An exhibit at the Esplanade celebrates 75 years of the Hat Art Club. (Photo Courtesy Chris Brown)

By Chris Brown

Up until March 12

Hat Art Club celebrates 75 years with retrospective exhibition

Jan 19, 2022 | 3:09 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – There aren’t many groups in Medicine Hat whose history goes back 75 years. Luckily for one, there’s an easy way to document its past.

The Hat Art Club was created in 1946 and is celebrating its history with an exhibition at the Esplanade.

President Bev Duke says a clockwise walk around the gallery will be a chronological history or art-making in Medicine Hat.

“The earliest piece in the work which is before the club was 1910 and it shows a picture of the hills of Crescent Heights with very few houses built on it to the more modern-day art and more abstract in some cases,” she says. ” So it’s just really a broad range of the work and the talent that lies beneath the surface of our community that nobody often sees or hears about.”

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There are close to 75 pieces in the show, from that 1910 piece to those created by current club members. Duke says it’s exciting to see the early works created and that people can look at them today and see they are still relevant.

Curator Xanthe Isbister says the idea for a 75th anniversary show came up during the Hat Art Club’s Made in Isolation exhibition last fall. She says the Esplanade wanted to do something appropriate and exciting.

Isbister says the Esplanade is pleased to help groups like the Hat Art Club celebrate milestones and provide space to showcase their talent.

“What’s important about elevating or highlighting the accomplishments of local artists through community development through the Esplanade is that we’re here to provide an opportunity to really showcase the talents within our community,” she explains. “And when we showcase those talents it speaks and it teaches the community the importance of visual art, artistic expression and how important it is in our daily lives.”

Isbister says they hope to hold a public reception and celebration for the featured artists this spring. The exhibition will be up until March 12.