Three big new exhibits open at Casa tonight, June 24.

 Perfectly timed for Pride week, an expanded version of the Cabinet of Queeriosities dominates the main gallery.

“We do cabinet of Queeriosities every two years. This year we have 32 artists from Ontario, Alberta and even Austria,” said Casa curator Darcy Logan, noting Casa brought in guest curators Megan  Morman and Leila Armstrong, who started Cabinet of Queeriosities, when the event began in the cabinets at the Bowman Art Gallery.

“It’s the fourth year we’ve done this. We do this every two years to celebrate LGBQT inclusion. We have a lot of friends in the community,” he said , adding the contributing artists responded to an open call on social media.

 The submissions for Cabinet of Qeeriosities IV include a variety of mediums including paintings, drawings, sculpture and even fabric art.

“ We have a lot of wonderful works,” Logan said.
 The other big exhibit , called Derp, features new work from U of L graduate Andrea Kowalchuk.

Helping Families will help between 11 to 23 Lethbridge families deal with the costs of cancer treatment thanks to a successful  art show fundraiser at the Galt Museum, May 27.

“We raised $17,700 which surpassed our goal of  $17,500,” enthused Helping Families organizer Carie Stock who is pleased the second annual event was successful. She said different families need different levels of help.

“It depends on the ask. For some families a parking pass means the world to them. Others are more expensive,” Stock said, adding social workers refer families to the organization.

The event included food, a silent auction and works donated by 100 different Lethbridge area artists who sold their works and donated the proceeds to help families cover the costs of cancer treatment including drugs not covered by Alberta Health, parking passes, time away from work and support.

There was also live art being created by Kaitlyn Villlenuve, singers, dancers and guest speaker Alyssa Fraser, who delivered a heartfelt speech about being diagnosed with a rare hip cancer called pseudomyogenic hemangioendothelioma and the resulting expenses her family incurred to get her treatment. Fraser, who is also a competitive weight lifter is also an artist. One of her works brought in over a thousand dollars in a live auction.

“We had a performance by Gymfinity Aerials. They were really great. So people came out and supported a good cause, but they also got to see some really cool entertainment,” Stock continued, adding 147 people attended the event.

Local artists are helping local  families help battle cancer with the second annual art show at the Galt Museum, May 27. Childhood cancer survivor Carie Stock started the organization “Helping Families,” eight years ago, holding several events including a Calgary Helping Families Art show, eight years ago and decided to bring the event to Lethbridge last year.

“I’m a childhood cancer survivor and I remember how hard it was for my mom when I was fighting cancer,” Stock said, noting the money raised goes to families to help cover things like parking fees, ambulance fees, utilities, medication and time spent away from jobs to care for a child for cancer.

“Alberta health care covers a lot, but it doesn’t cover specialty expenses,” she said, adding that is where Helping Families is able to help out.
“We’ve been doing the event for the past eight years in Calgary and it has been so successful, we decided to bring it to Lethbridge,” she continued.
 The event will feature works from 100 southern Alberta artists.

“They are all from Southern Alberta. One is from Magrath. Most of them are paintings, acrylic and oil and photographs, because those are the best for an event like this,” she said.
“This year will be a milestone for us. We’ll have raised $500,000. So we’re excited about reaching that goal. Now we can focus on the next goal which is $1 million,” she said.