Visual arts & new media

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  
 

You're Invited: Neighbour Appreciation Day at the Kiyooka Ohe Arts Centre!

Date: Sunday, June 8 | 10 am – 1 pm
Location: 244034 Horizon View Rd, Calgary, AB T3Z 3M5

We’re opening our gates for a special Neighbour Appreciation Day at the Kiyooka Ohe Arts Centre! Join us for a relaxed morning of art and connection in the Sculpture Park. Enjoy guided tours of the park every hour on the hour, and take part in drop-in engagement activities throughout the grounds. The May/June KOAC Artist in Residence, Sinéad Ludwig-Burgess, will be on site, and visitors will be able to engage with her work and learn more about our residency program.

Whether you're visiting for the first time or returning to see what's new, we look forward to welcoming you and celebrating the creative spirit of our community.

No registration required - drop on by!

www.koartscentre.org/neighbour-appreciation-day 

Application intake for the Alberta Artist in Residence/Arts Ambassador grant is now open. The deadline to apply is June 16. The maximum eligible amount you can apply for is $50,000. This opportunity is open to individual artists from all disciplines.

Program guidelines and application materials can be downloaded from the Artist in Residence website at www.alberta.ca/alberta-artist-residence-apply.

This program seeks to inspire innovation in the arts and to promote a wider understanding and appreciation of the arts and artists in Alberta.

Artists are encouraged to apply for this grant to become Alberta’s Artist in Residence / Arts Ambassador for a one-year term.

Through this grant, the successful artist will:

• work with communities across Alberta as an Arts Ambassador to promote the importance of Alberta artists and the arts
• communicate and share personal perspectives on the artistic process, the role of artists, and the contributions that artists make to Alberta
• act as an advocate for greater understanding of the realities of artists and the communities in which they work
• complete an art project that promotes the value of the arts in Alberta

The Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society (AMAAS) is excited to present MIDDLE GROUND, a media arts conference taking place in Red Deer, from June 26 – 29, 2025.

As a gathering space in Central Alberta, the conference will be held at Red Deer Polytechnic with programming at Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery, Carnival Cinemas, and the Centennial Stage of Scott Block Theatre, where we will be learning and working on both Treaty 6 and 7 lands.

AMAAS hosts media artists and cultural workers from across the province at this biennial conference, which provides a gathering space for professional development, organizational capacity building opportunities, as well as excellent artistic content. Experience shared learning and networking, resource exchanges and collaborations at this highly anticipated event.

For more information, go to: www.amaas.ca/conference-2025

dhARTworld is delighted to present Kyle Beal’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery … Double Fantasy, from May 8th to May 30th, 2025.  The opening will take place on Thursday, May 8th from 6 to 9 pm.

Keep your eyes open and ready to twinkle. Edmonton artist Kyle Beal conjures from reflection and shine with a dazzling array of works realized on paper, glass and aluminum that speaks to celebration.

Beal’s new and recent works in the exhibition centre on his obsession with mirrors and mirrored surfaces, exploring the nature of reflection, the omnipresence of self-image and subsequent construction/deconstruction of identity.  In this digital age of social media where our focus is at an all-time low and the pressure to perform mounts, we are drawn farther and farther away from reality and the present moment.

Working in concert with Beal’s mirror pieces are a grouping of exquisite pastel drawings of theatrical curtains called Approval Stage.  These curtain pairs consume their foreground with voluminous dramatic undulations, drawing the viewer hither and thither, into a conceptual world behind and in front of the closed curtain call.  From behind emanates the joyous hidden energy of the performer’s finale, and from the front, a demonstration of approval and elation.  Confetti anyone?

Beal’s work humorously asks- Would the real you act this way? Here and now? Or maybe just later? We put on a face, play the part, and rehearse for the life we want (or think we want). So put on a show, preferably to great acclaim, sold-out audiences and standing ovations. Or maybe just to an audience of one (in your living room). 

Act out and act up! Come out and see your self for yourself, a Double Fantasy.

For further information or to arrange a preview, please contact Dana Holst by calling or texting (780) 953-3859.

www.dhartworld.com/double-fantasy-beal-2025