The report, which will be released on October 5, 2010, features graded indicators to give the community an indication on quality of life in Medicine Hat. The full colour feature will have several categories, which may include: youth; gap between rich and poor; safety; health; learning, housing; getting started; arts, culture and recreation; environment; work; belonging and leadership; getting around; and economy.

Local photographers are asked to submit any photographs that may fit in to such categories. Photographers chosen will be recognized in the publication’s credits. Subjects of the photos are asked to sign a waiver form prior to publication.

Photographs should be less than seven megabytes and can be emailed to vitalsigns@mhcf.ca or dropped off at the Community Foundation office: room 104, 430-6th Ave. SE. Deadline is July 31, 2010.

Please be aware that only a limited number of photographs will be chosen, but we thank you for all submissions.

Last year’s report can be viewed through the Foundation’s website at www.mhcf.ca. For more information, please call (403) 527-9038, email info@mhcf.ca or join the Community Foundation’s Facebook group.

The reception will be featuring the art of: Kelsie Risling, Alana Holst, Mitchell Martin, Chelsea Scott, Kristian Jungk and Tobie Laliberte. It’s almost a post-Visual Communications show in a sense with that line-up.

The Hive is located at 569 2nd Street SE.

All the Colours of the Spectrum is also happening tonight as part of the Roving Art Exhibition, please view the full post here.

• Friday 4-10PM (June 4th)
• Saturday 11AM-10PM (June 5th)
• Sunday 11AM-4PM (June 6th)

The main Spectrum event contains a huge amount of art, sports, dance, music, food, festivities and other performances (including the magic of Trevor Moore). In fact, I think this post has been tagged with the most categories a single post has ever received. The following is a list of stage performers (which are free, by the way):

Friday, June 4th

4:00 – 4:45 – German Harmony Band
5:00 – 5:45 – Amy Nelson
5:45 – 6:30 – The Magic of Trevor Moore
6:30 – 8:00 – Scott Ward – Hypnotist
8:15 – 9:15 – Kool Ray and the Hip Kats

Saturday, June 5th

11:30 – Amy Nelson
12:00 – Walk a Mile in her Shoes
12:30 – Amy Nelson
1:00 – Medicine Hat’s Got Talent
2:00 – Dance Connection
3:00 – Master’s Extreme Makeover
4:30 – 5:30 – The Straight Jackets
5:30 – 6:30 – Blacksmith Jones
6:45 – 7:45 – The Magic of Trevor Moore
8:00 – 10:00 – Jazz – Lyle Rebbeck

Sunday, June 6th

12:00 – Gas Town Riot
1:00 – Medicine Hat’s Got Talent
2:00 – Dance Connection
3:00 – Quintet

Besides performances, there’s also a ton of other activities and events to keep you busy:

• Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: Saturday, June 5th at 12:00PM at the Band Shell.
• Dayzoff Pub 3 on 3 Volleyball: All weekend on Second Street, across from Sew A Way Sewing.
• Insurance Bureau of Canada: Be Safe, Be Smart.
• Live Chess Exhibition: Saturday, June 5th at 1:30PM in front of the Esplanade.
• Gravity Sports Mountain Bike Demos: All weekend on First Street
• “For the Love of the Game” Road Hockey Tournament, presented by 102.1 FM the Lounge
• Jurassic Park: Saturday, June 5th at The Monarch Theatre. Free movie at noon, 3PM and 7:30PM (then, learn about dinosaur bones with the Grassland Naturalists)

Family Fun Zone

Family Fun Zone activities are located on First Street, BATUS Park, and throughout downtown Medicine Hat all weekend, including:

• Turnip Truk Olde Tyme Farme
• Praxis Science Activities
• The Pedal Tractor Farm
• Olde Fashioned Family Fun at the Esplanade
• Book Sale at the Medicine Hat Public Library
• Face Painting
• Airjump Inflatables (including an Obstacle Course, Giant Slide, and Bungee Run)

Food Fair

Riverside Veterans Memorial Park Featuring: All Nation Optimists selling Sno Cones, Popcorn, Hot Dogs, and Cotton Candy, as well as other great tasting treats from CHHS Sports.

