The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition in the Community Gallery, Before I Go To Bed, a project by Dr. Alysha Farrell of Brandon University. The opening reception will be held on January 27, 2022 at 7:00 P.M. at the AGSM. The public will have the opportunity to engage directly with the participating youth artists when they gather for a roundtable discussion on Saturday, February 5 at 1:00 P.M. Before I Go To Bed Tonight features work by youth from the Westman region that was created during a semester-long project led by Dr. Farrell. Participants in the project were urged to look at the climate crisis head-on by professional artist-led workshops. Given that youth will inherit the future, this meaningful exchange resulted in a creative explosion of works in the exhibition. They were encouraged to explore themes of anthropocentrism, eco-justice, stewardship of the earth, the disproportionate impacts of climate change and fostering a deep connection to the natural world. Creative expressions of a bleak reality reconciled into images of learning to live amid the Earth’s decreasing habitability. "The issue of climate change is so big that it can feel impossible to talk about," says Dr. Alysha Farrell, the Professor of Education at Brandon University who created and led the project. "But by communicating through art making, these youth--who have no choice but to talk about it--can express not just how they understand climate change but how they feel about it as well. I hope the exhibition provokes conversation in the wider community about what we can do together to ensure a livable planet for generations to come.” The exhibition will run concurrently to opimihaw, which features work by Mary Anne Barkhouse that addresses environmental futures from an Indigenous Canadian perspective, in the Main Gallery. Due to the current health and safety regulations, AGSM’s activities are subject to change. Visitors to the gallery may check on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for the most up-to-date information. Dr. Farrell would like to thank Brandon University and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for aiding in the development of this project for the AGSM’s Community Gallery. (submitted)

Super Run, one of Western Canada’s largest classic car shows, is scheduled to take place July 29-31 at the Grand Valley Campground. Due to covid related restrictions, the organization had to cancel their 2020 (Saskatoon) & 2021 (Red Deer) shows. The event was last hosted in Brandon (2019) and featured approximately 650 vehicles: vintage, muscle cars, vintage campers, vintage motorcycles and more. Vehicles compete for a number of different titles including Best of Show, People's Choice, Best Hot Rod, Best Pickup, etc. You can find additional information on the event on their Facebook page here.

Brookdale based artist William Yuriy (Yuriy Fine Art) is an amazing black/white pencil and charcoal artist specializing in sport and agricultural art. Yuriy first discovered a love of drawing as a kid growing up in Grandview, MB and ended up attending the Fine Arts program at the University of Manitoba where he graduated in 2003. After graduation, he told bdnmb.ca he took a near 10-year hiatus from art to pursue other interests and activities. He only really started to get serious again about his artwork in September of 2021 when a few of his prints gained traction and were starting to become recognized. Yuriy shared that some of his original work can take anywhere between 40-100 hours to complete, depending on the complexity of the piece. A number of his detailed prints, all done in-house on a canon fine art large printer, are currently available for sale on his web site or Facebook page. Each print comes with a certificate of authenticity and is printed on fine quality art paper.

On Monday night, our photographer Liam Pattison went for a drive around Brandon to look at some of the most popular Christmas light displays in the city. No doubt there are many more fantastic displays that weren't photographed, but here are some of what Liam got photos of.

Once again, The Holiday Train will not be visiting communities this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Although the train won't be visiting communities, they will be hosting a "Holiday Train at Home" concert including including Steven Page, The Strumbellas, The Trews, Sierra Noble, Odds, Tanika Charles and Aysanabee. The CP "Holiday Train at Home" concert will be streamed on Facebook, Youtube and this webpage on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. MT/8 p.m. The concert will also be archived on their Facebook page for those who want to watch it later. "While we are disappointed we again cannot bring the Holiday Train to communities, we are honoured to run a virtual program and continue to support communities and food banks across our network as they work to address food insecurity in North America," said Keith Creel, CP President and Chief Executive Officer. The Holiday Train started in 1999 and has raised more than CAD $20.64 million and 4.9 million pounds of food for North American food banks. They plan to run their regular Holiday Train program next year if it is safe to do so.