New Direction Announced for Calgary's Glenbow

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Citing the results of a year of extensive review, consultation and community engagement, Donna Livingstone, President and CEO of Glenbow, announced that moving forward, Glenbow will position itself as a “new kind of art museum” in order to obtain the organizational goals of sustainability and relevance.

“We have the largest art collection west of Toronto,” said Livingstone referring to the 33,000 works in the art collection, which includes historical, modernist and contemporary art by some of the most important artists in our region and nation. Glenbow’s art collection is one of the most actively used collections in the organization.

Livingstone emphasized that Glenbow will be more than an art gallery. It will look at its history collections through an art lens to tell a deeper story. “Through the review process it became evident that all of Glenbow’s collections are connected by a common creative thread.”

Over the last year Glenbow reached out to the community to assess the needs of its largest group of stakeholders – Calgarians. As a result, a key focus of the new direction will be offering more meaningful experiences to these visitors through innovative interactions with art and culture and Glenbow’s amazing collections.

This winter Glenbow is also revealing a bold new look. Calgarians will see messaging in new places, using bright colours to communicate that the new Glenbow is consistent, informative and inspiring, yet playful and approachable.

It was also announced that Glenbow is not looking to move or to construct a new building. The building has been well-maintained and is located in the heart of Calgary’s cultural district. However, the institution recognizes it is a necessity to refresh the space to meet the needs of the visitors. Preliminary conceptual architectural renderings were presented at Glenbow on Thursday.

“We have our 50th birthday coming up in 2016 and, let’s face it, we all want to look good for our 50th,” said Livingstone. “We want to create something that makes Calgary stronger, that makes all of us flourish as the ongoing cultural capital of Canada.”

Report courtesy of Glenbow.