Visual arts & new media

Calgary based artist Rita McKeough has been named to receive the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta 2025 Distinguished Artists Award. She is expected to receive the awards’ patron in a ceremony held by Her Honour Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta on October 4, 2025.

McKeough has 15 works held in the AFA Art Collection. You can view two these works, Manifesto of Mittenism and Urban Uprising in the AFA art house exhibition, New Views.

About the Artist

Rita McKeough’s interdisciplinary practice spans sound, installation, performance, video, and kinetic sculpture and has significantly shaped the contemporary art landscape in Alberta and beyond. For over five decades, her career has been marked by an unwavering commitment to experimentation, mentorship, and pushing the boundaries of contemporary art in Canada. McKeough has exhibited across Canada and the USA in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Recent works include: Remediation Room (Online, Calgary, 2022–ongoing); feel through deepness to see (Dunlop Art Gallery 2024); darkness is as deep as the darkness is (Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, 2020); Veins (OBORO,Montreal, 2018), and Oh, Canada (MassMOCA, North Adams, 2015). In 2009 McKeough was awarded the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.

About the Award

The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award is Alberta’s most prestigious recognition of outstanding achievement in the arts.

About the AFA art house

The AFA art house, located in the heart of downtown Calgary, is a space to for Albertans to see, discover, and experience the unique stories the artists of Alberta have to share. The Gallery will showcase works from the AFA Art Collection as well as other works from Alberta artists. The AFA art house is free to access.

Medicine Hat based artist, Jessica Plattner, was a successful applicant to the AFA’s Art Acquisition by Application (AAA) program in 2022. The program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist.

Plattner’s piece, Exquisite Corpse, on display in the AFA art house exhibition, New Views, is a self-portrait based on a surrealist game in which each participant takes turns drawing a different body part (i.e. head, body, legs) on a piece of paper and then folds it to conceal their contribution. When everyone has taken a turn, the piece of paper is unfolded to reveal a unique figure.

Plattner’s work adapts this concept using a photograph of herself as well as contributions from her daughter to form a unique creation. The portrait captures her disjointed feelings during the time of production.

Watch as Plattner tells 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.

About the AFA art house

The AFA art house, located in the heart of downtown Calgary, is a space to for Albertans to see, discover, and experience the unique stories the artists of Alberta have to share. The Gallery will showcase works from the AFA Art Collection as well as other works from Alberta artists. The AFA art house is free to access.

You’re invited to experience the creativity and talent of artists supported by Chrysalis at our 15th Annual Art Exhibition in Calgary.

Location: Level 4 Hallway Gallery, cSpace Marda Loop (1721 29th Avenue SW, Calgary, AB)
Exhibition Dates: Monday - Friday, October 6 – 31, 2025
Reception Date: Friday, October 25, 4PM-7:30PM

Throughout October, the Level 4 Hallway Gallery at cSpace Marda Loop will feature a vibrant collection of original artwork created by adults with disabilities. Each piece represents a personal journey and is a powerful reflection of change, growth, and opportunity.

This free, public exhibition is open to all, and many of the pieces are available for purchase. The majority of each sale goes directly back to the artist, supporting their confidence, independence, and continued creative growth.

We also invite you to attend our Art Exhibition Reception on Friday, October 25, where you can meet the artists, enjoy refreshments, and experience the full heart of this exhibition.

Whether you stop by for a quiet moment or join us for the reception, your presence helps celebrate the unique voices and abilities of the artists we support.

For more information, visit chrysalis.ca/events

Gallery@501 is pleased to present Korean Stories: Rooted in Hanji, a new exhibition by Edmonton artists Eunju Park and ILang Song. The exhibit opens at Gallery@501 on September 7, 2025, and shows until October 22, 2025. 

Korean Stories: Rooted in Hanji is an inspirational exhibit that celebrates Korean culture and language through traditional and contemporary stories and techniques. 

 Eunju Park works with Hanji, a traditional Korean paper, tearing and crafting it into expressive forms of Hangul, the Korean characters. Park showcases the beauty of Korean culture while uplifting viewers with messages of hope, joy and self-affirmation. 

ILang Song creates Minhwa, Korean folk paintings on Hanji, traditionally created to express everyday life through symbolic imagery. The layered process of creating Minhwa is an act of decolonization, a celebration of freedom and inclusion, and a way to share messages of blessings and encouragement.

 Visitors will have the chance to create a Minhwa design as they learn about the stories, colors and symbols used in this art form. Visitors will also get to learn about Hangul and see Korean translations in the exhibit. 

The public is invited to join the exhibiting artists for an artist talk at a special reception on Thursday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Gallery@501. This event and admission to the gallery are free.

For more information, visit strathcona.ca/ArtGallery.

InFocus Photo Exhibit proudly presents its 12th annual exhibition and awards program.

We invite photographers from around the world to submit to InFocus Photo Exhibit & Awards 2026 with the theme “The Space Between” — a celebration of ambiguity, transition, and the unseen threads that shape our world and tie us together. We are looking for photos that challenge, question, and illuminate the liminal: the emotional gaps, the silent pauses, the overlooked details, and the beauty that exists in uncertainty and temporality. This is an open theme, open and expansive, leaning towards those things that can’t be explained, only felt. We are looking for visual poetry.

All photographic styles, genres, and approaches are welcome.
All skill levels are welcome.
Deadline: Thursday, October 30, 2025
Submit: https://www.infocusphoto.ca/

Curious about basket weaving?

Join us for Baskets in the Garden this September. A three-day gathering in Tofield, Alberta, dedicated to weaving, connection, and time outdoors.

Whether you’re just getting started or have been weaving for years, you’re warmly welcome. We’ll be offering a variety of workshops with incredible teachers, plus an open weaving space for those who prefer to go at their own pace.

Bring a tent or come for the day. Take a class, sit in the shade and weave, share a meal, or wander the meadow. We believe in making space for all kinds of weavers, and all kinds of baskets.

Workshops include twinning with cattails, large willow baskets, cedar bark bracelets, and more. No experience is necessary.

We’ll be weaving under the wide prairie sky from September 12 to 14, 2025, and we’d love to have you with us. To find more info and to register: www.basketsinthegarden.com