Made in Isolation features work from the Hat Art Club and medicine hat Potters' Association. (Photo Courtesy Bob Schneider)

By Chris Brown

Reception on Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.

Made in Isolation up for the public to see

Nov 24, 2021 | 3:21 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Members of two local art groups used the past 18 months to look inward and see how the pandemic affected them and their art. The results of that are Made in Isolation, now on display at the Esplanade.

“It was a real challenge I think for most people to kind of get their heads around ‘how has the pandemic impacted my art making and my creativity,’” said Hat Art Club president Bev Duke. “And so what you see is a reflection of people’s various interpretations of that particular thought process and their creative process as well.”

Duke says some works show that people wanted to escape or travel and another is an ironic take on needing to wear face masks.

Others depict peoples’ desires to head for the mountains, their lives in solitude and unique takes on the spiked ball that is a common visual representation of the virus.

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Members of both the Hat Art Club and the Medicine Hat Potters’ Association worked more often from home, taking away the community feeling that comes with being together in the studio.

Duke says public health restrictions meant in-person classes at the Medicine Hat Cultural Centre had to be cancelled and they had to shift to online classes.

Ruth Adams, co-chair of the potters’ association, says they were able to still use the studio kiln but many people created home studios. She admits she missed the time with her fellow potters and said Made in Isolation is a way for them to recapture some of that spirit.

She said there was a lot of interest and people really got into the theme.

“For example my friend Dawn who was feeling kind of trapped because she loves a lot of travel,” she said. “And we had a group called the uke-ladies that were getting together and learning the uke over the time, somebody I believe Dixie made a piece inspired by that.”

Duke thanks the Esplanade, which every two years offers the groups the chance to showcase the work of local artists.

“We love it when we’re able to bring our art into the community and show Medicine Hat what the local artists are doing and what they’re creating,” she said.

A public reception for Made in Isolation, as well as Harmonia and What’s Old is New, takes place at the Esplanade on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Made in Isolation and Harmonia are up until Dec. 30, What’s Old is New comes down on Dec. 4.

75 years old

The Hat Art Club is celebrating 75 years in 2021.

Duke says the club has influenced art and art-making in the community and a number of members have achieved provincial and even international acclaim.

“We’re the recorders of history in our community. We document in pictorial form, in paint, in oil, in clay-making, what our community is about and who we are as a community,” she said.

“So I think that we have a greater impact than a lot of people think we have in terms of actually showing people this is who Medicine Hat is, and this is who Hatters are and this is how we see art and this is how we reflect what we feel about our lives and our community.”

She adds she often tells people the Hat Art Club and the Medicine Hat Potters’ Association are probably the best deals in town.

“You cannot go anywhere else in this province and belong to clubs ad get the benefits that you have like you get here at our local clubs in the cultural centre.”