversation with artist Leila Sujir’s exhibition forest documents, currently on view at the Gallery, panelists Ira Provost, Katira Crow Shoe, Kansie Fox, and Star Crop Eared Wolf will weave together perspectives on land stewardship, ecological responsibility, and creative resistance. ⁠

⁠All ages are welcome, registration is not required, and there is no cost to attend.

Hands-on art workshops led by local BIPOC artists. Free to attend, all supplies are provided.

Part of the 2025 Culture Days: BIPOC Foundation Digi-Arts Program Series, a free series of art events supporting and highlighting the work of BIPOC artists in Southern Alberta made possible by the Alberta Culture Days Host Site Grant.