A Physical Activity Program for Older Adults (50+)

Forever…in motion is a health promotion initiative by the Saskatchewan Health Authority to help older adults stay physically active.  It provides volunteer-led physical activity groups and resources, with the goals of improving and maintaining the health of older adults in the community.  Started in 2002 by the former Saskatoon Health Region as a way to make physical activity opportunities available for older adults living in community.

Forever…in motion groups are located primarily in seniors’ housing, community centres, churches, condominiums and seniors’ centres, and are free or low-cost to participants.

Potential health benefits are extensive, some of which include:

·         Decreases the effects of aging

·         Builds stronger bones and muscles

·         Improves balance and strength

·         Reduces the risks of falling

Find more program information in the Forever…in motion brochure:  FIM Brochure

10 Mondays - Jan 12 - Mar 23 (no class Feb 16)

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Class Fee:  $10, exercise equipment provided

Forever...in motion will be held in the lower-level hall of Emmanuel Anglican Church - Please enter at Door B

This class will focus on developing fundamental watercolor skills. Each week, Susan Huntley, will take participants through the stages of design and composition, drawing, and painting.  You will tackle a variety of subjects from landscapes and skies to still life and florals.  This session is designed to be fun and inspirational, and will focus on how to relax and enjoy the creative process of watercolor.

6 Wednesdays - Jan 21 - Feb 25

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Class Fee:  $ 120, materials are not included.  *A material list will be sent to participants at time of registration.

Watercolor II will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.  

In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to make your own 10-inch Motanka doll using materials provided.  Ukrainian Motanka dolls serve as a guardian or protector, symbolizing prosperity, hope and goodness.  They represent unity and generations within a family, creating harmony of spiritual and earthly principles. 

If you have fabrics, ribbons, or other items that are special to you and you’d like to use them to personalize your creation, please bring these items with you.

My name is Anastasiia Misan, and I’m originally from the Dnipro region of Ukraine. Art has always been a part of my life, and painting in traditional Ukrainian styles, like Petrykivka, has been a true blessing. With over 10 years of teaching experience, I find great joy in sharing my passion and helping others discover the happiness and pride that comes from creating something beautiful with their own hands.

Monday, Jan 19

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Class Fee:  $ 50, including materials

Ukrainian Motanka Dolls will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery

Come join us for an evening of reflection and slow stitching as we learn about Sashiko - the traditional Japanese art of mending and stitching. Through the use of one simple stitch a multitude of patterns can be created, adding beauty to a simple stitched creation or to a loved piece of clothing that may or may not need to be mended.

Participants will have the opportunity to explore a number of traditional Sashiko patterns and to create their own piece while practicing intentional stitching, a process that allows you to create a piece that is truly stitched with love.

Sashiko is not embroidery - there is no need to know a number of fancy stitches, use a hoop or integrate a number of colors in your thread work. No stitching experience is necessary to enjoy this class.

All materials will be provided for each participant to take home their own creation. Should you wish to stitch directly on a piece of clothing, please bring that with you to class. 

Monday, Jan 26

Tuesday, Mar 17 - *Due to a high level of interest a second session date has been added.

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Fee:  $45, including materials.  

Soulful Saskiko will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.

Join local Printmaking Artist, Cassandra Van Buekenhout, in an introductory printmaking workshop where you will learn how to safely and properly use carving tools to create one-of-a-kind cards/prints - sure to impress your loved ones on Valentine's Day!

Cassandra Van Buekenhout is a graduate from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honour Degree.  For the past five years she has followed her creative passion for Printmaking. Cassandra started her own small business and developed her own personal, distinct aesthetic. In working towards her goal of becoming an Art Therapist, she teaches community classes as one of the many steps in the process to reach her professional goal.

Tuesday, Feb 10

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Class Fee:  $ 50, including materials

Discover the Art of Printmaking will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery

You have no idea where to start. Writing isn’t complicated. Thinking about it, avoiding it, fearing

it, resisting it—that’s where things get tangled up.

