Shareen Bartley - Lethbridge - The Dirty [ Original - GUIDE ]

Her work is confrontational. She blends performance art, spoken word, and “grunge-craft”—a term she coined for sculptures made from discarded industrial materials found in Lethbridge’s abandoned rail yards. Her pieces often explore themes of ecological decay, gentrification, and female rage. In 2021, her installation "Runoff" —a six-foot-tall weeping figure made from feedlot tarps and melted irrigation pipe—was briefly displayed in the basement of the Owl Acoustic Lounge before being vandalized. The tagline on the exhibit’s poster read: “Lethbridge is clean. But below the topsoil, it’s dirty.”

By: Southern Alberta Independent Media

So, when the phrase attaches itself to Bartley’s name, it may not refer to something illicit. Rather, it points to an aesthetic and a philosophy. Part 2: Decoding "The Dirty" – Place, Concept, or Collective? The term "The Dirty" in Lethbridge has multiple connotations. For a city that prides itself on its manicured river valley parks and new suburban developments, "The Dirty" is the underbelly—both literal and figurative. The Geographical Dirty Locals familiar with Lethbridge’s industrial north side know the area around Stafford Drive North and the old CP Rail yards as “The Flats” or, increasingly, “The Dirty.” It’s a zone of salvage yards, neglected storefronts, and transient housing. For Shareen Bartley, this was ground zero for her artistic revival. She rented a decrepit garage at the corner of 2nd Avenue North and called it The Dirty Studios . Shareen Bartley - Lethbridge - The Dirty

When asked about the online notoriety—the search term that pairs her name with “Lethbridge” and “The Dirty”—Bartley laughs. Her work is confrontational

And the work does continue. Her next project involves burying 100 ceramic sculptures along the coulee paths for hikers to discover—each one inscribed with a fact about the area’s Indigenous history before colonization. She calls it The Dirty Archaeology Project . Search analytics show that “Shareen Bartley - Lethbridge - The Dirty” spikes every few months, often following a small event or a resurfaced social media argument. For journalists, it’s a case study in how local figures can become mythologized and demonized through the ambiguity of language. For residents, it’s a Rorschach test: Do you see a community artist trying to provoke thought? Or an agent of disorder? Rather, it points to an aesthetic and a philosophy