Don’t take your trees for granted.

 That’s the gist of  “Rooted: How Trees Give Us Life,” the new exhibit opening at the Galt Museum, May 28 and running until Sept. 4.

 “ There are a lot of different  aspects to trees. There’s more to them than just shade and cleaning the air,” said Tyler Stewart, the Galt Museum’s new curator.

“So we’re giving people a great opportunity to learn about  the scientific, economic and indigenous perspectives of trees,” Stewart said, emphasizing the playfulness of trees.

“There is something for everyone from a five year old kid to a 95 year old scientist,” Stewart said.

 There are informational panels, an original piece of  a wooden water pipe used in the early days of Lethbridge, multi-media interactive displays, an oral component of First Nations Elders discussing traditional Piikani perspectives about their relationships to trees and nature and a video of Lethbridge people talking about trees. There is even a wooden playhouse and  mini-climbing wall.

“We hope the tree house will give people a sense of nostalgia about their childhood and memories of their own tree houses,” he continued.

 All of the pieces of the exhibit are connected by images created by local artist April Matisz, who has been inspired  by nature since she began creating art. 

The Galt Museum is excited to present a re-imagined Taste of Downtown, April 20.

Because of Covid restrictions, the Galt Museum opted not to hold a ‘Taste of Downtown’ for the past two years.

“The pandemic gave us the opportunity to re-imagine and redesign some of our events like ‘Taste of Lethbridge,” said Galt Museum Resource  Development and Volunteer Co-ordinator Chris Roedler.

The new event, “Rediscover Downtown’ has a few little changes, but the purpose of the event is still to not only help people  discover everything happening downtown, but also  to raise some money to update the Discovery Hall/ long term exhibit hall.

“We’ve moved the event up a few months to April, we have 20 different businesses participating and  we’ve increased tickets to 300 from 200,” Roedler summarized, adding if it is successful,  the Galt Museum would love to have the event multiple times a year instead of just once.

During Discover Downtown Lethbridge Festival, ticket-holders sample menu items at well-established and new restaurants and cafés, tour businesses and learn about the history of downtown historic buildings. This is a place where street culture will come alive, seeing the sidewalks of downtown teeming with community members of all ages, no matter what the weather has in store. 

“ The idea is not  to go and sit in a business for an hour and eat. People can stop by, see what they have to offer and  get  a free sample,” Roedler said, adding the Galt Museum is also offering their space to businesses who may not have a downtown location, but still want to be part of the event.

Participating businesses include Décor Out the Door, The Slice Bar and Grill, Seyyes Clothing, Purple Hippo Boutique, Mocha Local (and their various local suppliers), Mocha Cabana, Umami/Asian Supermarket, How Sweet Inc., The Sill and Soil, The Penny Coffee House, Naturistas, Urban Apothecary, Arise Coffee House, Infinitea, Downtown BRZ, Tourism Lethbridge, Standout Photography and 4 Elements Massage. Roedler noted there are a lot of businesses returning from previous Taste of Downtown events, but also a lot of new businesses participating,  some of which started during the pandemic.

“ They’re all within walking distance, so you can part at the Galt Museum or downtown and walk to them all,” he said.

 There will also be buskers performing  during the event, which will be happening 5-8 p.m, April 20.

Masks are probably the last thing anybody wants to think about as the world is well into two years of  Covid 19, but they can be a beautiful thing, especially when they reflect Treaty 7 First Nations culture.

The Galt Museum presents a new travelling exhibit “Breathe (Second Wave),” until  the end of April.

“ We have three remarkable exhibitions. They’re all individually crafted by  indigenous artisans,” said Chief Executive Officer / Executive Director Aaká óóhkotoki (Many rocks) Darrin Martens.

“ They’re all traditionally crafted mask demonstrating resilience in the twenty-first century,” Martens continued.

 The  exhibit features 50 masks designed by First Nations artists from all over Canada. There is leatherwork, a lot of traditional  bead work  and different masks including one  made out of Chinese take out menus. there is a quilt made entirely out of cloth masks as well.

Breathe is a travelling exhibit of artistic masks designed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists that explore the experience of navigating changing COVID-19 conditions.

It was inspired by Métis artists and co-curators Lisa Shepherd and Nathalie Bertin, who launched a Facebook group which now has over 2,300 members.

They issued a call for artists to submit artistic masks to the exhibition. The “first wave” of the exhibit has toured across Canada since 2020 and was shown in museums and galleries in Banff, Edmonton, Yellowknife and more. 

The Galt Museum explores Japanese culture and pop culture with  a new travelling exhibition “From Geisha to Diva: The Kimono of Ichimaru,” which runs Sept. 25- Jan. 9.

“It’s an exhibit from Barry Till from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. It’s been travelling for two decades,” said Graham Ruttan, Galt Museum Marketing and Communications Officer.

 “This exhibit tells the story of  Ichimaru,” he continued, noting  she  transitioned from geisha to pop diva in the 1930s.

Geishas have a long and honourable  history in Japan as entertainers and hostess/ courtesans. They were trained in many of the Japanese arts including music.

“ The local connection is there is a large Japanese Canadian community in Lethbridge,” he said, adding the Galt Museum has partnered with the Nikka Yuko Japanese Centre to bring this exhibit to Lethbridge.

 Ichimaru (1906-1997) was one of Japan’s most famous geishas of the twentieth century, who mastered singing and shamanism. She began recording music in the 1930s. One of her songs is part of the exhibit in a motion activated box.

“She was quite active from the 1920s to the 1980s,” he said.

There are several kimonos and a few Obi, long sashes wrapped around the kimonos. There are also some wood cut paintings plus personal effects  and wigs.