In this workshop, we’ll bust past our barriers and write. This is a joyful, non-intimidating space

for anyone who has the urge to express themselves through words but keeps putting it off.

We welcome participants who are full of fear, have zero experience, and don’t know where to

start. Bring us your uncertainties, and we’ll help you uncover your unique story, voice, and drive.

Marilyn Frey is an experienced facilitator and long-time member of the Saskatchewan

Writers’ Guild and several local writing groups. She is also an alumnus of Alison Wearing’s 12-week Memoir Writing, Ink course, winning first prize in Micki Findlay’s International 50-Word Contest in 2023. Marilyn has published two books, Reflections in a Farmhouse Window: A Prairie Memoir and Wilma, as well as short stories in anthologies and magazines such as Oh Canada, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Fun on the Farm 3, Folklore, and Canadian Stories. Writing is her passion, and Marilyn is eager to help you on your writing journey.

Tuesday, Mar 10

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Class Fee:  $ 50, including materials

Beginner's Guide to Unleashing Your Inner Writer will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery

Healthcare researchers are increasingly recommending that people’s spiritual and

religious concerns be included in their medical care. But what does this actually look

like? For some, spirituality is airy-fairy nonsense that has no business being part of

healthcare. For others, spirituality is directly connected to how they relate to the world

and make sense of their lives.

In this lecture-based session, Simon Lasair, a spirituality and healthcare researcher, will show how everyone is spiritual, regardless of whether they belong to a specific religious or spiritual tradition or not. Simon will also show how spirituality deserves a more central place in healthcare, specifically because it is that which helps us hold all parts of our humanity together. During this session, there will be lots of time for questions, so come for an evening of stimulating ideas, cutting-edge insights, and engaging conversation.

Simon Lasair is a husband, father, reader, thinker, and taekwondo practitioner who is

also a nationally recognized leader in spirituality and healthcare research. His recent

book, Spirituality and Holistic Spiritual Health: Expanding Chaplaincy’s Theoretical

Frame (Routledge, 2026) develops understandings of spirituality and spiritual health

that can help healthcare workers care for patients and families in all their humanness,

integrating all aspects of who they are into their medical care. 

Wednesday, Mar 25

7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Class Fee:  $ 35

Spirituality: The Future of Healthcare will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery

A Physical Activity Program for Older Adults (50+)

Forever…in motion is a health promotion initiative by the Saskatchewan Health Authority to help older adults stay physically active.  It provides volunteer-led physical activity groups and resources, with the goals of improving and maintaining the health of older adults in the community.  Started in 2002 by the former Saskatoon Health Region as a way to make physical activity opportunities available for older adults living in community.

Forever…in motion groups are located primarily in seniors’ housing, community centres, churches, condominiums and seniors’ centres, and are free or low-cost to participants.

Potential health benefits are extensive, some of which include:

·         Decreases the effects of aging

·         Builds stronger bones and muscles

·         Improves balance and strength

·         Reduces the risks of falling

Find more program information in the Forever…in motion brochure:  FIM Brochure

10 Mondays - Mar 30 - Jun 15 (no class on Apr 6 and May 18)

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Class Fee:  $10, any exercise equipment needed will be provided

Forever...in motion will be held in the lower-level hall of Emmanuel Anglican Church - Please enter at Door B

This class will focus on developing fundamental watercolor skills. Each week, Susan Huntley, will take participants through the stages of design and composition, drawing, and painting.  You will tackle a variety of subjects from landscapes and skies to still life and florals.  This session is designed to be fun and inspirational, and will focus on how to relax and enjoy the creative process of watercolor.

4 Wednesdays - Mar 25 - Apr 15

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Class Fee:  $ 90, materials are not included.  *A material list will be sent to participants at time of registration.

Watercolor II will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.  

