Artwork by Terre Crew member Gordie Ishizuka

ARTISTS’ EXHIBITION & RECEPTION @ MEDALTA
TUESDAY, MAY 27
7pm – 9pm

Through the month of May, Medalta has been a flurry of creative energy, thanks to a full-house of creative artists in our contemporary artists studios and even our industrial museum!

Terre Crew – a Quebec-based group – is an invitational residency featuring five ceramic artists. Joining them are three Medalta Award recipients (from Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia), another ceramic artist who has been with us from British Columbia since early spring and a Saskatoon-based artist who is creating a 3 meter by 6 meter charcoal drawing inspired by Medalta’s old factory.

Together, this group of 10 artists represents 6 provinces – incredible diversity all brought together in Medicine Hat.

With such a diverse group wrapping up their time in Medicine Hat, we’re giving them a suitably interesting send-off by hosting an exhibition and public reception in our dome-shaped beehive kilns and old factory.

This is a great opportunity to meet excellent, creative artists from across Canada. Many of whom are on their first visit to Medicine Hat. They’re an engaged group who have thoroughly enjoyed their time in Medicine Hat (and riding those fantastic bikes so many of you donated through Medicine Hat’s trails).

Help us give them a proper farewell and enjoy yourselves in the most unique setting in Southern Alberta. Join us for this free evening celebrating Canadian artists.

EXHIBITION & RECEPTION
Tuesday, May 27
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Medalta’s Beehive Kilns
NO CHARGE
Cash Bar

Esplanade Museum and the Archaeological Society of South East Alberta are presenting “Stones and Bones”, a workshop on Saturday, May 24 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the Cutbanks Room at the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre.

The workshop is designed for local collectors of arrow heads, stone tools, ancient animal remains and geological specimens. Curators from the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton will be available to examine, identify and discuss these items.

Ancient items frequently turn up in farmers’ fields and on ranch land in this area. Some are easy to identify, but many are not. Here is an opportunity to learn more about these collections found in our community and local vicinity.

Visitors from outside of Medicine Hat are welcome to attend the workshop as well as a presentation by Chris Jass, an Ice Age specialist from the Royal Alberta Museum. “Of Mammoths and Mice: Explorations into Alberta’s Ice Age Fossil Record,” will begin at 7:30 PM in the Cutbanks Room at the Esplanade.

Visitors are also invited to tour the Esplanade Museum’s feature exhibit, “Ice Age Mammals,” at no charge throughout the day and prior to the presentation.

With another busy summer of artists putting in long hours in Medalta’s contemporary artists’ studios (and putting miles on those bikes so many of you generously donated to us), we want to make sure every artist who comes to Medalta has a comfortable place to sleep in Medicine Hat.

Although these artists do work very long hours in our studios, they actually do sleep. And although one of our studio couches make do as a spot for a quick nap, they really prefer a bed.

We keep a list of Medalta supporters who are willing to take in a visiting artist during their stay. Over time, that list has slowly shrunk as peoples’ lives have evolved.

Now, we want to add that list. If you have a spare room in your home and are interested in hosting a visiting artist, we would love to hear from you. If you decide to be a potential host, we will ask you how long you’re comfortable having one of these artists in your home (we have artists who come anywhere between one month and one year). We will make sure that whoever you welcome into your home is a good match for you.

These artists pay to stay with you and you set the rate. Given that these people have taken time away from their families, careers and home, we do suggest that you set a rate in line with the current market while making it something that both you and the artist are both comfortable with. Most of our current hosts charge between $400 & $500 per month for a room (while some simply ask the artist to pay what they’re able to pay). Again, it’s up to you.

They generally take care of their own meals (lots of meals are eaten at our studios with the other artists), laundry (we have laundry at Medalta), transportation, etc. THE JUMP – Read the rest of this entry »

The Lunchbox is the final film for Monday Night at the Movies until September. The screening takes place at 7.30 pm at the Monarch Theatre on May 19.

Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire) stars alongside the radiant Nimrat Kaur in Ritesh Batra’s delightful feature debut, in which a mistaken lunchbox delivery paves the way for an unlikely romance.

In Mumbai, home to over 18 million people, more than 5,000 famously efficient dabbawallas — lunchbox couriers — navigate chaotic streets to deliver lunches, lovingly prepared by housewives, to working men across the city. Ila (Kaur) is a housewife living in a middle- class neighbourhood with a husband who ignores her. Saajan (Khan) is a beaten down widower about to retire from his number-crunching job. After Ila realizes that Saajan is receiving the meals meant for her husband, the two begin sending each other letters through the lunchbox.

What starts as an innocent exchange about Ila’s cooking gently develops into something more. Whether it’s the cooking of a meal, the reading of a letter, or the riding of a crowded train, the film’s small moments culminate in big impact. In a word: enchanting. The film is in Hindi with English subtitles.

Monday Night at the Movies is a branch of the Friends of the Medicine Hat Public Library. For more information about Monday Night at the Movies, go to: www.mhfilm.ca or contact Jane at 403-529-2209.

