The Studio and Miller Gallery - the downtown 'candy store for the creative'

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The Studio and The Miller Gallery have thrived in the heart of downtown Lethbridge since 1989. This popular art retailer and gallery offers a wide selection of art supplies and local art.

Nadine and Jill have enjoyed serving the creative community by offering a diverse product range. They are well-known for providing courteous and knowledgeable customer service with a keen ability to inspire creativity through the thoughtful presentation of merchandise. Their 5th Street business is well-stocked with an ever-growing range of established product lines.

The Miller Gallery offers an amazing selection of art created by talented local artists such as Judith Nikol, Annette Nieukerk, Julie Duschenes and Jill Moloy. Art may be purchased at the store or via The Miller Gallery online store.

Nadine and Jill also offer a wide range of art instruction classes and workshops (silkscreening, airbrushing, acrylic painting, etc.) that cater to all ages and ability levels.

Whether you're the creative one or just shopping for someone who is, you will definitely enjoy your visit.

The Studio and The Miller Gallery are located at 407 A - 5th Street South, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

For more information, phone 403-329-1050 or visit them online at www.finditdowntown.ca or www.themillergallery.ca.

Alex Pavlenko fills the downtown Lethbridge landscape with his whimsical art

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The Downtown Business Revitalization Zone (BRZ) has worked with local artist, Alex Pavlenko, on a number of art projects over the past few years. The first commissioned piece, 'Gabriel Versus the West Wind', was installed on the north side of the King of Trade (5th Street South) building in 2003. This whimsical mural added some much-needed visual appeal and interest to the colorless laneway. The second piece of artwork entitled 'Destiny Manifesting' (aka 'buffalo mural') was placed on the east side of the Bell Intrigna building (next to Langenberg Optical) on 3rd Avenue in 2004.

Over the years, the Downtown BRZ has attempted to add additional color and vibrancy to the downtown through the use of fabric windsocks. Due to our strong winds and intense sunlight, the lifespan for fabric windsocks was relatively short (usually one season). As a response to this, the BRZ commissioned Alex to build kinetic wind sculptures. These metal sculptures are designed to be part of the downtown landscape for a significantly longer period of time.

The first sculpture, entitled 'Wranglin' Willie', was installed in front of the BRZ office on 6th Street South in 2007. The 'Wranglin' Willie' pilot character spins and bucks on top of the metal 'Wind Eater' windsock. 'Wranglin' Willie' was a huge hit with curious shoppers and visitors and drew a lot of positive attention to our downtown. The latest commissioned sculpture, 'Chinook-a-tron', was installed in September 2009 on 7th Street (near Foster and Sons Jewellers). Look closely in the video as the metal figure slowly turns a crank as the other parts of the sculpture spin and whirl in multiple directions.

The BRZ works closely with the City of Lethbridge Infrastructure Department on finding suitable locations for the installation of murals and wind sculptures. Funding for the installation is provided through the Heart of Our City Master Plan initiative.

Our goal is to install a series of kinetic sculptures in various locations throughout the downtown core. Chemainus, on beautiful Vancouver Island, is well-known for its incredible murals ... we're hoping to someday be famous for our whimsical windsocks.

Movie in the Park event draws large, enthusiastic crowds to beautiful Galt Gardens Park

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The Movie in the Park event drew large, enthusiastic crowds over the Labour Day Weekend. The Downtown BRZ has sponsored movies in Galt Gardens Park for the past four summers. Movies in the park continues to be popular with families from Lethbridge and throughout southern Alberta. Over 800 people took in the shows over the two evenings. Even the brief rain on Saturday didn't discourage event attendees.

The classic Spielberg hit, 'Jurassic Park', was shown on Friday, while the Pixar/Disney summer blockbuster 'UP' was featured on Saturday. The Movie in the Park crew brought in some exciting pre-show entertainment that included a local fire spinner troupe, magic show, hoola-hoop contest and a WII Guitar Hero tent.

This free, community event definitely helps to showcase all that beautiful Galt Gardens has to offer. The Rotary Centennial Plaza was in full operation and the colorful water display attracted a lot of attention during both evenings. The BRZ offered up tasty and affordable 50 cent bags of popcorn that were sold out of the newly constructed pergola food servery area.

Many thanks go out to local media and City of Lethbridge staff for their promotion and assistance in making the event such a huge success.

The Labour Day Weekend Movies in the Park event was a smash hit and we're looking forward to the next showing during the Bright Lights Festival and Midnight Madness event on November 20, 2009.

For more information on Movie in the Park, contact the BRZ office at 403 - 327-9002 or visit their site at www.movieinthepark.ca.