AFA News

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) is pleased to announce a series of free webinar workshops for those interested in applying to the Visual Arts and New Media Individual Project Grant or the Indigenous Arts Individual Project Grant funding streams taking place during the month of August 2025.

These funding opportunities are available to independent artists or collectives only. The deadline to apply for both of these programs is September 2, 2025.

Our consultant Kari McQueen will provide a free webinar for those interested in applying. She will be providing tips and other useful information to apply for all project types, helping applicants develop their funding application and increasing their chances of success.

Dates and times for these workshops are listed below. To register for these workshops, please click on the registration links for your preferred date below.

Workshops for the Visual Arts and New Media Individual Grant

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at 6-7:30 pm
Thursday, August 14, 2025 at 6-7:30 pm

Workshops for the Indigenous Arts Individual Grant

Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 6-7:30 pm
Monday, August 18, 2025 at 6-7:30 pm

Pre-deadline Q&A Informal Webinars

In addition to the workshops above, Kari McQueen will also be offering free informal webinars for both grant programs being held just prior to the September 2, 2025 deadline to answer specific questions that may arise as applicants are working on and finishing up their applications. 

Applicants can register for those workshops at the links below.

Visual Art and New Media Individual Project: Monday, August 25, 2025
Indigenous Arts Individual Project: Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Registrants of these workshops are encouraged to take a look at the funding guidelines for the Visual Arts and New Media Project Funding and the Indigenous Arts Individual Project Funding streams, respectively.

A Message from AFA Chair Cynthia Moore

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) Board of Directors is pleased to have approved its 2025-26 annual budget based on the increased provincial allocation of $34.6 million. I am pleased to share highlights of our plan with Alberta’s arts community. We are grateful for the government’s continued commitment to increase funding for the arts and its second consecutive increase of $4.5 million to the AFA in Budget 2025. 

This year, the AFA will focus on increasing support for arts organizations. Total spending allocated to operational and project grants for organizations will increase by 10 per cent. At the same time, I am pleased to share that increased support for individual artists announced last year will be maintained. The AFA will be sharing information with operational clients about how their funding may be impacted through its regular grant notifications.  

The AFA will begin rolling out new and updated grant programs this year based on the findings of our program review begun in 2022. This year AFA is beginning the process of modernizing its grant programs to provide more targeted and appropriate funding support to arts organizations and individual artists. While the grant review is unrelated to the AFA’s 2025-26 budget, increased funding from Alberta’s government has well-positioned the AFA to effectively update its programs to reflect today’s provincial arts sector.

We will continue to make the AFA Art Collection more accessible to more Albertans, including through additional support for the Travelling Exhibition (TREX) program. TREX providers will be curating additional AFA artworks into more exhibitions, expand their outreach and increase opportunities for new communities to book exhibitions.

I want to express our appreciation for the government’s continued commitment to increase funding for the arts with the second consecutive increase of our budget. Our commitment is to prioritize and invest in artists, art and cultural materials. This work is in line with the AFA’s 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, which is available to read in both English and French on our website. 

We look forward to continuing to support and contribute to the growth of Alberta’s arts sector.

Cynthia P. Moore, Chair
Contact the Chair at afacontact@gov.ab.ca  
 

Medicine Hat based artist, Jessica Plattner, was a successful applicant to the AFA’s Art Acquisition by Application (AAA) program in 2022. Listen to her tell the story behind her work and what inspires her artistic practice.

