July 22 – September 17, 2006

Hat Art Club: Celebrating 60 Years of Art

The idea of forming an art club started in 1945. However, it was not until January of 1946 that the Medicine Hat Community Art Club, as it was called at that time, was founded by Helen Beny Gibson and Rev. Leslie Pearson.

The Art Club has called a number of places home inthe last sixty years, starting with the City Council Chambers. Rumor has it Council was pleased when the group moved to the former Nurses Residence after a few council members discovered paint on their clothing. From the Nurses Residence with its three flights of stairs, the club moved to the Eagles’ building where they shared space with dog obedience classes and a boxing group. For the last twenty two years the club has enjoyed the stability of their own studio in the Cultural Centre, (which is jointly operated by the City of Medicine Hat and Medicine Hat College), and currently has a membership that exceeds one hundred. Few in the province are so fortunate as to have in perpetuity, a facility located beside an inspiring pond with fish, geese, deer and other fauna and flora.

Art Club members have gained recognition for their efforts through out the years. Founder Helen Beny Gibson received the Order of Canada while Donna MacLean, Allan Jensen and Evelyn Kleis have been recipients of the Governor General’s 125th Anniversary Commemorative Medal. Last year several members of the Club were part of a group of Medicine Hat citizens who were given Alberta Centennial medals. As well, other members have been accepted into prestigious art associations and societies, or have received civic recognition awards for their work in the arts community.

Art Club members are always well represented in the prizes at the Medicine Hat Stampede, the visual art awards at the Seniors’ Games and in many shows, juried and non-juried, as well as selling through galleries and sales locally, provincially and beyond.

The Art Club and its members have also been active in the community with projects like the mural for the children’s library, now situated at the theatre entrance of the Medicine Hat Public Library, and through art displays and competitions, as when Medicine Hat hosted the Junior Men’s World Curling Championships and the Canada Senior Games. Recently the Club did its part to light up Medicine Hat’s Centennial Celebrations by joining with other groups to provide lanterns for the riverside walk.

From the earliest days children’s art has been a part of the club. Donna MacLean started the first children’s classes and there have been many other instructors: Jean Spencer, Allan Jensen, Helen Davies, Marion Jensen and Anne Shepherd to name a few. Today the club still has classes, workshops and demonstrations of different art media for many schools and groups that come to the Cultural Centre. And, for years the Art Club has been a contributor of awards and funding to the annual School Art exhibition and the children’s summer art classes mounted by the Esplanade Art Gallery.

The studio is available all day, every day of the week to members. There are two ongoing classes: Open Studio, which has thrived under the instruction of Anita Schmidt, and Life Drawing, which is under the instruction of Sherry Biko. This group has recently had exhibits in the Cultural Center Gallery in Medicine Hat and the Trianon Gallery in Lethbridge. The club has classes and workshops in all forms of drawing including pastel and pen and ink, as well as different forms of painting such as oil, watercolour, acrylic, and on silk. Members also do printmaking such as etching and linocut, and sculpture in clay, soapstone, wood, papier maché and other media such as encaustic wax. Special classes in design have also been popular. The club offers educational art events in the form of Art Appreciation Nights that are open to the public and has mounted some memorable bus tours to Calgary, Banff, Lethbridge and Saskatchewan. The club at certain times has partnered with other groups including the Culture Center Gallery during its formative period, the Calligraphy Guild, and the Silkworms Guild.

From its incorporation in 1978, the purpose of the Hat Art Club has been to increase community awareness of visual arts and provide instruction for artists at a minimum cost. Today, the Hat Art Club continues to provide unparalleled opportunity for community artists to learn new skills and share their interest in artistic techniques and subjects with others.

~ Text provided by the Hat Art Club, 2006

TRAVELLING EXHIBITION: THE HAT ART CLUB AT SIXTY

AFA Travelling
Exhibition Program