“We must be ourselves.  But the self we must be is the self we most deeply want to be.  Desire and destiny meet, our deepest wanting and God’s purpose for us.  The answer is to be sought within.  Peace tells us we have found it” – The Art of Christian Listening (Thomas N. Hart)

Knowing who you are and nurturing the most important relationship you will ever have; the one with yourself, is life’s greatest adventure. We think we know ourselves but often what we think is tied to the roles we play as spouse, parent, friend, caregiver, etc. Who are we beyond what we do and how others see us?

Come and join us. Take the time to stop, reflect and look inside yourself with a new lens. You will be given a framework to use in your journey of self-discovery. Knowing our deepest desires helps to focus us on where we need to spend our energy to become who we were created to be. Explore a little deeper in a safe place. Experience curiosity about yourself, who you are and what you are meant to be doing.  Begin the journey of coming home to yourself.

Lynn Gow is a Spiritual Director and member of the Saskatoon Spiritual Directors Association.  Born and raised in New Brunswick, Lynn has had a long and varied career in both the public and private sectors including Social Work, Project and Organizational Change Management and Business Relationship Development. From 2018 to 2024, Lynn owned and operated Design for Life Coaching and Consulting providing Spiritual Direction, Individual and Team Coaching Services, and Facilitated Workshops/Retreats at Queen’s House in Saskatoon.  She currently sees individuals for Spiritual Direction on zoom or in person at Emmanual Anglican Church and provides workshops, retreats and presentations upon request.

Accompanying others and navigating her own spiritual journey has continued to deepen her belief that looking within and understanding who God created us to be is the most important gift we can give to ourselves, others and the world.

Saturday, Apr 18

10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Class Fee:  $60, including materials and printed journal

Connecting to Your Inner Wisdom will be held in the lower-level hall of Emmanuel Anglican Church - Please enter at Door B

Join Chris Relitz to learn the intriguing process of making coffee paint and some of the techniques used to create your own woodland sunset painting.

After a workplace injury ended a 25-year career as a Registered Nurse, Chris Relitz discovered, rather by accident, that he was pretty okay at painting.  His primary medium is coffee.  After just two years of painting his artwork can be found in some of the top galleries around the world.

Monday, Apr 27

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Class Fee:  $35, including materials

Introduction to Coffee Painting will be held in the lower-level hall of Emmanuel Anglican Church - Please enter at Door B

Skies are essential to the landscape painter, especially here in the prairies where we live in the land of living skies.  Skies, whether calm or dramatic, set the mood for the painting, and watercolor is the perfect medium to paint skies.  Just like the colour and value of the sky comes from the sun’s light reflecting off particles in the atmosphere, watercolor gains its color and value by reflecting off the white paper through thin layers of pigment. In this workshop we will practice technical aspects of watercolor to depict a variety of atmospheric conditions, including strong sunlight, foggy and stormy conditions and early morning or evening light, as a basis for prairie landscape paintings.

Myra began painting in watercolors as a way to journal her travel experiences and has embraced the medium for its ability to capture light.  She is primarily a landscape painter, capturing the beauty of the prairies, including the rivers, lakes and boreal forests.  With her background in teaching, Myra enjoys teaching workshops, connecting with participants as she guides them through the process of creating paintings.  Her paintings can be found in collections across Canada and her work is available at Dandelion Art Framing & Gallery in Saskatoon.

4 Wednesdays - Apr 8 - 29

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Class Fee:  $90, including materials

Painting Skies & Atmosphere in Watercolor will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.  

Join collage artist Aimee-Beth Martens for an introduction to the often-overlooked art of collage.  Participants will learn about the exciting and rebellious history of collage, try out various materials and techniques, and create their own original collage (or two, or three!). Emerging and established artists will come away with a new skill set to build into or support their existing practices, and others will enjoy the playful and versatile medium, which requires no previous skill.

