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The title of the exhibition is taken from an 1897 letter written by Job Reed, a farmer, railroad worker, and landlord in Lethbridge. Reed’s letters are alternately warm and disciplined, business-like and dreamy. They are addressed to an unnamed “friend,” but this is a narrative trick – the friend is imaginary, and they were really meant to be collected into a personal history and practical guide for prospective immigrants to the fledgling town. The work shown here, from artists working in and around Lethbridge today, reflects a similar range of attitudes towards the city, its land, its people, and you the viewer – intimate and distant, gauzy and documentary, playful and hard-nosed, inviting and confrontational. They suggest different ways of making a life in Lethbridge today, many (but not all) unimaginable in Job Reed’s time. What “wonderful developments” do they hint at?

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Take a 30 minute walk around downtown Lethbridge with a local philosopher! Bring your favorite questions and ideas! Walks will start and end at the Penny Building gallery (324 5th Street S). Sign up here to book your philosophy walk!

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Tell your story! How did you come to Lethbridge? How did you grow up here? What memories do you associate with the city’s places? Who makes Lethbridge special for you, and how did you meet them? You’re free to make a recording for your own personal use, but if you want, your story can be added to the Lethbridge Storytelling Recording Project Archive. The archive, maintained with the support of the Galt Museum + Archives, will be a vital resource for future Lethbridgians to learn about life in the city in our time. (You must be 18 or older to participate.)

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Take a treasure, leave a treasure! Like a little free library, but for whatever you can think of.

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Volunteer Lethbridge’s “250 Ways to Volunteer” display collects a wealth of information on volunteer opportunities in our community. Participants are encouraged to grab a box and learn about one way they could volunteer, and to share their volunteer journey by talking about where they volunteer and why, showing others what volunteerism in action really looks like.

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Granola bars and an assortment of personal care items will be available all day every day, hanging just outside of the Penny Building. Take whatever you need.

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Annabelle Chatsis and Inge Genee (University of Lethbridge) are leading a Maminni Tsinikssini (Feather Story) workshop! Feather Story is a storytelling craft. You’ll learn to tell your own story by designing a feather with animals of the prairies, learning the Blackfoot names for them along the way.

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It’s The Ideas Store launch party! Featuring a panel discussion with some of the artist-contributors to “there are rumours afloat of wonderful developments here” (The Ideas Store art show), Ask a Philosopher, good food, and good vibes!

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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Yale Belanger (University of Lethbridge) and Mark Brave Rock (Sage Clan) will talk about their work on housing and homelessness in Lethbridge, and lead a community discussion of the housing crisis and what we can do to solve it.

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An intimate look at the solitary life of an unhoused man who’s haunted by his past. 2024, 61 minutes.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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A new play by Dawn McCaugherty. Winner of the 2026 Chinook Region One Act Play Festival. 55 minutes.

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Explore Métis traditional teachings through dot art—honouring culture, storytelling, and connection to the land through creative expression. Participants are invited to reflect, learn, and celebrate Métis heritage while engaging in hands-on art inspired by traditional knowledge and community sharing.

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When Maika and her ragtag friends discover an alien invasion in their tiny arctic hamlet, it’s up to them to save the day. Utilizing their makeshift weapons and horror movie knowledge, the aliens realize you don’t mess with girls from Pang. 2022, 86 minutes.

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Jason Breen (University of Lethbridge) will use the movie Slash/Back as a case study to reflect on various philosophical themes in Indigenous Science Fiction.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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The Twilight Glow of Romeo is an original play brought to life through abstract puppetry, moving across micro and macro worlds in playful, imaginative ways. It remembers a life shaped by love, loss and an old man’s courage to keep living on his own terms. Nicola Elson (University of Lethbridge) will share the journey of creating The Twilight Glow of Romeo and will bring out some of the puppets for participants to explore and play with.

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Political events in recent years have given us reason to worry about epistemic problems like misinformation and disinformation, conspiracy theories, and “post-truth” politics. But how should we respond to these sorts of epistemic problems? Susan Dieleman (University of Lethbridge) will explore these problems and evaluate two competing options for responding to them: democracy, or rule by the people, and epistocracy, or rule by the knowledgeable.