A Taste of Medicine Hat

Riverside Veterans’ Memorial Park, featuring:

• Earls Restaurant
• Moxie’s Classic Grill
• Domino’s Pizza
• Derailed Pub

Sunshine Market

Riverside Veterans Memorial Park, A vast array of items, including:

• Cowboy Apparel
• Computer Horoscopes
• Tarot Cards
• Air Brushing
• Henna Body Art
• Toy Instruments
• Children’s Clothing
• Jewelry
• Women’s Clothing and Accessories
• Finger Puppets

Spectrum Website

Spectrum Hotline: 403-977-2227

Medicine Hat News Spectrum 2010 Guide PDF

I’m a little tardy to posting this on Medicine Hat Media, but I assume all the artists in the area already know about the project and have already submitted their application for space; however, if you have not, the deadline is May 7th, 2010 to get them in. There is five initial spots up for grabs.

To apply, contact Tobie Laliberte at 403.504.5371, tobie@hivehub.ca, visit the application section on the website, or drop by at 569 2nd Street SE in Medicine Hat, Alberta (kind of beside The Monarch).

I am surprised to see this type of project actually realized within Medicine Hat, and I applaud everybody involved. This will be a great promotional opportunity on several levels for all the artists to be involved.

http://www.hivehub.ca/

Portrait of John Howe

John Howe is a Vancouver born illustrator, now living in Switzerland, known widely for his renderings of the Lord of The Rings canon and movie trilogy series. He also happens to be my favourite artist. Born in 1957, Howe attended primary and high school in Vancouver, but one year after graduation, he enrolled at the Ecoledes Arts Décoratifs in France.

For years, Howe had been drawing and painting scenes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic history of Middle-earth. Most of these can be found in his online portfolio categorized into The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of The Rings books. Other works can also be found online as well, including cover art for books and novels, rough sketches, unpublished work, and loads more. Howe’s website also contains a few tutorials, such as how to paint grass, what kinds of brushes to use to achieve a desired outcome, and how having drawers full of rocks is a good thing for any illustrator.

Gandalf outside Bag End by John Howe

Going beyond art, Howe puts some serious thought into his paintings, as can be seen and read on his website, and even in the special feature DVD’s of The Lord of The Rings. On his website, Howe tries to render many medieval objects that do not necessarily exist today as part of his artistic planning process. He recreates many artifacts, such as a sword, to understand the weight, motion of the swing, the muscles needed to swing it, etc. Only after this can one properly understand how to render it. As a result, there are photos found on his website of Howe wearing suits of armour and wielding swords.

Check out John Howe’s website portfolio.

Reconciliation Invite Image

It seems Medicine Hat Media has been left out of the Visual Communications graduation show media release for the second year in a row. This is the last time we will advertise for them! Just kidding… or am I?

The exhibition for the graduation show is open daily between April 3-12 from 9:30AM and 4:30PM in the Medicine Hat College’s main lobby. The reception happens on Friday, April 9th, at 7:00PM, which coincides with The Children’s Hour that starts up at 7:30PM on the 9th.

I have received an invitation through my place of employment for the grad show, but it does not give too much information about what you can expect by attending the show. So judging by their website, reconcilehere.ca, it looks as though there are drawings, paintings, photographs, graphic design and perhaps sculptures.

The branding for the grad show  is done again with a straight Helvetica type face. The website is a minimalistic WordPress theme, which unlike past years, allows everyone with access to the back-end of it to log in and upload their own photos. The website allows users to “Reconcile“, whereby the user can post any reconciliations they have, which will then automatically be posted to the website. I posted one:

I am a sad panda that this website was not submitted to http://www.medicinehatmedia.com to raise awareness for the reception!
-Sean

I hope this years graduation show is not advertised to be environmentally friendly, like last year’s Lost & Found show, whose organizers purchased huge amounts of corrugated cardboard to be connotative of the theme, which was probably just thrown out afterwards.

The reception should be host to food and alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages, music and dancing. Come down, check some art, hear some music and get your fill of food.

Recap:

Exhibition: April 3-12, 9:30AM to 4:30PM.
Reception: April 9, 7:00PM.
Website: http://www.reconcilehere.ca/
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000676847163

Past Viscom Grad Show Websites:

2009 Grad Show: http://www.lost-and-found.ca/
2008 Grad Show: http://vaughnroyko.com/archive/squareshow/

Image Pot Homepage Screenshot

Recently launched, Medicine Hat’s Image Pot is a new and unique website focusing on local photography presented in a unique format on the web. The website uses a very unique and cool WordPress theme for showcasing imagery in a different/less-standard way which really looks great for the photography. A nice touch is also the previous/next arrows to move throughout the site easily.

The website was created and is managed by Larry Switzer, a local photographer/designer himself. Most of the current work on the site is Larry’s, but he is open and willing to post anything, anybody would like to share on the site as well. A bit more about the site:

Medicine Hat’s Image Pot is about photographers and their pictures. Our aim is to showcase these fascinating people and their work. We want you to be able to view the world as they see it. As well one of our goals is to showcase Southern Alberta and it’s treasures. This is going to be the place to come to see firsthand all this enchanting landscape has to offer. We hope you enjoy the site and encourage you tell your friends, family and co-workers about us.

