Calgary

Unleash WIP Award

The Unleash WIP Award offers writers support in the amount of $500 to supplement costs to support the completion of a book-length work of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Writers will receive editorial feedback, coaching meetings, and an excerpt/interview feature in Unleash Lit. For submission details and guidelines, see the following: https://unleashpress.submittable.com/submit

Things Fall Together

The last show of year at Framed on Fifth celebrates the work of these artists in conjunction with Collector's Gallery in Inglewood.
Join us for the reception Friday November 28  from 6:30 to 9:00pm. The show runs from November 25 to December 20
A little of everything from portraiture, to abstract to metal creature constructions. The artists are Jean Pederson, Aaron Sidorenko, Brittney Tough, Cindy Delpart, Douglas Driediger,  David Harrison, Lori Lukasewich, Luke Lukasewich, and Verna Vogel.  

Call for Submissions: ASA Artist in Residence 2026

ASA Call for Submissions: “Artist-in-Residence Creative 2026” The Alberta Society of Artists is pleased to invite artists (over 18) who are interested in self-directed research and site-specific work to apply to our Artist-in-Residence Creative Program. Artists from all disciplines are encouraged to submit a proposal to encompass an 8-week consecutive period. The Alberta Society of Artists is a large part of Alberta’s visual arts history, through its members, its exhibitions, and other initiatives.

American Haiku Presented by Instrumental Society of Calgary

Jesse Morrison opened our season last year with a solo recital and returns in a new guise with cellist Clare Bradford presenting repertoire that spans a century, from Rebecca Clarke’s Two Pieces (1920) to Tanner Porter’s Under This Breath (2020). Centering the program is American Haiku by Paul Wiancko, California-based composer and current Kronos Quartet cellist. This 2014 work explores his heritage and identity, combining American and Japanese folk influences with his classical music training.

Artist's Choice

The Alberta Society of Artists is proud to present the group exhibition “Artist’s Choice” featuring current work by ASA Juried & Life Members. This exhibition features a variety of media and formats and provides a window into contemporary art practice in Alberta. The exhibition runs November 6th to December 20th, 2025, at the ASA Art Gallery, #222, 1235 – 26 Ave. SE, Calgary, Alberta. Gallery hours are Wednesday – Saturday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and parking is free. Reception for the exhibition is Saturday, November 29th, 2025, 4:00-6:00 pm.

Born to Be Blue - Dick Der

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Dick Der's artwork, Born to Be Blue, is featured in the AFA art house in downtown Calgary as part of the New Views exhibition

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Born to Be Blue is part of a new series that deals with creating an illusion of depth and space with the use of color and drawing.

This piece was added to the AFA Art Collection in 2024 and is currently part of the New Views exhibition at the AFA art house in Calgary. It is currently featured on the art house "New Acquisitions" wall, which will be updated regularly with new works from the AFA Art Collection.

Artist Dick Der (left) poses next to his Born to Be Blue artwork alongside Jean Der (left)
Artist Dick Der (right) poses next to his artwork, Born to Be Blue, next to Jean Der (left).

About the Artist

Dick Der was born in China and moved to Canada as a child. He graduated from the University of Alberta in 1974, earning his BFA. 

According to the late arts journalist Gilbert Bouchard, Der possesses a “love of all things urban” that he expresses through “geometric works [that] depict abstract inner-city vistas [and] boast actual objects salvaged from downtown streets—metal rods, lengths of wire, hunks of rebar, bits of wood, cardboard, and squares of metal screen.” Such materials, said Bouchard, demonstrate “Der’s particular love of more derelict aspects of city life—old buildings and abandoned warehouses… [and] aged portions of legendary cosmopolitan megacities [such as] New York or Paris.”

Der says he aims at evoking a “tranquil, mystical, and spiritual experience” through his mixed-media collages and paintings, which may also contain Chinese calligraphy whose meanings he does not intend to be taken literally, but whose forms suggest a “connection between the past, present, and future.” 

Der’s solo exhibitions in Edmonton include Studio Watch at the Edmonton Art Gallery, In the Rough at The Works Festival, and Chinatown Tango and Snapshots at the Scott Gallery in Edmonton. Several public, corporate, and private collections house Der’s work, including those of the Grand Prairie College, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Camino Foundation, Anglo Continental Limited in Hong Kong, and the Singapore Eromatic Company. Der recently retired from the Department of Art and Design, Painting Division, at the University of Alberta. 

 

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Born to Be Blue - Dick Der
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Dick Der's artwork, Born to Be Blue, is featured in the AFA art house in downtown Calgary as part of the New Views exhibition

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Born to Be Blue - Dick Der
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Dick Der's artwork, Born to Be Blue, is featured in the AFA art house in downtown Calgary as part of the New Views exhibition

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Installation photo of an artwork by Dick Der, Born to Be Blue, 2024 acrylic on canvas Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
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Installation photo of an artwork by Dick Der, Born to Be Blue, 2024 acrylic on canvas Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Dick Der
Installation view of Born to Be Blue
2024
acrylic on canvas