MJMAG summer programs introduce seniors, youth, newcomers to art practice

Gordon Edgar - Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com

The Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery’s (MJMAG) summer art programs give children, teens, adults, and seniors a friendly, expert introduction to their very own art practice, and the gallery has recently found a focus teaching newcomers to Canada.

“We do stay adaptable in terms of adjusting our program in response to enrollment,” explained Christy Schweiger, education co-ordinator at the MJMAG. “We have had some problems with enrollment being down in some areas this summer, but we have been working with the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council to increase our programming for refugees and newcomers.”

The Moose Jaw Multicultural Council (MJMC) ofstreet from the MJMAG’s Crescent Park location. Schweiger said that makes it easy for clients of the MJMC to walk over to the Moose Jaw Public Library and MJMAG.

“It works really well, that they’re across the street from us … and where we had low enrollment, we offered a program to their daycare centre, and we’ve been able to accommodate all 20 of their summer program students.” ers. She is learning to teach art, and making communication easier on everyone.

Schweiger said the diversity of cultural backgrounds of the students has been a pleasure, and staff and students have learned from each other. Some recently arrived Afghani children have been a focus for several weeks in July.

Art programs at the MJMAG include many mediums, such as clay, collaging with recycled materials, beading, printmaking, drawing, sculpting, and, of course, lots of painting.

Guest artists from the community also occasionally offer classes, often based on current exhibitions in the MJMAG’s Norma Lang Art Gallery, such as basketmaking with Beth Crabb, or puppets with Sylvia Ziemann. fered in partnership with Saskatchewan Seniors’ Centre Without Walls (SCWW). SCWW is an over-the-phone social art program, with projects and materials designed by Schweiger, and phone conferencing and organizing by SCWW.

“This is our third year doing the over-the-phone program with Seniors’ Centre Without Walls,” Schweiger

Moose Jaw activity parks remain as popular as ever in summer months

Dog park, skate park and bike park all see plenty of action once the weather turns nice

Randy Palmer - Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com

In recent years, the City of Moose Jaw has put more and more effort into developing and creating special activity parks for both youngsters and the community as a whole, and it hasn’t taken very long for those facilities to take off.

Leading the way is the Moose Jaw Skate Park, located across from the Kinsmen Sportsplex at 855 MacDonald St. W. The concrete facility is constantly busy during the summer months, especially during the evenings wheners, inline skates and bicycles honing their skills and just hanging out with friends. A shelter area helps keep the sun off, and the Sportsplex has bathroom and concession facilities if folks need either.

It also hasn’t taken long for the Moose Jaw Dog Park to become wildly popular, as well.

Originally built in 2014 in the Hamilton Flats area next to High Street West and down the street from Yara Centre, the facility features two off-leash parks, one for smaller dogs and one for larger dogs. The park is open year-round, with one-site running water from late May to late September, depending on the weather. The park has become so popular that it has its own Facebook page for folks looking to meet up with fellow dog owners, and you can check that out by searching for Moose Jaw Dog Park on the social media site.

The Moose Jaw Bike Park -- also located near Yara Centre on High Street -- opened in 2016 and has remained a popular stop for those looking to test their skills on the dirt hills and ridable obstacles. The Moose Jaw Police Association played a large role constructing the facility, with the goal of offering a safe facility that would promote youngsters getting outside and having fun. said. “I, the art gallery, and SCWW provide art kits with written instructions and pictures, and they go out to up to 20 people who register in advance.

All three facilities are free to use and maintained by the City of Moose Jaw, helping ensure they’ll be in good shape whenever the public wants to put them to use.

For more information on all the parks and activity areas in Canada’s Most Notorious City, be sure to visit www.moosejaw.ca and check out the Parks and Recreation section.

“Funding opportunities are drying up for that program, unfortunately, so the art gallery is taking more of a role in funding it. It’s a Sask-wide program, we have participants in Saskatoon and Prince Albert, for example. And it’s like $20 to ship art kits that far.

“We’ve also expanded into working with Brain Health. We have a dementia educator that I work with, and we use images from our collection here to engage with pictures and reminisce and tell stories from our lives.”

Current program offerings can be viewed at www. mjmag.ca/summer-art-programs. The MJMAG’s number is 306-692-4471, and Schweiger can help answer any program questions at educator.mjmag@sasktel.net. Lower-income families can contact Schweiger to inquire about program sponsorships, and she often works with schools and groups to program special activities or additional, more focused art classes.

A space-themed art week is coming up from July 31 sister program will run at the same time with Zimohliad facilitating. Further summer themes include storytelling using art, illustrating the natural world (with a bit of magical fantasy thrown in), and ‘life on the pond.’

More children-, adult-, and senior-focused classes return in the fall, with registration starting August 18. They will include Indigenous beading with Jazenta Saultier, and an intermediate watercolor class with Bhupinder Singh.

The MJMAG Norma Lang Art Gallery exhibition now is tRACEs: Lines, Lives, Loves by Jeannie Mah and Heidi McKenzie, continuing to run until September 3.