Two new exhibits opening at CASA tonight feature clay and queeriosities.

“Transmissions features new works by Southern Alberta artists Jamie Hume, Giselle Peters and Mark Porcina.
“ The three artists all have  put their unique interpretations using the medium of clay,” described curator Darcy Logan. There are 20pieces in the exhibit which runs  June 27-Sept. 10.

“ They are exploring their personal history as well as the mythological world,” he continued.
 Artist Jamie Hume explored her family history through her pieces.
“I’ve been exploring my family history,“ she said, noting  finding an old photograph of her grandmother, Jessie Martin Hume.

Hume is a first and second generation Canadian as her mother was born in England and her dad’s mom and dad were both born in Scotland but met and married in Canada. 

“ I love history and I never got to talk a lot with my grandmother before she passed on. Her family claimed to be Pictish descendents. They had darker skin and darker hair. they weren’t the stereotypical red haired, fair haired Scottish,” she continued.
 She created a clay sculpture of her grandmother, but while exploring the history of Pictish mythology, was inspired to create a couple of larger, more fantastical sculpture.
“ They’re a little more mysterious,” she said.

 The second exhibit is  Cabinet of Queeriosities III, which has expanded from old cabinets at the old Bowman  Arts Centre to an entire room.

The fourth annual Nishikaze anime festival is a year-long project for it’s enthusiastic organizers.


“It’s an open community for everything to do with Anime — Japanese animation. It’s a day filled with activities and of course Cosplay,” enthused University of Lethbridge New Media student Stefie Simms, who has been hard at work sewing two intricately detailed costumes based on two of her favourite Anime characters for the fourth annual Nishikaze — Lethbridge’s Anime Festival—June 16 event at Merkin Hall.


“I’ve been working on them for the past year. I actually can’t wait for this to be over so I can start working on the next one,” bubbled Simms, who is the co-ordinator of her favourite part of the festival — the cosplay portion of the event, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 
She has taken part in the cosplay competitions at Anime festivals all over Western Canada and even out to the east coast, and through her participation, has earned the title of Master in Cosplay.


She will be dressed as Maou from the cartoon Maoyu.


“I love her attitude,” she said.


She also created a second  costume — a far less elaborate maid's outfit which she will be wearing while working the Café Ayaku maid café which will offer snacks and a variety of games.

She suggested patrons check out the Pokemon League as well as the U of L Fine Arts and New Media Department’s  Cute Em Ups, which she won’t be able to attend due to working the maid‘s cafe.
 She spent between 30-40 hours on each costume.


Maid Cafes are popular in Japan where the staff dress up as maids and act as servants, treating customers as masters and mistresses in a private home rather than as customers.
The annual event is a celebration of all things related to the Japanese form of animation — anime.


“It’s a great community of people who really enjoy doing what they love doing,” she enthused.


CASA gets an early start on the upcoming SOAR Emerging Artists Festival (June 3-7) by opening a new exhibit this weekend featuring 22 Albertan emerging artists.

CASA received 36 submissions to their call for submissions several months ago of which curator Darcy Logan chose 22 works for the Loose Leaves exhibit, which opens May 9 with a reception at 7 p.m.

“SOAR is a professional  development symposium for emerging artists, so I wanted to do something in conjunction with that festival, so I came up with  the idea of an exhibit working with paper,” he said.

Adding the only restrictions were the artists had to be under the age of 35 and the works had to be unframed and on paper or utilizing paper.

“Part of the Loose Leaves  was they had to be unframed,” he added.

He was impressed with what the artists came up with.

 Artist Ryan Smitham did a core sample of 10 years of his sketch books while Alberta College of Art graduate Felicity Hart created a Tarot Card reading desk and designed  a deck of cards  incorporating hand painted images of death.

“Each deck explores the three greatest outbreaks of the bubonic plague,” Logan said.