Aimee-Beth Martens is a book dealer and artist from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She received her BFA from the University of Saskatchewan, where she started making collages even though she was supposed to be making other things. She recently participated in a residency with the Kolaj Institute, and has work forthcoming in the PoetryxCollage journal.

Monday, May 25

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Class Fee:  $45, including materials

Collage 101 will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.  

This workshop is a fun, open, and non-judgmental space to reconnect with your inner artist - not through technique, but through intuition.  We’ll focus on tapping into the right side of the brain, quieting the inner critic, and letting creativity lead.  We’ll explore acrylic paint and dry and wet mixed media as tools for trusting the process, loosening up, and building a relationship with our work.  No two paintings will look alike and that’s the point. You’ll be encouraged to discover your own style and let whatever wants to come through, come through.

Allie Kell is an abstract painter and mother of two based in Saskatoon. Art became a source of solace and identity during motherhood, offering a space to process emotion beyond words and reconnect with her true self. Her minimalist compositions invite presence and patience, while vibrant color encourages freedom, play, and connection to the inner child. Through her work, Allie aims to inspire self-belief, introspection, and the integration of both light and shadow on a soul level.

Wednesday, May 27

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Class Fee:  $50, including materials

Unleash Your Creativity will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.  

This four-week workshop led by Marsha Matheson will guide participants as they create a Works of Art Journal.  Art Journals combine elements of both writing and visual art.  Various art materials and techniques will be explored.  Art Journals are a personal space to express yourself.  Art Journals are a place to document your soul journey.  Along the way, kismet and serendipity will come up to meet you!  No previous art experience is needed to travel on this creative soul journey.

Marsha is a self-taught artist and the owner of Works of Art Studio. For over twenty

years, she has invited students and community members to experience the healing

and transformative power of art.  Guided by the holistic principles of Waldorf and Montessori philosophies, Marsha’s teaching weaves together the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of creativity. Bringing together the unexpected, the connected and the inspired.

4 Mondays - Jun 2 - 23

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Class Fee:  $110, including materials.  *Note:  Participants will bring a re-purposed book (discarded library books, a book from home, or thrift shop).  The theme of the book can be random or meaningful to each individual.  For this workshop we will use hard cover large format books, approximate size 9” x 11”, or larger.

Works of Art Journals will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.  

This class is the perfect opportunity for those who have never used pastels and for those who have experience with them and would like to expand their skills.  No drawing experience necessary!  We will focus on techniques and the use of tools to render a beautiful pastel painting.  We will be using chalk (soft) pastels along with pastel pencils, sticks, and Panpastels.  This class is designed for all to enjoy.  It’s meant to be a fun time for participants to learn and explore, each in their own way!  

Judy Kasdorf:  My journey with art started when I was quite young. I grew up on a farm west of Langham near the North Saskatchewan River, where there was an abundance of nature to inspire the budding artist in me. I am mostly self-taught and usually paint in a realistic style, using a combination of soft and hard pastels. There is no limit to the inspiration found in nature, from the tiniest flower to the majestic elk to the “living skies” of the Prairies.  Due to the softness that can be achieved, I find pastels to be perfectly suited to render wildlife art in particular.  When painting wildlife, I take care to incorporate a background that is true to the natural habitat of the subject.  To translate the beauty of nature and God’s creatures into a painting that resonates with someone else, is both humbling and rewarding. 

In 2017 I was honored to be chosen as the Feature Artist for SWAA’s Reflections of Nature Art Show. With various awards over the years, eventually I became a judge in the category of novice or young artists in both the Reflections of Nature Show and Saskatoon Exhibition Arts Showcase. I welcome the opportunity to encourage others in their art journey, in keeping with the encouragement I have received in my own life.  I reside in Martensville, SK. My work is represented by Dandelion Art Framing and Gallery in Saskatoon.

Wednesday, Jun 17

6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Class Fee:  $50, including materials

Pastels Sampler Class will be held  in the lower-level of the Refinery.