View Jessica's Artist Spotlight

About the artist

Jessica Plattner is an American/Canadian artist living in Alberta. She earned a BFA from Washington University School of Fine Art in St. Louis, and an MFA in painting from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and Temple Rome, Italy. She has exhibited her work in the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Italy. Artist residencies include Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, The Vermont Studio Center, SACI (Studio Art Centers International) and a Fulbright Scholarship in Mexico. Recent exhibition venues include Gallery@501 in Edmonton, Art Center East Main Gallery in Oregon,  the ASA Gallery in Calgary, Art Gallery of St. Albert, the Okotoks Art Gallery, the Esplanade Art Gallery in Medicine Hat, as well as biennial faculty exhibitions at Gallery One on One at Medicine Hat College. Her work is held in the public collections of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA), The City of Medicine Hat, the City of St. Albert, and several colleges and universities. She currently teaches in the Art & Design Program at Medicine Hat College and lives with her partner, artist/musician Dean Smale, their daughter Sofie, and their dog Caniche.

World Art Day

Each year, on 15 April, World Art Day celebrations help reinforce the links between artistic creations and society, encourage greater awareness of the diversity of artistic expressions and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development. It is also an occasion to shine a light on arts education in schools, as culture can pave the way for inclusive and equitable education.

Sharing Alberta's art

With over 9,000 artworks in the AFA Art Collection, there is always a need to find creative ways to share Alberta's art province wide. In any given year, the AFA has an incredible 20-25% of its collection in public circulation. This is achieved through exhibition loans, extended loans, and touring and art placement programs.

Through the TREX Curators/Managers in the TREX program, the AFA has been able to share art throughout the province bringing Albertan creativity to 187 venues in 95 communities, and reaching over 615,000 Albertans!

Publicly accessible art

Throughout the province you can find works from the AFA Art Collection on display in publicly accessible areas. Keep an eye on social media on World Art Day and see if your favourite and recognizable locations are sharing art from the Collection! 

Folk Memoirs

Location: St. John Paul II High School, Grande Prairie (April 17 - May 14)

Featured artwork:

Hazel Litzgus
Canning Peaches, 1970
Watercolour on paper
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts

About the exhibition:

Folk Memoirs is a collection of visual narratives experienced while growing up on the Alberta prairies. Sourcing these rare historical moments from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts permanent collection, you will see paintings by Hazel Litzgus, Irene McCaugherty, William Panko and Doris Zaharichuk. The works are described as folk art, which is a unique style of art that reflects the cultural life of a community. Inspired by scenes from everyday life including: helping with housework, farm labor, playing outside, going to rodeos and more.

A memoir is a narrative composed from personal experience. The paintings in this show speak for themselves, taking you back in time to recall or learn the history of what life was like in the mid nineteen hundreds. Folk art takes on a very whimsical and colourful style of expression. This genre of artists are typically not concerned with making their subject look realistic. As you can see in William Panko’s paintings, he doesn’t worry about painting the scenes with the exact perspective or proportions – rather, he gives the paintings a more two dimensional or ‘flat’ appearance. More importantly, he depicted the story and what he remembered.

This group exhibition showcases simple everyday work-life balance. Hazel Litzgus’s work is a perfect example of this, from painting scenes of harvesting and cattle round up to dancing in the kitchen and rodeos. Enjoy finding hidden details of Irene McCaugherty and Doris Zaharichuk’s paintings as they draw the viewer in to enjoy how natural and simplistic life was. The works in this exhibition are a memoir of the artist’s life, savoring and reflecting on stories of the past.

About the Artist:

Hazel Litzgus continues to captivate the hearts of Albertans with her charming and nostalgic folk images of early Alberta life. Born on a farm near Lloydminister, Alberta, Hazel, through her paintings give us a glimpse of her early childhood and her many recollections of early rural and small town life on the Alberta Prairies.

Working in the unforgiving medium of watercolour, Hazel Litzgus narrates moments from her past in vivid detail with whimsy, in a naïve painting style. Whether it be the detailed wallpaper and patterned linoleum floor in a country farm house, or a school yard full of excited children playing various games, her art work is very reflective of her as a person. Hazel is a charming, soft spoken lady with a strong and determined character. She is full of life and stories and one feels right at ease as she tells of her experiences on the Prairies. Hazel’s book, Where the Meadow Lark Sang was published in 2003 and received great attention. In a review by CM Magazine, University of Manitoba, wrote: “In her use of bright colours and carefully detailed drawing, Litzgus created illustrations that are reminiscent of William Kurelek.”

