Art comes alive this month in Galt Gardens

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on August 4, 2023.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Participants engage in a yarn bombing session, during the Allied Arts Council and Southern Alberta Art Gallery hosted Garden Party this week at Galt Gardens.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Allied Arts Council and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in conjunction with the City of Lethbridge are bringing live music, performance art and art making to Galt Gardens on Wednesdays this month.

Executive director of the Allied Arts Council, Jana MacKenzie said this week that the City of Lethbridge asked AAC and SAAG to partner up and put up some events in Galt Gardens during the week in daytime so they decided to throw a “Garden Party” through the month of August on Wednesdays.

“As we know, often the weekends are full of events but it’s during the week that we wanted to invigorate the space, and bring art in,” said MacKenzie.

 She said the AAC has been putting on events in Galt Gardens for decades, so they are accustomed to showcasing things in its pergola.

 “It’s really just a great opportunity for us to showcase artists, that’s our job, so majority of the funding we received is going right back into artist pockets,” said MacKenzie.

 She said the AAC hired the musical performers and the SAAG is putting on the arts activities.

 “Today they’ve got yarn bombing, next week they’re going to be doing puppet making with Faye HeavyShield, the next week they have air dry clay vases and the last day on Aug. 23 circular weaving with local artist Mary-Anne McTrowe – she’s famous to some,” said MacKenzie.

She said the activities allow people to visit the garden and use their hands while listening to music.

MacKenzie said they received $10,000 in funding for the events through Opportunity Lethbridge to increase the vibrancy of downtown.

She said about 75 per cent of that funding is being used to pay the artists and the remaining 25 per cent is dedicated to promoting the events.

 “I think COVID dropped off a lot of these special events in the park. There’s also been some funding issues with other groups like the Lethbridge Electronic Music Festival that has been cancelled due to funding – a huge event in this park that is no longer happening – so we’re just sort of making up for some of those losses,” said MacKenzie.

The decision was made to hold the events on Wednesdays at Galt Gardens to take advantage of the crowd visiting the farmers’ market just a couple of blocks away. The idea is to have the music inviting them to stop by as it will be heard from a distance.

“Some of the groups like the Bridge Brass Quintet and the Little Lethbridge Opera Theatre, I think people will be able to hear them from far away and hopefully it will peek their curiosity to come and party with us,” said MacKenzie.

The event is free and family friendly. It will run Wednesdays from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the pergola at Galt Gardens.

“Everybody’s welcome, this space is for everybody. This is an opportunity to create community and the more positive things we can bring to the space, the better. Even the people who are suffering from addictions, this is for them as well,” said MacKenzie.

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