Esplanade to showcase history of Art Club

By Medicine Hat News on December 23, 2021.

The Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre will be spending the next few months celebrating the works of the Hat Art Club.

The Hat Art Club 75 Years Retrospective is on now through March 4, and showcases works from past and present members and instructors. A total of 75 works will be on display – one for each year since the club’s 1946 inception – from current members including Fran Lauzon, Dale Beaven, Aldof Erdman and Dawn Knowles, as well as past members and instructors, according to a recent release.

The works range from hand-woven textiles, to water colour paintings, oil on Masonite and more.

“The Hat Art Club has been instrumental in developing the creative community Medicine Hat is today, and this exhibition is a glimpse into the impact it had and still has,” said Dan Meller, Esplanade Gallery assistant, says in the release.

Meller is co-curator of the exhibition alongside Hat Art Club member Aurelia Archibald, and Esplanade Galleries and Collections director/curator Xanthe Ibister.

The galleries operate on pay-as-you-will admission and are open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 5 p.m.