Tag Archives: Leah Louden

Locals Sketch for Slow Art Day at the Art Gallery of St. Albert

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For their 2024 Slow Art Day (their fifth!), the Art Gallery of St. Albert in Canada invited local sketch groups to visit the exhibition Threading Through Time by Jamaican visual artist Raneece Buddan. Director Leah Louden told us they chose to focus on Raneece’s exhibition, in part because her work “rewards the viewer with lots of fine details you only discover through careful observation.”

Slow Art Day participants sketching works by Raneece Buddan, Threading Through Time (exhibition view), 2024. Photo by Brenda Lakeman.
Slow Art Day participants sketching works by Raneece Buddan, Threading Through Time (exhibition view), 2024. Photo by Brenda Lakeman.

This year, the museum decided to partner with a series of local organizations who could bring in “sketch groups” including the Edmonton Art Club, The Federation of Canadian Artists Edmonton Chapter, Sketch Around YEG Club, and the St. Albert Visual Arts Council Guilds.

Upon arrival, the groups were offered both free refreshments and free drawing materials. In total, over 30 visitors joined. Some participants stayed for an extended period of time, spending 2 hours drawing and slowly appreciating the artwork.

All visitors were encouraged to choose a single artwork in the show, and then look and sketch slowly. The museum also provided prompts (see below – and feel free to copy!).

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Staff were on hand to answer questions and more in-depth information about the art and about the process of slow looking/sketching.

We can’t wait to see what the Art Gallery of St. Albert comes up with for their next Slow Art Day event in 2025.

-Johanna, Ashley, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. Stay up to date with events at the Art Gallery of St. Albert via their social media: @ArtGalleryofStAlbert on Facebook and Instagram

St. Albert’s Slow Art Day Support

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The Art Gallery of St. Albert, Canada, pivoted their 2021 event at the last minute from planned in-person sessions to their social media pages and the Gallery’s virtual exhibitions. They did this because four days before Slow Art Day 2021, the Canadian provincial government announced further lockdowns.

Visitor engaging with art (used to promote Slow Art Day 2021 by the Art Gallery of St. Albert.)

The situation the Gallery faced is, of course, similar to what many other museums have had to contend with since this pandemic began in 2020. However, time after time, we have seen museum educators, directors, and curators rise to the challenge and connect people to each other and to art in new and creative ways.

At Slow Art Day HQ, we love that the Art Gallery of St. Albert decided to commemorate and promote slow looking despite not being able to host their event as planned. Leah Louden, Interim Director, said that they are already planning their Slow Art Day 2022.

To the staff at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, and all other museums and galleries that had planned events which did not go through — thank you for supporting Slow Art Day and your communities through these trying times.

– Johanna, Jessica, Ashley and Phyl

PS. You can find out more about the Art Gallery of St. Albert here, on their IG, or Facebook Page.

We also recommend checking out one of their beautifully designed annual reports