If you are interested in having your art showcased in the library, please contact the Library Manager.
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) has supported a provincial travelling exhibition program since 1981. The mandate of the AFA Travelling Exhibition Program is to provide every Albertan with the opportunity to enjoy visual art exhibitions in their community.
Three regional galleries and one arts organization coordinate the program for the AFA: Northwest Region: The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Grande Prairie Northeast and North Central Region: The Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton Southwest Region: The Alberta Society of Artists, Calgary Southeast Region: The Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre, Medicine Hat
Each year, more than 300,000 Albertans enjoy many exhibitions in communities ranging from High Level in the north to Milk River in the south and virtually everywhere in between. The AFA Travelling Exhibition Program also offers educational support material to help educators integrate the visual arts into the school curriculum. Exhibitions for the TREX program are curated from a variety of sources, including private and public collections. A major part of the program assists in making the AFA’s extensive art collection available to Albertans. This growing art collection consists of over 8,000 artworks showcasing the creative talents of more than 2000 artists. As the only provincial art collection in Alberta, the AFA collection reflects the development of the vibrant visual arts community in the province and has become an important cultural legacy for all Albertans.
The Rotary Club of Slave Lake Public Library is proud to be a part of the AFA Travelling Exhibition Program and will continue to showcase Alberta. Local artists will be showcased as well throughout the year. There is always something new on the walls, so come down and visit the library!
October 7 to November 3, 2021
Nitssaakita'paispinnaan: We Are Still In Control
Lori Scalplock Renew,
Recycle, 2019 Quill work on smoked Moose hide
Collection of Lori Scalplock
Our mainstream society in Canada is nested within a larger and deeper well of life than people may know. This well of life is comprised of myriad Indigenous cultures and lands, which together have animated and underwritten everything we now have to be thankful for as Canadians. This exhibition honours the well of life in the place these artists and curators live: Siksikaissksahkoyi (Blackfoot land/territory). Nitssaakita’paispinnaan: We Are Still In Control features work by three contemporary Blackfoot artists, all working in different styles. We all gathered in a series of visits with Blackfoot ceremonial knowledge keeper Kayihtsipimiohkitopi (Kent Ayoungman), who shared about Blackfoot ways of life, places, and knowledge. Those visits helped us learn more about ourselves, the places we live, and the responsibility we have here to each other and our future generations. They also inspired these artworks, for the Blackfoot people, culture, and ceremonies are still very much here, still shaping our society to this day. (Picture and text borrowed from the AGA TREX 2021-2022 Booking Catalogue)
November 11 to December 8, 2021
Fantastic Worlds
Patricia Askren,
Just Barely Keeping My Feet Above Water 1992, ink on paper
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
How do we imagine the future? What other kinds of realities are possible? What would happen if time and space could bend, stop, or fast-forward? From Science Fiction, to Magical Realism, to Surrealism, artists, filmmakers, and writers have long turned to the fantastic to ponder these questions, using vivid creative stories and imagery to open portals into other worlds. Selected from the collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the artworks imaginatively investigate a wide variety of topics—from the relationship of humans to the natural environment to the whimsical lives of household objects. In a time full of many big questions, unknowns, and shifts, the art of the fantastic offers an outlet to explore possibilities, re-invent worlds, and inspire curiosity. Instead of obstacles or limitations, the works in Fantastic Worlds encourage us to ask what if? And why not? These small but impactful questions emphasize wonder and discovery, offering potential pathways to help us see the world anew. Curated by Robin Lynch Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (Picture and text borrowed from AGGP TREX 2021-2022 Booking Catalogue)