This year we’re changing it up a little bit at the Rooftop Patio Series. We’ve still got all the things you loved over the last three years though: delicious weekly featured cocktails (and they’re good—we had a little tasting party meeting with some of our Special Events Committee last week), snacks courtesy of Boston Pizza on Jasper, Blue Plate Diner, Mongolie Grill, Café Select and Haweli. And of course we have a roster of great guest hosts from the community—you can see the list on our website, but it includes organizations like Sled Island Music Festival, M.A.D.E. in Edmonton, Exposure: Edmonton’s Queer Arts & Culture Festival and a very special Canada Day party hosted by the National Portrait Gallery. But there’s more.

• Patio Series Sponsors

  The Rooftop Patio is a big part of our fundraising season, and part of its appeal is the knowledge that every drink helps Latitude 53 with our not-for-profit activities in programming, publications, and more. This year ATB Financial, Capital Power, JCI Edmonton and FSC Consulting Engineers are helping us out as our Rooftop Patio Series sponsors.

• Summer Member’s Series

  You already know about this if you’ve been following the blog here, but in July and August we’ll have four local artists who just happen to be Latitude 53 members showing in the community gallery, one each week. Here’s some details to whet your appetite; there’s much more to come.

  • Scott Smallwood is an assistant professor of music at the University of Alberta. You might previously have seen a few of his solar-powered noisemaking works installed as part of Maria Whiteman’s De Anima at FAB Gallery in March.
  • Marc Siegner is a printmaker and co-founder of SNAP. His Star Hotel series comes out of a recent residency at Red Gate in Beijing, and deals with homeless people displaced during the pre-Olympic clean-up.
  • Gerry Dotto is a conceptual artist who works most often in printmaking, artist’s books and digital media. He’s been active in the Edmonton art scene since 1982.
  • Elaine Wannechko is a multi-disciplinary artist who you might have seen in our podcast—she’s a regular at Latitude 53 as a volunteer, visitor and artist, appearing alongside T.L. Cowan in the Twisted She Project at Visualeyez 2009.

• Restaurant Gift Vouchers

  Not only have our generous food sponsors at Boston Pizza, Blue Plate Diner, Café Select, Mongolie Grill and Haweli provided us with food for the patio season, but they’ve been kind enough to offer deals to our guests. Come to Latitude 53 cocktails and stay downtown for dinner!

• Follow Patio on the blog

  Right here on this blog we plan to offer all kinds of content during the summer patio season. Interviews and updates from members and friends, the latest gossip and photos of every Thursday night on our patio. Stay in touch!