Hope Bridges programs return

By Janet Kanters, Editor

By Wanda Reinholdt, Hope Bridges Society Coordinator

We are so excited to be announcing our sixth regular programming fall at Hope Bridges. And YOU are invited!
Whether you are a seasoned artist or musician, have no experience or something in-between, Hope Bridges is a place you are welcome and belong. For each of our opportunities, we provide a safe, welcome and warm inclusive environment where any adult can connect with others and have a quality, fun community artistic experience.
This fall, we’re bringing back four of our favourite workshops as well as our beloved annual Fall Gala:
– Sing Your High Note is our Tuesday bi-weekly hour-long music therapy workshop for all adults. Although choosing songs from our songbook and singing them with others of all ages is the main activity each week, you do not have to know how to sing or read to benefit. The rhythm and the energy of the music and the other participants can provide stress relief as well as bring other benefits. Music therapy has been shown to help treat depression and anxiety, and memory loss associated with diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Our Sing Your High Note is a happy opportunity facilitated by the highly skilled partner, JB Music Therapy and will be held at the Hope Church (no affiliation) Youth Room from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday of the month starting Sept. 13.
– Go Green Upcycling is our Thursday morning weekly two-hour visual arts workshop. As with all our opportunities, Upcycling is for any adult from any background or experience. Upcycling is a marvelous, fun way to relax and connect with others while helping the environment as it uses recyclable materials to create beautiful and useful pieces. In this workshop, we create pieces for the community as well as ourselves. Some of these pieces can be seen around Strathmore. Each project is planned with easy, medium and challenging options to enable any adult to create. And the schedule for these projects is relaxed – you do not even have to finish a project in one workshop. The last Thursday of the month is our Open Studio Day that gives time to complete a piece. This creative workshop will be once again facilitated by local artist and upcycler extraordinaire, Trish Nelson, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Hope Bridges Strathmore studio, 104 3rd Avenue, starting Sept. 14.
– Adaptive Drumming is our four-session fall series being held on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Adaptive Drumming is also a creative opportunity that is beneficial for any adult who comes because the activities used to explore music and rhythms can be enjoyed by anyone. You don’t need to have rhythm to enjoy drumming. Simply feeling the rhythms and the vibrations of the drums is soothing and relaxing. Drumming is not only so much fun, but it can promote physical and emotional healing, boost your immune system and produce feelings of well-being to name a few benefits. As with our other workshops, it is not about the musicality of the person, it is about the experience. Drumming starts Oct. 11.
– Painted Quilts is our community project, which we began in the winter of 2015. Thanks to the Town of Strathmore and the many businesses and people who have created the quilts and put them on their buildings, we have been able to create 15 quilts. There are 10 up in the community, three having homes, and two that still need homes. Each quilt comes accompanied with a gold plate. Some of the plates are installed and some are still being made. If you would like to have a quilt on your building, please call us to start the process.
And mark your calendars: Our Gala this year is going to an exciting new time It is on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 3 p.m. at Hope Church and will include a meal afterward to allow more time to visit. More information on tickets is coming soon. We would love you to join us.
Just as each of our workshops are for any adult, the cost to come to our workshops and gala is also accessible. Prices range from FREE sponsored to $35 per session depending on the opportunity. This fall, our studio has NEW hours which are Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. only so we ask that if you are interested in any of these workshops, please call our studio 403-983-3640 to leave a message for our Coordinator, Wanda, and she will get back to you as soon as she can. Official registrations including payment will begin the week of September 13th.
We hope you can join us for this exciting fall!