We've stashed interactive art experiments all across the city -- encouraging you to get out, explore, & notice the little changes that happen in our communities. You never know what you may discover!
Take a treasure, leave a treasure! Find a gift for your neighbour, or yourself in one of the 5 Trinket Trade stations we have around town.
Got something to say? Drop a secret in our mailbox & we'll help ya get it off your chest.
COMING FEB 2026
COMING SPRING 2026
COMING SPRING 2026
LAUNCHES MARCH 1
It's no secret that We Love It Here. But we didn't fall in love with Lethbridge on purpose -- in fact, when I first uprooted my life to relocate to this city, I wasn't intending to stay. But slowly, bit by bit, Lethbridge got a hold of me. I actually had to move away, to miss it enough to return. But let's be real, I am stubborn & sometimes, a slow learner.
I fell in love with Lethbridge through the windows of the bus, half an hour at a time. I fell in love with the sleepy residential areas, reading street signs & through the familiar faces of those who shared the bus route with me. Day in, day out; never knowing their names, but knowing their stops -- knowing their voices saying "THANK YOU!" as they step off the bus. I fell in love with the people & their quiet, familiar routines. The rush of relief when the bus turned down the street & into view, on a cold day when my fingers were stiff from carrying grocery bags. The flood of warm air accompanying the hssssst of the bus lowering itself to open as I waited. This was a time before cellphones had internet at your fingertips. I spent my bus trips watching out the window & falling in love.
When we bought a house in Lethbridge, I fell in love with the streets yet again -- this time, on foot. Walking our neighbourhood, admiring the historical houses, imagining their stories. I fell in love with the careful garden accents, the care the community put into their spaces. When a space feels loved & taken care of, people notice. And people love it too.
These days, we have a distraction attached to our hands at every moment. We have vehicles that make travel easy, we have red lights that make us impatient, disconnected from our surroundings. We're annoyed to slow for a pedestrian. The world yells at us to "HURRY UP"; we're fed excuses for cutting-corners & costs at every crossroad we encounter. We don't watch for art on the trains as they interrupt anymore, do we?
And where does this all lead? Who does a disconnected world benefit?
Now, I realize it's absurd to suggest a series of strange interactive art experiments can do anything impactful. I know putting some trinkets in a box for a stranger, reading a message someone shared, or creating something you may never receive a "thank you" for isn't going to change a city, let alone a world. Especially now, when the world seems heavier than ever.
But Novembers are usually a dark month for us. They feel like the darkest month all year. Holidays are hard for a lot of people, too. End of years cause reflection, comparison, tallying lists of "What You Meant To Do" and "What You Didn't". I don't know if anyone ever feels like they did enough?
Usually we hibernate a bit over the winter, taking the excuse to Slow Down. Celebrating the end of the year with a marker that We Survived Another One. We know how meaningful that is.
But this time, our November was a little bit different.
Last November, we were assembling components to begin a series of launches that would become The Art Of Curiosity. In the deep of the cold, dark world, we set up boxes around the city, inviting people to visit & find a spark of brightness.
And they did.
During December's coldsnap, when my fingers were stiff from the chill & my skin tingling from blowing snow, we braved empty snowfilled streets to check on the project. I opened boxes to find them so full of gifts they almost fell out.
I am not silly enough to claim that exploring your city, making connections with anonymous neighbours & doing small whimiscal kindnesses for those you may never meet will change the world.
But it changed me, & I am part of the world, so it must be changing the world in some way, too.