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An exploratory look at how individuals & small groups of dedicated people can sculpt the direction of a city — for better, or for worse. Uses recent examples of how Lethbridge has shifted directions based on targeted surveys and encourages residents to take an active role in building the community they wish to live in. 2026, 21 minutes.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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Gideon Fujiwara (University of Lethbridge) will explore two revolutions witnessed across nineteenth-century Japan. The first is a political revolution. The Meiji Restoration, beginning in late 1867, ushered the Japanese state and society into the modern era, in the context of revolutions around the globe. The second is an informational revolution. Documents called fūsetsudome reveal a new level of political information circulating across the archipelago, from uncensored edicts, memoranda, images, and literature to letters by the Japanese political elite and Western officials.

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A dazzling performance from the NCS Yosakoi dance troupe!

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In 16th century Japan, an aging ruler attempts to divide his kingdom among his three sons. They turn against each other and betray their father, triggering events that ultimately shatter the kingdom, destroy the family, and drive their father insane. Based on Shakespeare’s King Lear. 1985, 160 minutes.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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We like to escape. Often. And even more often when times are tough. We seek distraction from what’s going on around us and immersion in unreal worlds of fiction, imagination, and sometimes self-delusion. ‘Escapism’ names this human tendency. What, if anything, is bad (or good) about escapism? Why think reality deserves (or does not deserve) more of our attention than unreality? In this talk, I’ll argue that these questions are very difficult to answer in satisfying ways, and that escapism presents with some hard philosophical puzzles.

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Eli Yetter-Bowman’s new short documentary The Bowl follows a team of six North Carolina high school girls and their teacher as they prepare for and compete in the National High School Ethics Bowl. The team takes on some of the toughest questions facing society – the global prison complex, artificial intelligence, sex education, drug policy, and more. It explores the bonds we form when we reason together about what matters. 2025, 26 minutes.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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Thelma Gunn (University of Lethbridge), Christine Light (Lethbridge School Board), and Derek Resler (Alberta Teachers Association) lead a community discussion about the opportunities and challenges facing K-12 schools in Lethbridge, from classroom complexity and AI to demographic change and teacher pay and retention.

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A new play by Alexandra Dodd. (Maybe not appropriate for children under 14.)

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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How old is a wild animal? From mule deer to bears, the answer is more than trivia. By examining patterns in teeth—much like reading tree rings—wildlife biologists can uncover age, survival, and population trends that inform conservation and management. This talk by Everett Hanna (Lethbridge Polytechnic) offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Wildlife Analytics Lab is helping make sense of wildlife populations across Canada.

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A solo set from Lethbridge favorite Sarah Lillian, followed by a set with her new group Jasmac Projekt!

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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R.U.R. is a 1920 science fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek, famous for introducing the word “robot” into the English language. 90 minutes.

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It’s an afternoon of very short talks from the University of Lethbridge’s best and brightest! From beer labels and LDS history to self-reliance and trolling, and a bunch more in between!

Nathan Fuehrer – Angelic Devil’s Advocacy: Reengineering Debate Incentives to Cultivate Open-Mindedness Under Polarization
Percy Potiuk – Portrayals of Queerness in Lethbridge and Area Print Media in 1994
Allison Vonk – Misandrist Weapons of the Weak: Feminist Countertrolling
Stephanie Laine Hamilton – Beer Labels as Discourse: Old Style Pilsner and Sicks’ Breweries Ltd.
Mary Siever – Settler Colonialism and Mothering Neurodivergent Children
Cameron Bluekens – Belief as Mental Representation
Connor Leflar – Who Are You? Who Do You Want to Be? Emerson on Self-Discovery
Ariana Williams – 1887 and Onward: The LDS Exodus into Canada

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The LSCO recently celebrated 50 years of operation – join us as we discuss what life looked like for the first seniors through our doors compared to the vibrant community we have cultivated in 2026. From shuffleboard to pickleball, knitting to line dancing, see what has stood the test of time and what has become a distant memory.

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It’s a night of Dutch short films (with English subtitles)!
– I’m Not a Robot/Ik Ben Geen Robot (2023, 22 minutes). After repeatedly failing CAPTCHA tests, music producer Lara becomes obsessed with a disturbing question: could she be a robot?
– Father and Daughter (2000, 9 minutes). A father says goodbye to his young daughter.
– Mirror of Holland/Spiegel van Holland (1950, 11 minutes). The Netherlands shown as a reflection in a puddle.
– I’m Never Afraid!/Ik Ben Echt Niet Bang! (2010, 25 minutes). A documentary about Mack Bouwense, an eight-year-old professional motocross racer with a mirrored heart.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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Ty Lee Storm (Aspommtapi) and Dr. Ivana Djuraskovic lead a holistic, trauma-informed workshop on music as a tool for healing, engaging the whole brain and all the senses, including emotion, memory, body, and spirit. Weaving together music, storytelling, and lived experience, Ty Lee brings his work as an Indigenous Cultural Educator, and Ivana brings her experience as a Registered Psychologist.

