Three big new exhibits open at Casa tonight, June 24.

 Perfectly timed for Pride week, an expanded version of the Cabinet of Queeriosities dominates the main gallery.

“We do cabinet of Queeriosities every two years. This year we have 32 artists from Ontario, Alberta and even Austria,” said Casa curator Darcy Logan, noting Casa brought in guest curators Megan  Morman and Leila Armstrong, who started Cabinet of Queeriosities, when the event began in the cabinets at the Bowman Art Gallery.

“It’s the fourth year we’ve done this. We do this every two years to celebrate LGBQT inclusion. We have a lot of friends in the community,” he said , adding the contributing artists responded to an open call on social media.

 The submissions for Cabinet of Qeeriosities IV include a variety of mediums including paintings, drawings, sculpture and even fabric art.

“ We have a lot of wonderful works,” Logan said.
 The other big exhibit , called Derp, features new work from U of L graduate Andrea Kowalchuk.

“She earned her BFA at the university of Lethbridge and MFA in Regina,” Logan said.

 

“She usually does  work with more of a darker them, but she wanted to do something a little more on what made her happy and found her answer in viral animal videos on Youtube. So you may recognize some of the subjects like grumpy cat and this one of a cow likes to sit like a dog,” Logan said.

“ She utilizes high key painting with lots of bright colours based on viral animal videos,” he summarized.

“ I’m hoping people who come to this gallery will leave feeling uplifted by them,” Logan continued, adding there are over 80 works of varying sizes in the exhibit.

 Lethbridge Fine Arts @ Fifty, fills the rest of Casa with works celebrating the 50th anniversary of the University of Lethbridge.

“It celebrates 50 years of  fine arts at the University of Lethbridge. A big part of the reason the Lethbridge arts scene is so vibrant is because of the University of Lethbridge. So we have representation from all of the fine arts departments at the U of L including music, fine art, drama and new media,” Logan said, adding Katherine Wasiak of the university of Lethbridge organized the Lethbridge Fine Arts @Fifty, including new works as well as old photographs from the faculty from 50 years ago plus  a cabinet of costumes  and photos from the Faculty of Drama.

“ We wanted to preserve some of that unique history,” Logan said.
 The opening reception for all three exhibits is tonight, June 24, from 7-9 p.m. in the Casa Gallery.
 They run throughout the summer until Aug. 26.