Essential Calgary Magazine Essential Calgary 2017 | Page 24

Glenbow has had a changing yet integral role in Calgary’s art scene for 50 years, while Contemporary Calgary is one of the new kids on the block. They’re both paving the way for a new era of art in Calgary by mathew silver 24  THE ESSENTIAL CALGARY 2016/17 Glenbow, which was founded in 1966 as The Glenbow Museum, has a rich and illustrious history. It all started with a generous philanthropist named Eric Lafferty Harvie. When Imperial Oil struck a geyser on land to which he owned mineral rights in 1947, Harvie came into an embarrassment of riches. With his newfound wealth he endeavoured to showcase the beauty and history of Southern Alberta, and to expose Calgarians to the exoticism of global cultures. It was a simpler time. Calgary had a population of slightly more than 330,000 people (compared to 1,235,171 in April 2016), most of whom had never travelled outside of the country. Google wouldn’t exist for another half-century, which meant that museums were an important and essential destination for learning about the past. It also came at a time when people were discarding their old items — little treasures of local heritage that would eventually provide a window to the past. Harvie started collecting anything and everything. Fifty years after Glenbow was founded, Harvie’s vision has grown into the largest art collection in Western Canada with 33,000 artworks on display and in its archives. The museum remains a cultural anchor for the regional and Western Canadian experience. Now, change is afoot. Glenbow consulted focus groups to drop “the” and “museum” from its name, with the goal of modernizing the brand. The eight-storey building which houses the museum is due for an upgrade as well. It was built in 1976 by the Alberta government, which suggests that the carpeting, lighting, and woodwork are outmoded. Since a museum will be measured for both its collection and the building in which it resides, Glenbow has engaged a local architecture firm to address everything from PHOTOGRAPHS: (LEFT TO RIGHT) COURTESY GLENBOW; COURTESY TOURISM CALGARY A Tale of Two Galleries