Leader & District Arts Council

"Directly from the stages of Broadway and the Stratford Festival, Lee Siegel presents a retrospective of the greatest soul singers of all time. Drawing from over twenty of the defining voices of soul music such as Sam Cooke, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Percy Sledge, Smokey Robinson and Edwin Starr, Lee guides his audience through the history of soul with personal recollections on how the music has influenced and guided his life. Featuring the multi talented Konrad Pluta on keys, this duo has been gracing the stages of Canada and the US since 2008 with their show full of love, laughter and nostalgia. Audience review:"The best singer in Canada!”; but come hear for yourself."

After returning to music a decade ago and releasing 2022's Cannot Be Unheard, Calgary-based blues/rock singer, Ollee Owens, is better than ever with her latest dazzling, down-to-earth studio album Nowhere to Hide which will be released on October 25th. This new project reveals not just a soulful vocalist, but a woman who has lived through tough times and emerged triumphant. With purposeful authenticity, Ollee creates meaningful points of connection and facilitates emotionally charged experiences with the aim of enriching the sensed worth and value of every person. Combining her original work with unique interpretations of well-known and long-lost songs, the unpretentious backdrop of Owens’ acoustic duo creates a dynamic setting for her incredibly diverse vocal range. Tenderly comforting, passionately yearning, assertively warning, and warmly inspiring - an encounter with Ollee Owens will not only be memorable but meaningful.

Cross vivid, folk-inspired melodies with two well-travelled jesters and you’ll find Jâca (ZH?-ka), a guitar and clarinet duo with exuberant energy, charm and wit. Clarinetist Wesley Ferreira and guitarist Jaxon Williams define their style as world music fused with personality, and are unafraid to experiment with that which captures their fancy - fresh takes on classics as well as composition from emerging artists. Highly skilled musicians and educators, both Wesley and Jaxon hold doctorates in music. Wesley performs worldwide as soloist, orchestral and chamber musician. International award-winning guitarist Jaxon is a former Fulbright scholar and master of the Spanish guitar repertoire. From the moment the duo step foot on the stage to the final round of applause, audiences members will find themselves engaged, entertained and enthralled. An evening with Jâca is an encounter with virtuosic performance, cheeky banter, and rhythms that coax you to play along.

Rum Ragged brings a bold take on Newfoundland folk music, combining deep roots with a contemporary twist. As leading performers of their vibrant tradition, they play instruments like bouzouki, fiddle, banjo, guitar, and accordion, captivating audiences with their unique style. Known for their honest, thought-provoking, and often humorous live shows, they have quickly become fan favorites. Their impressive vocal harmonies and storytelling deliver unforgettable concerts. Despite a demanding tour schedule, Rum Ragged has performed at top global folk venues and recorded five acclaimed albums.

Tommy Charles is bringing a classic touch to Country with a soulful tone. Tommy Charles throws listeners back to a "Golden Era", while carrying sounds reminiscent of Marty Robbins, and crooners. Born in the Montréal area and recently calling the Nashville of the north (Calgary) home, Tommy appeared on the hit TV show, "La Voix" (The Voice). His talent and acclaim from the competition allowed him to build a fan base, and play to audiences live across the country. Performing both in Canada and in Texas, Tommy Charles is eager to deliver performances that honor the rich heritage of North American music in variety of languages and influences.

Organized by Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery; Touring Saskatchewan through the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils; Curated by Jennifer McRorie The exhibition, Storied Telling, features photographic works by Canadian artists, whose images present as lens-based performance. The photographs reflect a performative nature, taken as video stills or documentation of performance art or presented as elaborate figurative compositions within settings that border on the fantastical or are imagined recreations of historic scenarios. In their adornment and positioning within their environments, the subjects of the photographs become powerfully iconographic. The resulting images are rife with story, reflecting diverse narratives that are poetic, political, surreal, spiritual, or perhaps even mythic; stories that inform and speak to cultural and diaspora identities that are constantly producing and reproducing themselves anew through transformation and difference.

Atim Maskikhiy (‘Dog Medicine’ in Cree) presents works of seventeen artists local to the La Ronge tri-community area in Northern Saskatchewan. The multimedia pieces represent the artists’ interpretations of the dog-human relationship as expressed through preliminary findings of a community-driven research project conducted in the community. This unique marriage of art and science allows knowledge translation to a broader audience than typical of peer-reviewed research. Highlighting the need for improved access to animal health and welfare services in northern, remote and Indigenous communities everywhere, this gallery represents a call to action for systemic change at the human-dog interface. Through their works, the artists confirm that dog-human bonds are highly valued and often critical to human life and well-being in the north, and current approaches to ‘fixing’ dog problems in communities without regular access to care ignore important contributors at the root of the issue. This exhibition is curated by Dr. Jordan Woodsworth, Director, Northern Engagement and Community Outreach, Western College of Veterinary Medicine. The artists featured in this exhibition are: Andrea Cowan, Caron Dubnick, Donna Langhorne, Hilary Johnstone, John Halkett, Larissa Muirhead, Miriam Koerner, Molly Ratt, Myles Charles, Nancy Lafleur, Terri Franks, Sammi Kopeck, Abigail Clarke, Annalisa Heppner, Jade Roberts, Jasmine Grondin, and Wendy Cleveland.

The Burden of Street brings together paintings that depict contradictory compositions to provide distinct visual experiences while exploring the complexities of our surrounding built environment. The element of the wall plays a significant role in this body of work as public sites for dwellers to engage with the political and social fabric of society. These paintings aim to explore the dichotomy of walls as both tools of control and platforms for resistance. They delve into how authorities use these walls to impose their ideologies and values upon the people, while also emphasizing the agency of dissidents who transform these spaces into channels of protest and expression. A diverse range of artistic techniques and mediums, including collage, painting, drawing, and graffiti, are used to create satirical and ironic situations that reference the deep dualities, disparities, and hypocrisies inherent in ruling systems. Iranian born visual artist, Mohadese Movahed focuses on painting in her studio practice. She graduated with a Bachelor of painting degree from the University of Science and Culture (USC) in Tehran and an MFA from the University of Regina, SK, Canada in 2020. Currently based in Vancouver, Movahed has exhibited her work nationally, internationally and is a recipient of Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation.