'She was beaming': Calgary artist gets first exhibition at 76

A Calgary artist held her first ever exhibition this week, and she's just over the moon about it.

So what's the catch? She's 76 years old.

Last fall, Kathy Lewis was reading a newsletter at her seniors' home and something caught her eye.

She lives in a retirement community operated by Chartwell, separate from the Toronto-based non-profit The Chartwell Foundation. That non-profit runs a program to grant wishes to Canadian seniors through an application process.

"On the back was a little write up about the foundation granting wishes to seniors," Lewis told the Calgary Eyeopener.

"It sounded very interesting, and I thought, 'Would they let me do this?' I was really scared," she said.

A couple of months later, she learned her fear was unfounded.

"I got a letter. It just made me cry," she said.

"It was so amazing that they picked me to do this show."

Lewis has been painting for about a decade. It ticks a lot of boxes.

"I paint for a variety of reasons," she explained.

"First, I like it, and second, my body needs the distraction. I live with chronic pain."

A leader with cSPACE Projects, the hosting venue in Marda Loop, says they were thrilled to help grant a wish.

"She was beaming," said Erin MacLean-Berko, cSPACE events and engagement manager.

"She was there the entire time, enjoying talking to people, giving tours, talking to our board."

MacLean-Berko pointed out, however, that the foundation granting wishes struggled to find a venue in Calgary to fill a senior's wish.

Roughly a dozen venues were contacted, yet only two responded.

"I was really disappointed to hear that," MacLean-Berko said.

Meanwhile, Lewis's bucket list just got shorter by one.

"I don't drive or get around very much so it was nice to see, nice for me to interact with people. I was quite naive because I've never done a show before."

Lewis's exhibition will be at cSPACE until July 2.