The hazy glow of late summer sunlight filters through the wide windows of the Medicine Hat Cultural Centre as local potter Evan Thompson adjusts a ceramic piece in his latest exhibition. His hands, weathered by decades of working with clay harvested from the South Saskatchewan River valley, move with deliberate precision.
“This city has always had an incredible arts community,” Thompson tells me, his voice carrying the quiet pride of someone who has witnessed the transformation of Medicine Hat’s cultural landscape over thirty years. “But for so long, many of us worked in isolation. Recognition wasn’t something we expected.”
That’s about to change. Earlier this week, the City of Medicine Hat announced the launch of its first comprehensive Arts Recognition Program, designed to celebrate local creators across disciplines who have contributed to the cultural fabric of this prairie city of roughly 65,000.
The initiative comes after years of advocacy from local arts organizations and represents a significant shift in how the city acknowledges its creative community. The program will include annual awards in categories ranging from visual arts and music to literary arts and cultural heritage preservation, with both emerging and established artist designations.
“We’ve recognized sports achievements and business excellence for decades,” explains Camilla Doherty, Medicine Hat’s new Cultural Development Officer. “But we’ve never had a formal, sustained way to honor those who make our city more vibrant through artistic expression.”
Walking through downtown Medicine Hat, evidence of this vibrancy is everywhere – from the historic Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre to the colourful murals that have transformed once-blank alleyways into outdoor galleries. The city’s clay district, with its iconic beehive kilns preserving the region’s pottery-making legacy, has become a destination for ceramic artists from across North America.
For Patricia Winslow, Executive Director of the Medicine Hat Arts Council, the recognition program acknowledges something the community has always known but rarely celebrated in formal ways. “Creative expression isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential to our identity and economic resilience,” she says, gesturing toward statistics from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts showing that cultural industries contribute over $5.3 billion annually to the province’s economy.
The timing feels particularly significant. After years of pandemic-related challenges that devastated many cultural organizations and individual artists, Medicine Hat’s creative community has shown remarkable resilience. Local musician Keisha Running Rabbit, who blends traditional Blackfoot musical elements with contemporary folk sounds, sees the program as more than symbolic.
“Recognition creates visibility, and visibility creates opportunities,” she explains as we sit in her small recording studio on the city’s north side. “When we acknowledge artists as vital contributors to our community, we’re also saying their work deserves sustainable support.”
The program includes more than just awards. According to materials provided by the City Council, it will feature professional development opportunities, mentorship connections, and exhibition spaces in municipal buildings. A dedicated funding stream for collaborative projects between artists and community organizations has also been established.
Medicine Hat isn’t the first Alberta municipality to develop such initiatives. Calgary’s Mayor’s Arts Champions program and Edmonton’s Celebration of the Arts have long recognized creative contributions. But smaller centers have often struggled to formalize their support for cultural producers.
“What makes the Medicine Hat approach interesting is how they’ve tied it to broader community priorities,” notes Dr. Alexandra Chen, who studies cultural policy at the University of Lethbridge. “Their framework explicitly connects arts recognition to downtown revitalization, tourism development, and youth retention strategies.”
Indeed, research from Statistics Canada shows that vibrant cultural scenes are increasingly crucial factors in where people choose to live, particularly for younger demographics. In a 2022 survey of Canadian municipalities, communities with strong arts sectors reported higher rates of population growth among adults aged 25-40.
Back at the Cultural Centre, I meet with three high school students working on submissions for the program’s youth category. Their multimedia installation explores water conservation through dance, video, and sculptural elements made from reclaimed materials found along the river.
“It’s cool that the city wants to hear from us,” says seventeen-year-old Maya Lindstrom, adjusting a camera angle. “Art helps us talk about things that matter to our generation. This program makes it feel like those conversations are valued.”
For many longtime residents, the recognition program represents an overdue acknowledgment of Medicine Hat’s unique cultural position – a city with deep Indigenous heritage, strong craft traditions, and a growing contemporary arts scene, all situated within the distinctive landscape of Alberta’s southeast.
As Evan Thompson carefully wraps up our conversation to prepare for an evening workshop, he reflects on what recognition means beyond accolades.
“What I’m most excited about is the visibility this creates for younger artists,” he says. “When I started working with clay here in the 1980s, there were few pathways to build a creative life in Medicine Hat. Maybe this program helps someone see possibilities I couldn’t see then.”
Nominations for the inaugural Medicine Hat Arts Recognition Program will open next month, with the first awards ceremony scheduled for early 2026. City officials have emphasized that community input will shape how the program evolves, with regular consultations planned to ensure it remains responsive to local needs.
As I leave the Cultural Centre, the late afternoon sun catches on a large mosaic installed beside the entrance – thousands of ceramic pieces created by community members during the city’s centennial celebrations. It seems an apt metaphor for the program itself: individual creative expressions coming together to form something more significant than any single piece could be alone.
