Arts Days is even bigger and better this year thanks to CASA, which will be the host of several new events.
The annual celebration of the arts in Lethbridge takes place Sept, 22-29 at venues all over the city. There will be old favourites like the annual Art Walk, which was the cornerstone of the first Arts Days four years ago, and pairs 50 downtown businesses with 50 artists working in a variety of different mediums who will be creating their art then and there. The always popular artisans market will be at CASA this year and there will be buskers and street performers throughout downtown.
“Once again, we’re expanding and doing more things and exciting things,” said Allied Arts Council communications co-ordinator Derek Stevenson.
“Last year we expanded to a full week and we’re doing it again this year. The benefit of having a brand new arts centre like CASA is that we get to try out new events we were never able to showcase before,” he continued.
One of those is “Silent Treatment: A Festival of Silent Shorts” which features locally produced silent films being screened on the side of the CASA building Sept. 27-29.
For more film, “Prairie Tales 15 takes place in the CASA community room, Sept. 25 from 7-9 
p.m.
The event Stevenson is most looking forward to is “Live In Lethbridge: A Community Cabaret,” which takes place in the CASA community room, Sept. 26.
“ Improv group the Drama Nutz will be hosting it. It is a cabaret and like a variety show, so there will be musical theatre, dancing and improv,” Stevenson described. It takes place, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. There is an $8 cover for it.
He is also excited about the gallery hop another fixture of the festival.
People will be able to check out new exhibits beginning with Steve Coffey’s exhibit at the Geomatic Attic.
After the Geomatic Attic, they will see the new exhibits — Jeanne Kollee’s ‘Asgard: Citadel of the Gods and the group exhibit “Seeing Through It,”
It will be followed by new exhibits at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, the Trianon, the Potemkin Gallery and Corinne Thiessen Hepher’s Masters exhibit at the Dr. Penny Foster building.
“It’s all about the grotesque. It’s about conflict in interpersonal relationships,” Thiessen Hepher summarized.
“In two years, we’ve gone from looking at a hybrid of human and animals to machines and animals and started looking at power structures, fears, nerves and social systems and social structures,” she described.
The exhibit includes several different pieces including cartoonish, life sized cardboard cutouts which seem to be equally inspired by Monty Python animator and Pink Floyd‘s “The Wall,” kinetic sculptures and multi-media components.
She has been working on her Masters thesis exhibition, Invisible Debilitation Explosive restraint in.valid, for her MFA for the past two years. It has grown from an examination of the grotesque to much more.
The exhibit opens at the Dr. Penny Foster building downtown, on Saturday, Sept. 14 with a reception from 7-10 p.m.
It closes Sept. 28 with another reception also beginning at 7 p.m., which will end the Arts Days Gallery hop.
“We‘ve been working with a lot of other groups for the gallery hop,” Stevenson said.
“It’s a cool way to check out all of the exhibits in town, some of them will be opening that weekend, others will already have opened,” he continued.
But first, get fuelled up for the Gallery Stroll at a pancake breakfast, Saturday morning at CASA
There will also be free events targeted at families.
Family Affair on the Square takes place at CASA Sept. 29 from noon to 4 p.m. It features a barbecue, sampler classes at CASA, chalk drawings and live music on the Rotary stage.
Local street performers will be performing all over the city including Fox Eyes, Shoulda Coulda Woulda, Johnny Rains, Karma, Lethbridge Irish Dance Association, Jesse and the Dandelions, Brenna Lowrie, the New Weather Machine, the Buskers Association of Lethbridge, Karen Romanchuk, Hibikiya (Lethbridge community Taiko Association), Sarah Jane Christensen, the Naked Ear, Leanna Santangelo and Mike Johansson and more. New West Theatre will even taking some of their favourite characters to the street.
As usual, Arts Days will be incorporating events already happening including Little Miss Higgins at the Geomatic Attic on Sept. 23, the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra’s first Chamber series presentation at CASA, Sept. 27 the Drama Nutz Wednesday show at a location to be determined, the first University of Lethbridge Theatre Xtra production of Down From Heaven Sept. 26-28 and Word on the Street which kicks things off on Sept. 22.
“It’s a fun family festival that is about the literary arts,” summarized new festival co-ordinator Bonnie Mikalson-Andron.
Word on the Street takes place in five Canadian cities including Toronto, Halifax, Kitchener and Saskatoon.
This is the third year Lethbridge will host the event.
“We’re just improving on the festival from past festivals. I think it’s getting better every year,” she said.
The authors speaking and reading their works this year include Marina Ednicott, Marissa Meyer, Vancouver based children’s author Robert Heidebreder, Cassie Stocks, Katie McGarry and Toronto storyteller Celia Barker Lottridge and many more. Cassie Stocks, who won the 2013 Stephen Leacock Award winner for her first novel “Dance, Gladys Dance” will be a highlight as well.
Everything takes place Sept. 22 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Like last year, they have blocked off the streets from fifth Avenue and Eighth Street around the downtown library for the tents for the event.
It’s just a great community event. There are lots of family activities and activities for all ages,” she said.
The Galt Museum also has several activities planned for Arts Days as well including sculpture.
Stevenson is pleased to see the event growing.
“It started as a weekend event because we got a grant for it. It started around Arts Walk, which is 10 years old and it’s grown, so I’m really excited about it,” Stevenson said.
“I always love the gallery hop because I get to visit with a lot of different people. I also like the Art Walk because I get to meet a lot of different people at each venue. It is a great way to get into the Lethbridge art community,” he said.
A version of this story appears in the Sept, 18, 2013 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