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It’s a Métis finger weaving workshop! Create your own works of art, and learn a thing or two about Métis culture while you’re at it.

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Glenda Jensen and Alex Hawkins (Foothills Centre), Anise-Marie Fast (Fresh Start Recovery Centre), and Dillon Fogen (Streets Alive Mission) will talk about the work they do support people struggling with substance abuse in Lethbridge and how the different parts of the care system fit together, and lead a community discussion about what the people and the city of Lethbridge can do to prevent substance abuse and help substance users find their way to recovery.

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Lethbridge favorites Olson and Ron Hiuser stop by The Ideas Store to play some tunes!

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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Politicians, pundits, activists, and influencers want to get you worked up about how we communicate with one another. From debates about “woke” language reform and cursive penmanship to language policy and echo chambers and media consolidation, everyone (according to someone) is doing it wrong. This little talk by Ian Olasov (University of Lethbridge) tries to answer a very big question: which of these concerns should we take seriously, and why?

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Get jiggy with it (sorry!) with the Lethbridge and Area Métis Association! Come learn some basic steps in the popular Métis dance tradition.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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To celebrate the return of Foodie Fest, the brilliant chefs of Antojitos will teach you how to make your own tortillas! You’ll make around ten tortillas to enjoy at home. Space is limited, so get there early to guarantee your spot!

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Why does cattle transport matter, and how can we improve it? How can we redesign feedlots to make cows more comfortable? How can farmers detect livestock illness more efficiently? How might robotics and new technologies help improve animal welfare in the future? Come by for a chat with University of Lethbridge scientists Paula Olivares Guzmán, Hardeep Ryait, Emilio Hurtado, and Chandra Suryadevara (guest starring their robotic arm!) to learn about their work on these questions.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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Come chat with the good folks of Lethbridge Pride (and get free swag)!

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Tired of the shouting match between conservative-Christian and liberal-LGBTQ+ voices online? This workshop, led by Brent Saccucci (University of Lethbridge), dives into the digital trenches to uncover how misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation fuel the divide—and what we can do to stop it. Together, we’ll explore real-world tools to spot falsehoods, reclaim empathy, and build authentic conversations across belief and identity lines. Whether you’re faith-based, queer, Two-Spirit, or an ally committed to bridge-building, come learn how connection can triumph over polarization..

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Siksika filmmaker Sinakson, Trevor Solway, intimately portrays the lives of Blackfoot men as they navigate identity, kinship and the complex expectations of manhood. Through unfiltered moments and revealing conversations set against the breathtaking landscape of the Prairies, the film reimagines what it means to be a Native man. 2025, 102 minutes.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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Heidi Davis of First Thunder Wellness leads a morning yoga class!

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Cam Clark (Pattison Media/Lethbridge News Now), Peter Gingras (Lethbridge Polytechnic), Kris Hodgson-Bright (Lethbridge Polytechnic), and XXX (The Lethbridge Herald) will talk about the past, present, and future of journalism in Lethbridge. What new economic models are needed? How should we respond to polarization and declining trust in traditional sources of authority? A community discussion of how to sustain local journalism in Lethbridge and beyond will follow.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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To celebrate the Alberta Federation of Labour’s Day of Action, it’s a solidarity sing-along! Come learn some new labour tunes, or re-learn some old ones, with the People’s Chorus!

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Norma Rae, a Southern millworker, revolutionizes a small town and discovers a power in herself she never knew she had. Under the guidance of a New York unionizer and with increasing courage and determination, Norma Rae organizes her fellow factory workers to fight for better conditions and wages. 1979, 110 minutes.

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.

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It’s The Ideas Store wrap party! Featuring a performance from Lethbridge electronic music duo Blue Cliff, Ask a Philosopher, good food, and good vibes!

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Don’t forget that there are always ideas to engage with at The Ideas Store – all day, every day! Check out the top tab for details.