If the last 18 months have left you ravenous for artistic experiences, St. Albert Culture Days is here to fill you up. The workshops, classes and activities organized by the St. Albert Cultivates the Arts Society (SACTAS) in honour of Culture Days extend across the entire month of September and present as a veritable cornucopia of visual art, music, dance, theatre and more. And every program is provided absolutely free. 

Since 2009, SACTAS has been charged with marking Alberta Culture Days in our city. For many years, it was a weekend event, until the Alberta Government made the switch to a month-long format in 2020.  The result is a marathon of class coordination for the volunteer committee, but for Heather Dolman, the Co-Chair of SACTAS, the result is a month-long opportunity to provide accessible cultural programming everyone can enjoy.   

“It’s an opportunity for people to experience and celebrate arts and culture in our community,” explains Dolman. “In particular, to celebrate our local artists and we have many of them in St. Albert.” 

From “Ukulele 101” to “Easy Watercolour Magic for Beginners” to “African and Caribbean Dance,” there’s, simply put, a lot to do. The complete list deserves a thorough look, with over 30 events listed. Dolman is quick to point out that SACTAS is careful to program a cross-section of artistic activities and makes sure all ages are included—even toddlers! A more recent addition to St. Albert’s Culture Days is the culinary arts, with the Africans & African Descendants Friendship Club of St. Albert sharing an assortment of cooking classes.  

“With Culture Days, we try to get an array—something from all the different aspects of the arts—available for people to try,” says Dolman. “We’ve got a lot of artists to celebrate and to let people know about. So for me, it’s great to be able to bring those artists out to the public and make the public more aware of what’s going on in this community, because we have so much going on. We really do.” 

In terms of format, SACTAS has gone with a hybrid of in-person and online workshops and events. While you’ll find the “Poetry Walking Tour,” “Nature Photography: Up Close and Personal,” and “Movie in the Park” safely outdoors, many of the workshops are virtual. 

“We had a really good turnout online [last year],” says Dolman, “because we are able to open it up to more people when we do it online. Normally, an in-person class is limited by the space that we have, which would be maybe 30 people. In an online environment we can have close to 100.  

And we saw last year that people online were coming not just from St. Albert, but from all over the world. So it helped to put St. Albert on the map a bit as well.” 

With many introductory or beginner classes, Culture Days is truly about exploring the arts—and Dolman encourages those looking for a new interest or just a new adventure to dive in, have some fun, and get inspired, especially during such a difficult time for everyone.  

“The arts are good for our mental health,” says Dolman. “Particularly in these last couple of years, it helps us work through all that we’ve been having to deal with. For our own education and our own wellbeing—the arts are good for the soul.” 

For more information and a complete list of activities, please visit www.stalbertculture.ca.

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