About TREX

The AFA's Travelling Exhibition (TREX) program strives to ensure every Albertan is provided with an opportunity to enjoy fully developed exhibitions in schools, libraries, health care centres and smaller rural institutions and galleries throughout the province.

The TREX program assists in making both the AFA's extensive art collection and the work of contemporary Alberta artists available to Albertans.

Four regional organizations now coordinate the program for the Foundation:

• The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie - Northwest Alberta
• Art Gallery of Alberta - Northeast and North Central Alberta
• Alberta Society of Artists - Southwest Alberta
• Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre - Southeast Alberta

These partners offer a wide range of exhibitions to communities from High Level in the north, to Milk River in the south, and virtually everywhere in between.

In the first video of the Artful Place series, AFA grant recipient Ashley Laurenson, a resident of Fort McMurray/Wood Buffalo, shares insight into the uniqueness of her local arts community.

About the artists

From Whangarei, New Zealand to a fifteen-year creative journey in Canada, Ashley is an award-winning talent recognized for both design and acting. With nine years invested in creating independent films and series, she is the driving force behind M'Guphynn Media's production design, crafting the sets, props, and costumes for projects like the fan film "Miles Behind: A Spider-Man Fan Film." Ashley also showcased her acting chops starring as Ash and Evil Ash in "Nerdvana: the Web Series." More recently, she turned her sights backstage in theatre, designing vibrant costumes and props for Waypoints Dinner Theatre shows ("AHOY! A Pirate's Life for Me!", "Ultimate Reality: 90's Edition!") and lending her skills to set design for Keyano Theatre Company's youth productions ("Disney's Moana Jr.", "Disney's Newsies Jr.").

The Artful Place

The Artful Place is an exploration of Alberta’s unique arts communities through the eyes of the artists that call these communities home. They provide their perspective on what makes their community special and what their communities mean to them.

En ce dernier jour du Mois de la francophonie albertaine, l'AFA est heureuse de partager la version française de son plan stratégique triennal. Instauré en 2018, le Mois de la francophonie nous donne l'occasion de souligner le dynamisme et l'énergie de la francophonie en l'Alberta. 

Le plan affirme l'engagement de la Fondation envers la communauté artistique diversifiée de l'Alberta, y compris les artistes francophones et francophiles de la province. Le français est la langue maternelle d'un Canadien et d’une Canadienne sur cinq et d'environ 88 000 Albertaines et Albertains, et l'AFA est heureuse de rendre son plan stratégique accessible à ces communautés dans leur langue. 

Pour découvrir comment nous soutenons les arts, visitez : affta.ab.ca/about-afa/mission-and-mandate

English

On this last day of the annual Mois de la francophonie albertaine (Alberta Francophonie Month), the AFA is pleased to share its three-year Strategic Plan en français. Established in 2018, the month of March provides an opportunity to highlight the vibrancy and energy the Francophonie brings to Alberta. 

The plan affirms the foundation’s commitment to Alberta's diverse arts community, including French-speaking and Francophone artists across the province. French is the mother tongue of 1 in 5 Canadians and approximately 88,000 Albertans, and the AFA is pleased to make its Strategic Plan accessible to these communities in their language. 

 See how we are supporting the arts: affta.ab.ca/about-afa/mission-and-mandate

Faye HeavyShield
blood, 2004
cotton, cotton string, acrylic

In celebration of International Women's Day we are proud to share, blood—the work of  Kainai artist Faye HeavyShield. 

Bold Women

Two of HeavyShield’s installation artworks, blood and homecoming, from the AFA’s Art Collection have been selected for Bold Women, a landmark exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. 