Persian Dreams and Canine Themes Rescue Society is holding an indoor garage and craft sale on June 7th 10am to 4pm at the Kinplex Social Room, 2055 21 Avenue SE. Concession will also be available: taco in a bag, hot dogs, chips, baked goods, drinks, and more!

If you would like to donate gently used items, please drop off at the Kinplex Social Room Friday June 6th noon to 7pm or call 403-529-2287.

For more information, please visit http://www.persiandreamsrescue.org

A bittersweet comedy about a long married couple spending a weekend in Paris is the featured film for Monday Night at the Movies on March 17. The film screens at 7.30 pm at the Monarch Theatre.

Nick and Meg Burrows return to Paris, the city of their honeymoon, to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. Designed as a weekend to rediscover some romance in their sometimes bumpy marriage, long-established tensions break out in humorous and often painful ways. Along the way they bump into one of Nick’s old writing buddies, played by Jeff Goldblum, who has become a successful if somewhat vain New York author. Nick and Meg are played by veteran British actors, Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan.

The film is directed by Roger Mitchell, who directed the classic, Notting Hill, in 1999.

For more information and reviews about Le Week-End go to: www.mhfilm.ca or www.rottentomatoes.com or www.imdb.com

Monday Night at the Movies is an initiative of the Friends of the Medicine Hat Public Library. Proceeds from the films fund special projects for the library, such as the purchase of special equipment, licenses to show films at no charge, funding children’s and young adults’ projects, purchasing dvds for the library’s collection and more.

Looking to kick off the release of their new EP, “Even Honest Talk is Cheap”, local punk band, The Social Threat are playing an all-ages show this Friday, along with some more punk-rock goodness from the likes of The Ativans and Colour in the Clouds (both from Calgary). The show is at Station Coffee Company, located at 644 2 ST SE. Entry is $10 and will start at 7:30 PM (doors open at 7:00 PM), Friday, March 14th, 2014.

Speaking of their new EP, you can now purchase it from iTunes or listen to it online.

Here’s a video for a track off their new EP titled “Strong and Free”:

The Social Threat Website
Facebook Event
Station Coffee Company on Facebook

Location:
Foyer/Auditorium Entrance – Cypress Center at the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede

Show Hours:
Friday, February 28, 2014: 12:00-9:00 pm
Saturday, March 1, 2014: 10:00 am-6:00 pm
Sunday, March 2 2014: 11:00 am-4:00 pm

Tickets will be available at the door!
Adults: $5.00
Seniors and Youths (12-18): $3.00
Children 11 & under: FREE
Friday Special!: Seniors admission for only $2

Floorplan:
http://www.medicinehatchamber.com/files/1679.pdf

Facebook Event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/617772318277850

It’s only fitting that during this continued cold snap and on a day with temperatures nearing -40 including the windchill, 40 Below is announcing a Alberta-wide follow-up to its successful first publication.

The first 40 Below anthology, released November 1, 2013, is a collection of poetry, non-fiction stories and essays, and short fiction focusing on winter in Edmonton. A total of 300 submissions were entered, and eventually 70 submissions from 55 writers/artists were chosen. The book sold out its first run and is now into its second printing.

Now, editor Jason Lee Norman is putting out a call for submissions for winter poetry and stories from writers and artists from all across the province, including Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, Jasper, Banff and everywhere in between.

Submissions will be open until July 31, 2014 and can be submitted online here:
https://40below.submittable.com/submit

40 Below will publish the second book, to be titled ’40 Below: Alberta’s Winter Anthology’ in November of 2015.

Time to polish up those pitches; DRAGONS’ DEN producers are hitting the road this January to find the brightest business ideas in Canada. The 2014 Audition Tour will be visiting more than 30 cities from coast-to-coast in search of enthusiastic entrepreneurs hoping for a chance to enter the Den and make a deal with a Dragon.

Open auditions are coming to Medicine Hat at the Esplanada Arts and Heritage Centre (401 First Street SE) on February 21 from 11:00am-6:00pm. Complete audition dates and locations are listed below. Tour dates will continue to be updated on the website at www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/auditions.

The audition tour welcomes participants of all ages, with no prior television experience required. With the highly-rated ‘All-Student’ episode and the recent launch of Kevin O’Leary’s Future Dragon Fund, DRAGONS’ DEN continues to seek out and support young Canadian entrepreneurs.

Aspiring entrepreneurs should be prepared to pitch their concept to the DRAGONS’ DEN producers in five minutes or less. If they show the producers that they’ve got the chops to land financial backing for their business venture, they could be invited into the Den to brave the Dragons. Prospective pitchers are encouraged to apply online and bring a completed application form to the audition.

Find the show online at:

cbc.ca/dragonsden
facebook.com/dragonsden
@cbcdragon #cbcdragonsden

The current season of DRAGONS’ DEN airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT), with an encore episode on Sundays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC Television.