Things to Do in Alberta

At small, café-style tables, visitors of The Clayground Ceramic Painting Studio let their creativity bloom and imbue blank ceramics with their personal touches. More than 300 pieces line the wooden shelves, including plates, mugs, figurines, and jewelry boxes. Use of the studio’s brushes and paints is included with each piece, letting budding artists avoid the hassle of making a brush from a clump of one’s own hair. Should a visitor not complete their project, they are welcome to leave it with the studio and return within 90 days to finish it, free of charge.

"It's not just about art. It's about learning a little bit, and doing art, and letting them create too," explains Kristine Godziuk to the St. Albert Gazette. As the owner of 4Cats St. Albert, a children's art studio with one-day workshops and extended classes, Godziuk drives this viewpoint home by lacing her curricula with age-appropriate art history. While crafting a piece of pop art by silkscreening a soup can, students may learn about Andy Warhol's 25 pet cats named Sam. A self-portrait session gives way to a discussion on Frida Kahlo. During a six- to seven-week Artist of the Month series, children dig into the work of two artists per class, letting small fingers experience the challenges of their respective media. Artistic adventures and further learning continue beyond each class with accompanying 4Cats art books and collector cards with links to educational cartoons on the studio's website. The franchised company, with locations throughout Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, was named for Picasso's favorite café, Els Quatre Gats, where he pondered various shades of blue and took inspiration from townsfolk who could turn their faces inside-out.

In the 1970s, Rosebud—a once-flourishing farming and ranching community laced with wheat fields and rolling badlands—faced a dwindling community of 30 residents and fleets of abandoned buildings set for demolition. Enter LaVerne Erickson, a Calgary music and arts teacher who began the Rosebud Camp of the Arts in 1973, filling the almost deserted area with the lively sounds of music rehearsals and the ebullient chatter of young artists. Since its summer-camp origins, what is now known as the Rosebud Theatre underwent a number of dramatic changes and permutations until it became the theatrical powerhouse it is today.

Rosebud’s talented casts and crews tread the boards of the Opera House theatre, which, after extensive renovations to update its construction, boasts heating and air conditioning, tiered seating for up to 220 guests, and indoor plumbing. Now under the helm of artistic director and winner of the Sterling and Dora Mavor Moore awards Morris Ertman, the Rosebud Theatre stages a host of heartwarming plays and musicals throughout the year. To bolster audiences’ applause-powering energy stores, the Rosebud Theatre hosts pre-show buffets served in the Mercantile Dining Room, proffering hearty feasts whipped up by Executive Chef Pat Murphy and his hospitality team.:m]]

Brightly colored paintballs whiz through fresh lakeside air until they collide with a tree, patch of grass, or someone's body. On three outdoor fields, this colorful carnage unfolds as mask-wearing participants take aim and fire their semiautomatic paintball guns from lookouts, behind bunkers, and under trees. Sylvan Lake Paintball's grounds also house a pro shop staffed by seasoned paintballers, where patrons can load up on everything from paintballs and CO2 canisters to barbecue burgers not booby-trapped with a surprise paintball filling.