The show features over forty primarily Indigenous, Black, Newcomers and LGBT women artists as well as those of gender non-conforming identities whose visionary ideas and experimentation demonstrate the concept of boldness through challenging dominant institutional, cultural and social boundaries and reshaping historical narratives. 

Set to open February 18 and running through to July 6, 2025, the exhibition includes 75 artworks from various disciplines including photography, sculpture, textiles, paintings, video, installations and is organized across four galleries each exploring one element of boldness:

• Portrayal / Resistance: ways that portrayals can deny visibility
• Collective Preservation / Liberation: women preserving, healing, and liberating communities across generations
• Nature / Erasure: the erasure of women’s contributions, in conversation with nature
• Wisdom / Knowledge-keeping: transmitting knowledge and women as connectors

The exhibition was curated by Susan Earle, the Spencer Museum’s curator of European and American Art, along with a team of diverse curatorial collaborators from across North America including the Brooklyn Museum’s Curator Dr. Kimberli Grant and Wanda Nanibush, an Anishinaabe curator from the Beausoleil First Nation in Ontario among others. 

About the artist

Faye HeavyShield is a member of the Blood Nation. She graduated from the Alberta College of Art in 1985, and continued her studies at the University of Calgary. Gaining prominence and recognition in the past few years, her work has been the subject of many solo shows including major exhibitions of First Nations contemporary art. HeavyShield's work is a fusion of highly evolved personal and powerful imagery influenced by her Christian and Blood upbringing. Her minimalist installations are metaphors of the human body and a reflection of her personal experiences.

Bold women accelerating action at the AFA

Meet the bold women of the AFA's Board of Directors that are passionate about the arts and work steadfastly to support a vibrant Alberta arts community that sparks innovation, bursts with creativity, fosters understanding, and promotes belonging.  

Click the names of the board members and watch as they share their personal takes on the importance of the arts in Alberta.

Cynthia P. Moore AFA Board Chair Calgary	Yasmin Jivraj Edmonton	Melody McKnight Red Deer	Shana Yang Calgary

About International Women's Day

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 around the globe. IWD has been celebrated globally since 1911 and is an important day that highlights the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

This year’s IWD theme focuses on accelerating action for gender equality. We encourage you to take part in an IWD event within your community and continue supporting women in the arts throughout the year.

A Message from AFA Board Chair Cynthia P. Moore

On February 27, 2025, the Alberta government announced Budget 2025. I am pleased to share that funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) was again increased by $4.5 million or by 15 percent to $34.6 million for 2025-26.

This is the second year that the AFA’s funding has been increased by $4.5 million. This is part of the Alberta Government’s commitment to increase the AFA’s funding to nearly $40 million by 2026. The AFA board is pleased to build on the work that was started last year in increasing support for the arts community.

Our results thus far this year have been very positive. As of December 31, 2024, the AFA has provided 726 grants totalling approximately $21.2 million – nearly a 40 per cent increase in the number of grants at this time in 2023.

There is more work to do. Soon, the AFA board will approve a 2025-26 spending plan. In line with the AFA’s mandate, this plan will continue to prioritize and invest in artists, art, and cultural materials, and will adhere to the priorities outlined in the 2024-2027 Strategic Plan.

I am also pleased to share that in the upcoming fiscal year, we will begin to implement new and refreshed funding programs that have been in development since we began reviewing our grant programs in 2022.

The AFA is modernizing its grant programs to provide more targeted funding support to arts organizations and individual artists. More information will be made available on our website at affta.ab.ca. The AFA will communicate directly with clients as changes start to take effect.

It is exciting times for the AFA and the arts community!

Cynthia P. Moore
Chair, Alberta Foundation for the Arts

Budget 2025 information

• Budget 2025
• Alberta Arts, Culture and Status of Women 2024-25Business Plan (PDF) – English | French
• 2025-26 Government Estimates (PDF) – Expense Vote by Program: Operating Expense 4.2 Assistance to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts on page 54