The Southern Alberta Art Galley will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2026. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

SAAG celebrating 50th anniversary in 2026

Jul 12, 2025 | 6:00 AM

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) is planning to showcase a series of exhibitions and artists as it gets ready to turn 50 years old.

The Gallery first opened to the public in 1976, and to celebrate, organizers are pairing early-career artists with four established artists who have previously exhibited.

The exhibitions will begin in early 2026 and run throughout the year. The pairings are:

• Jaeden Blewett and Germaine Koh
• May Kineyetums and Micah Lexier
• Rachael Chaisson and Rita McKeough
• Sikapinakii Low Horn and Adrian Stimson

They will work together in a peer mentorship model of exhibition creation that is planned as a mutual and non-hierarchical learning opportunity for artists.

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Su Ying Strang, Executive Director at SAAG, says it is fitting that they celebrate their anniversary with a series that combines their past and future.

“Just as the Gallery is situated at the meeting of the Oldman and Saint Mary rivers, so too will these artists come together to create something new,” says Strang.

Jaeden Blewett is one of the young artists who will be showcased during the 50th anniversary celebrations.

She says she has always aspired to work alongside the talented curators and staff and SAAG.

“Notably, collaborating with my mentor, Germaine Koh, whose work I greatly admire and from whom I have the privilege to learn, is a distinct honour,” says Blewett. “I am eager to contribute to an exhibition that reflects the wonders, histories, and unique characteristics of southern Alberta. Through this experience, I hope to gain valuable knowledge, deepen my artistic practice, and strengthen my connection to the place I call home as a settler on land of the Blackfoot Confederacy.”

You can learn more about the Southern Alberta Art Gallery at SAAG.ca