Visual arts & new media

Exhibition Dates: August 15 to September 6, 2025

Open Reception: Friday, August 15, 2025 7-9pm

Location: Alberta University of the Arts room 371 (open to the public)

Hours: Monday - Friday: 8am-8pm, Saturday: 8am - 5pm, Sunday: closed

The 2025 AUArts Summer Residency offers artists a unique chance to immerse themselves in their creative process using the university’s facilities. This year, twenty-nine artists participated over a ten-week period. Despite their varied backgrounds and the wide range of media they explore, they were united by the vibrant energy they poured into their work. Thunderstorm captures this surge of collective creativity—an electric charge that arises when so much artistic expression and momentum gather in one place.

The exhibition reflects the powerful transformation that such passion can ignite—not only in the materials the artists shape, whether canvas, clay, paper, fabric, or even living plants, but also in the environment their work inhabits. Thunderstorm invites viewers to feel the dynamic current of creative energy that has infused the residency, standing as a tribute to the power of artistic commitment and the enduring influence of creative intensity.

For more information, visit auarts.ca

When: Saturday, September 6, 2025 from 5:30 to 9 pm
Where: Kiyooka Ohe Arts Centre
244034 Horizon View Road
Calgary, AB

The time has come to get your tickets for an evening of vibrant contemporary art and community at Kiyook Ohe Arts Centre's (KOAC) annual fall fundraiser! Join us on September 6, 2025 for LOOP&PARALLEL—a special art exhibition and exclusive fine art auction that celebrates KOAC co-founders Katie Ohe and Harry Kiyooka’s longstanding influence in the arts with a special theme that celebrates their bold popularization of postmodern abstraction in Alberta. Think crisp lines, loops, and shapes, and mid-century brights. We invite you to have fun with this theme, and pull out your bold & bright fits!

The evening will include an exclusive art auction preview sponsored by LEVIS Fine Art, alongside a special exhibition curated by Ash Slemming that highlights the intertwined legacies of KOAC co-founders Katie Ohe and Harry Kiyooka. Featuring artworks that loop back to their aesthetic innovations and run parallel to their enduring impact - the exhibition celebrates a small selection of contemporary artists whose work shares a kinship with Katie & Harry's post-modern abstraction and playful use of form and gesture - including Chris Cran, Rhys Douglas Farrell, Joanne MacDonald, Sinéad Ludwig Burgess, and Kristine Zingeler. The fine art auction features over twenty artists with works ranging from painting and sculpture to mixed media, offering something for both seasoned collectors and first-time buyers, all in support of KOAC’s mission.

This event is KOAC’s largest fundraising event of the year and proceeds allow KOAC to foster the growth of visual arts; supporting educational art programs and workshops, a vibrant and inclusive artistic community, and sustaining KOAC’s ecologically significant grounds alongside captivating sculptures that stand as timeless testaments to the value of art & nature, together.

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite and include a catered evening by Salon Catering, an exclusive preview of our fine art auction thanks to LEVIS Fine Art, and special first-access to the LOOP&PARALLEL exhibition in Harry Kiyooka’s studio space gallery, curated by Ash Slemming.

Join the celebration! 

If you would like to become a sponsor for this event or any future KOAC program, please email us:

community@koartscentre.org

https://www.koartscentre.org/tickets2025/

Come enjoy an all-age free Community Paint Day on Saturday, August 30th, 2025 where participants can help fill in the background to the project's design, created by local artist Emma Guido. All materials are provided and a free BBQ is available for folks when they're done!

Where: 5031 50th Street, Red Deer (former site of the Buffalo Hotel)
When: Saturday, August 30, 2025 from 12 to 4 pm

This project is made in coordination by the Downtown Red Deer BIA, the Red Deer Arts Council, and Altruistic Current. 

A huge thank you to the @cityofreddeer 's Community Public Art Grant in making this possible.

Submissions are now open for 
The Quenten Doolittle Memorial Gallery Exhibit: LITTLE PLEASURES
September 25 – December 6th, 2025

The Pumphouse Theatre is a vibrant facility with historical significance. It supports and presents all art forms and creates opportunities for engagement, enrichment, cultural experience, learning and inspiration, while serving all Calgarians. To enable this, the Quenten Doolittle Memorial Gallery provides accessible wall display space for Mohkinstsis (Calgary) visual artists to display and sell their work, free from commission.

For this exhibit, we are looking for work that reflects the theme of Little Pleasures: the little things that give us big positive impact. Surprise pocket finds, work that’s already been done, etc. Submissions of any style, from realistic to abstract, and in any visual art medium will be considered, provided it meets all gallery requirements below. 

The Pumphouse Theatre supports an inclusive and diverse community. We encourage any submissions of eligible visual artists from all communities including but not limited to the LGBTQ2+, BIPOC, and those with disabilities. Priority will be given to artists who are emerging or at the early stages of their career. 

Submissions must meet the following requirements:

• Artist must reside in Calgary and must be available for installation dates provided.
• Artwork must be delivered ready to hang (wall-space only) with the dimensions listed on the application form.

Installation Requirements: All art MUST be equipped with picture hanging wire and D rings (a piece of metal hardware shaped like the letter D used on the back of frame or canvas as hooking device). Hanging cleats or flat metal hardware unfortunately will not be accepted.  

This gallery is intended to be available for in person and online viewing. Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 pandemic, there is the possibility of this exhibit being online exclusively. All installation required are still necessary for this exhibit. 

In the event of an in-person gallery, The Pumphouse Theatre will install the work on behalf of the artists. Artwork may be dropped off or picked up by either the artist or a representative between the hours of 12 pm and 6 pm on the installation and take down dates provided. Artist must reserve an installation and take down date via a provided form or by contacting the Programming Director. 

Timeline: 

• Submission Deadline: September 1st, 2025, 11:59pm
  • All artists who submit will be notified with a decision no later than 2-2 1/2 weeks after the deadline has passed.
• Installation: September 21st – 23rd, 2025
• Exhibition: September 25th – December 6th, 2025
• Take Down: December 7th – 10th, 2025

To apply, please send the following information via email or mail:

• Completed Gallery Submission Form
• Artist Biography (250 words max)
  • A short description of who you are and your art background, training, passion, and/or any combination of the fore mentioned information
• Artwork: A minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5 pieces will be accepted
  • Images of artwork only; do not send original works with application
  • Please keep image formats to either PNG or JPEG. If you are unable to do so, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate. 

Applications or queries can be sent to:

Facilities and Programming Director
2140 Pumphouse Ave SW Calgary, AB T3C 3P5
prod@pumphousetheatre.ca  403-263-0079 ext. 100

Selection Process: Art pieces are selected by a committee of no less than 3 people and are a mix of artists and administrators. Selection criteria is based on: suitability to the theme, technique, emotional response, creativity & innovation, and suitability for the Pumphouse Theatre gallery space and its patrons (ages 8-80 representing various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds). Unfortunately, we are unable to accept works that feature nudity. 

Any artists who need assistance with their application, or have inquires and questions, are welcome to contact the Pumphouse Theatre, at any point.