Medicine Hat’s Image Pot

This innovative artist billboard project, entitled Flight, by Medicine Hat artist Dana Shukster, is located at Dunmore Road, south of 22 Street SE.  It is presented in conjunction with her current exhibition at the Esplanade Art Gallery, Pre-Flight –Trace.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time an artist has ventured out to install a ‘satellite’ exhibition on an outdoor billboard in Medicine Hat,” says Joanne Marion, curator of art at the Esplanade. “It is unique in that there is no message, no call to action – just simply artwork for the public to enjoy.”

Dana Shukster’s recent explorations of the fleeting aspects of light have led to the creation of a series of large scale, sepia-toned inkjet prints on paper. These mysterious images are derived from projected shadows of magpies in flight, and are the basis for Shukster’s billboard project as well as her Esplanade Art Gallery exhibition.

“Dana Shukster’s process is almost scientific in its rationality, and yet the results are certainly poetic and even eerie. Her work gives us pause to wonder at the arbitrary nature of our perception of our fleeting world,” says Marion, “so it is perfect for a temporary and transitory site like a billboard, which people pass daily.”

Dana Shukster is based in Medicine Hat, Alberta and has exhibited her work across Canada and in the United States and Europe. Her work has been supported by grants and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and is held in numerous public and private collections in Alberta and British Columbia.

Pre-Flight –Trace, by Dana Shukster and e·strange, by Laara Cassells are on display in the Esplanade Art Gallery until Apr. 11, 2010. Flight will remain on the Pattison Outdoor billboard located on Dunmore Road, south of 22 Street SE until the week of Apr. 5.

For more information, contact:

Joanne Marion
Curator of Art
Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre
403.502.8583
joamar@medicinehat.ca

Roberta Murray

Roberta completed the New York Institute of Photography’s certificate program in 1990, but sold all of her photography equipment shortly after to shift her focus to textiles. After fourteen years of textile work Roberta returned to photography at first to document her textile work, and later as a form of meditation. Fortunately for all of us, this long break from photography led Roberta to discover new ways to think about colour and detail, and resulted in the impressionistic pictorialist style she is known for today.

The photography of this Rocky Mountain House Resident is truly striking, almost having a closer resemblance to paintings than photos. I strongly encourage everyone to take a good look at her portfolio to take in this very unique style.

Roberta Murray’s Website
Uncommon Depth

Laara Cassells: e·strange

What does the generation dubbed ‘the intentionally disengaged’ have to do with the long-established tradition of the equestrian (a.k.a. horse) portrait? Artist Laara Cassells is surrounded in her daily life by young people and horses, and in this new and insightful body of work, she brings both together to muse on popular culture and its intersection with the values of tradition and the natural world. Curator of art Joanne Marion comments: “Laara Cassells poses intriguing questions with flashes of humour in these elegant double portraits: about the directions in which today’s digital communications are taking us, about the fate of the natural world, about the meaning of our cultural traditions… and she generously leaves the answers up to the viewer.”

Laara Cassells’ practice as an artist spans painting, sculpture, installation and multi-media performances. Her work has been presented in numerous exhibitions and performances around the world, including Canada, the United States, Hungary, Korea, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. Cassells divides her time between Medicine Hat, where she is a faculty member of the Visual Communications Program at Medicine Hat College, and Sundre, Alberta.

Dana Shukster: Pre-Flight –Trace

Dana Shukster’s recent explorations of the fleeting aspects of light have led to the creation of a series of large scale, sepia-toned inkjet prints on paper. These mysterious images are derived from projected shadows of magpies in flight, and are accompanied in the gallery by video and direct shadow projections. “Dana Shukster’s process is almost scientific in its rationality, and yet the results are certainly poetic and even eerie. Her works give us pause to wonder at the arbitrary nature of our perception of our transitory world,” says curator of art Joanne Marion.

Dana Shukster is based in Medicine Hat, Alberta and has exhibited her work across Canada and in the United States and Europe. Her work has been supported by grants and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and is held in numerous public and private collections in Alberta and British Columbia.

e·strange and Pre-Flight –Trace are on display in the Esplanade Art Gallery until Apr. 11, 2010. The opening reception is Thursday, Mar. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Gallery Foyer. The artists will be present and will give a brief tour of their work. There is no charge to attend the reception and everyone is welcome.