The Nickle Gallery patches an exhibit together with Heather Leier’s: Practice Pinny
By Hannah Caparino, March 25 2026—
The University of Calgary’s in-house art gallery, the Nickle Gallery, recently opened two new exhibits in early February. Visitors can see Yvonne Mullock’s Why don’t you… and Heather Leier’s self titled Heather Leier: Practice Pinny beginning Feb. 5. Leier is an associate professor in the Art and Art History program here at the University and has been an active member in the Alberta Printmakers Society (aka Alberta Printmakers) for a number of years. Leier spoke to the Gauntlet to talk about her new exhibit at the Nickle Gallery and the process of curating it for the UofC community.
“Lots of the work in this show actually brings together projects from the last 10 years of my artistic practice, but it reenvisions them into new work.” said Leier, “So they are failed prints, they are mistake prints, they’re trial prints, they’re one offs that never became completed projects.”
Leier’s exhibit is comprised of various prints that Leier worked on over the past few years. While there are traditional prints, patchwork pieces line the walls in a variety of eye-catching patterns.
The practice of printmaking involved lots of technical skills, and while printmaking often has clean finishes, Leier made a point to feature the mistakes. Leier expressed how the connecting theme of the show is how making mistakes still holds value. She expressed how her work has developed over the years to also reaffirm a theme of personal reflection and growth. Viewers can look at how the prints use words and patchwork to visualize growth and satisfaction.
“I want folks to consider that climate and think about how emotional and relational work are work, and they’re often invisible. And how they are incredibly important to resist some of those strains that are often put onto individuals.” said Leier, “But they’re also necessary to support communities to support each other, and so I think that this work insists that care work and what I call analogue knowledge, or like physical, material, real knowledge, embodied knowledge. […] I also think that the show, I want people to engage with it fully.”
Although the exhibit primarily features Leier’s own work, she had also expressed gratitude for those whom she collaborated with to bring the exhibit to life. The exhibit emphasized the impact of the community that is created through art and workmanship as she enlisted the help of her peers, research assistants, and family to inspire her and create some of the pieces. Her research assistants in particular, namely, Aidan Dupuis, SJ Ross and Joshua Seguin used their own experience with patchwork and printmaking to create pieces that are also featured in the exhibit.
A notable piece that stands out in the exhibit are prints of pink and green coloured aprons that are framed and placed on the wall. These printed aprons are the actual work aprons that were gifted to Leier that she incorporated into her work, highlighting her familial roots and the support system that she relied on during her time curating and producing the work that can be seen in the gallery.
“There is this personal connection to those objects. So that to me, they embody those relationships that have been part of my life, my entire life.” said Leier. “I find my students incredibly inspiring in their dedication to their own education and craft practices and in their compassion and care towards one another.”
While visitors can walk through the exhibit, they also have the opportunity to connect with Leier at Drop-In Sessions that are hosted in the Taylor Family Digital Library, which focus on trying, or practicing the art of printmaking and patchwork. The positive impact of these Drop-In Sessions is that Leier can share her artistic practice with the wider University community through analogue knowledge, and the inevitable mistakes that all artists bond over.
“Prioritizing material processes, but also those material effects of systems in a way, almost resist the isolation that comes from our contemporary reliance on being on our screens. And particularly in this moment of AI, where I think that real relationships and community can be more difficult to find and navigate. There’s more isolation and so I also see this as kind of like a bit of resistance against that.” said Leier.
The exhibit celebrates the vulnerabilities and mistakes that may be made when creating art, and Leier, who has had a number of years under her belt will be showcasing all of that in more at the Nickle Gallery until April 30. For viewing information about Heather Leier: Practice Pinny, check out the Nickle Gallery website.