Alexia 1_Wide.jpg
Katie Green, “Alexia” (one of 18 locations of "Bridge"), 2019, installation view, large-format digital print on blue back paper in combination with acrylic and latex, 19’ x 33’ (participant/collaborator Alexia Sabau; assistant photographer Chelsea Call; commissioned by Calgary Municipal Land Corporation; photo by Chelsea Call)

Year-End Views: Calgary

Remarkable things to remember in a year of economic anxiety.

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Anxiety about the economy runs deep in Calgary. All the more reason to look back, congratulate artists and organizations for the highs, put alert flags on the lows and gear up for the year to come. We’re in for more change before we settle on a new normal. 

The city is still abuzz with the success of its new Central Library, listed by Architectural Digest as one the 12 most-anticipated buildings of 2018 and by Time magazine as one of the 100 “greatest places” of 2019. Designed by the Norwegian firm Snøhetta, along with Canada’s Dialog, the spectacular building features two artworks by L.A.-based artist Christian Moeller. Fish looks like a recessed bookshelf with thousands of books in 12 different colours. Close up, their spines read as an abstract composition but from a distance they materialize into an image of a goldfish. Meanwhile, the library’s outreach to Indigenous artists strengthens understandings of place with sculptures, paintings and special events. 

Calgary artist Katie Green created a magical temporary installation, Bridge, adding to the infusion of art that makes the East Village area along the Bow River popular with pedestrians. Her giant photographs of masked people add an element of the unexpected under bridges and on the walls of utility fixtures. Behind the masks are neighbourhood residents who chose a face from a selection of Green’s watercolours, developed their own fairy-tale persona and posed in nearby places. High marks to this young artist.

In mid-November, Calgary’s city council voted to transfer operation of its public art program to an independent or external agency. This disturbing news seems to have been lost in city's avalanche of cutbacks and job losses. I wish the Boer War veterans who initiated the city’s first commission – the equestrian statue in Memorial Park – could rise up. The public art program does an exemplary job caring for the city’s extensive collection and fostering public engagement. Dale Hodges Park is a stellar example. Artists Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees, known as Sans Façon, worked collaboratively with two city departments, parks and water. Fortunately, the beautiful park was far enough along that it opened despite a hold the city put on the public art program in 2017 amid controversy over two works, Travelling Light, 2014 (a.k.a. The Blue Ring) and Bowfort Towers, 2017. But how can a city hand off responsibility for its own cultural legacy?

The Esker Foundation, privately funded by Susan and Jim Hill, continues to mount exhibitions with professional finesse while playing a positive role with its community outreach. This year, the Esker published an updated version of a free map showing the city’s contemporary galleries and other creative spaces. That simple idea became a super resource. The public embrace of the Esker indicates Calgarians have an appetite for contemporary art. Workshops and other events fill quickly. One memorable happening was To Name An Other, a collaborative performance organized in conjunction with American artist Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition, Time Carriers. The performance saw 50 Calgarians join together to drum and raise their voices with pride. Looking ahead, the Esker opens a major exhibition on Jan. 24 by Calgary sculptor Katie Ohe, 82, that will stake her place in Canadian art history.

The Alberta College of Art and Design is now the Alberta University of the Arts, with undergraduate degrees in fine arts and design, and a Master’s of fine arts in craft media. Hooray! The role of the institution's Illingworth Kerr Gallery is yet to be clarified, but its year-end exhibition, Thing to Wear, a collection of kimono-inspired garments by Bill Morton and his students, struck a satisfying chord.

Renovations are underway at the Centennial Planetarium. Contemporary Calgary has moved in and started some activities, including its Collider residency for 30 local artists. The site is being repurposed in stages with architect Bruce Kuwabara as the design lead. Welcome news – a pledge of $30 million in federal funding – came in August. The first full-scale exhibitions will open Jan. 23. Planetary, the brainchild of former curator Lisa Baldissera, explores humanity’s place in the cosmos through work by three dozen local artists. Meanwhile, Museum of the Moon, British artist Luke Jerram’s spectacular giant orb, will glow in the dome. Contemporary Calgary is dreaming big. Next summer’s show will be Yoko Ono: Growing Freedom, which comes in two parts: The Instructions of Yoko Ono and The Art of John and Yoko.  

The Glenbow is moulting. Losing its old carpet was just the start. Its exceptional collection of Buddhist and Hindu sculpture, on view for three decades, is now in storage. Its library and archives have been packed off to the Taylor Family Digital Library at the University of Calgary. It’s too early to understand the full impact of the changes. But it’s encouraging to see the Glenbow give attention to its own collection, which is all the richer thanks to the energy and vision of a former CEO, Jeffrey Spalding, who died suddenly in the fall. Curator Sarah Todd is hitting her stride with exhibitions like ExtraOrdinary Objects, which focuses on contemporary works with humble origins, whether linoleum, drywall or dead flowers. Guest curator Nancy Tousley continues to bring her fine eye to the Alberta artist series, One New Work. Her focused exhibitions, such as Chris Cran: At Play, are smartly conceived and visually elucidating. The museum's new CEO, Nicholas Bell, brings a strong track record from the Renwick Gallery, the contemporary craft branch of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. I look forward to seeing his vision for the Glenbow's renewal.

The Nickle Galleries at the University of Calgary began the year with a collaboration between curator Christine Sowiak and Timothy Long, curator of the MacKenzie Gallery in Regina. Using their collections as a research tool yielded an excellent exhibition around a charged theme. Revolutionaries and Ghosts: Memory, Witness and Justice in a Global Canadian Context gathered political and personal responses to world events. Meanwhile, two highlights of the Nickle’s solid support for Calgary artists were Mireille Perron’s The Anatomy of a Glass Menagerie: Altaglass and Mark Mullin’s I’ll Climb in Your Eyes.

Calgary has more than 10 commercial galleries that do a seriously good job. Each deserves a star for commitment and ingenuity. Commendations for stellar moments go to TrépanierBaer for bringing Toronto artist Oscar Cahén into the spotlight and Herringer Kiss for a show at its new location by Calgary sculptor Blake Senini. The Jarvis Hall Gallery gets top marks for maintaining gender parity, as well as its recent exhibition by Calgary-based Sondra Meszaros. VivianeArt's show last March with Montreal-based Janet Werner and Victoria's Sandra Meigs, I Feel Real, was another highlight. It's so good to see such experienced and accomplished artists here in Calgary. They wanted to show together and the pairing was terrific: Werner's portraits of fictional females and Meig’s doll-like characters. Watch for the gallery to relocate next year to the Inglewood neighbourhood near the Esker Foundation. I also enjoyed The Female Lens, a group show at the Christine Klassen Gallery held in conjunction with the Exposure Photography Festival. Wallace Galleries put together an excellent group show, Saskatchewan Focus, with artists Vic Cicansky, Ken Lochhead, Ron Bloore, Reta Cowley, Mel Bolen and David Alexander. Finally, the Collectors’ Gallery also deserves praise for previewing textile art curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette for Calgary's new YW Hub.

Congratulations to editor Diana Sherlock and all the others who contributed to the multi-dimensional limited-edition monograph on Calgary’s Rita McKeough. A beloved installation, audio and performance artist, she is no stranger to a squirrel suit. The slipcase edition celebrates her art and teaching, while the vinyl includes audio from various installations. Each purchaser takes home a small relic from The Lion’s Share, one of McKeough's exhibitions, along with instructions on how to care for it. What a breath of fresh air to see three artist-run-spaces – EMMedia, Truck and M:ST – working together on this project. ■

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