Glenbow Report to the Community 2014 – 15
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One Museum. A Million Stories. Glenbow Report to the Community 2014 – 15 125,697 Total annual attendance between April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015 4,108 Number of visitors who received complimentary admission through special access programs (Aboriginal Access Program, SunLife Arts & Culture Pass, Community Outreach Program, Cultural Access Program for new Canadian citizens) 7,394 Number of people assisted with research requests and access to Glenbow’s collections MAKING AN IMPACT As a key cultural cornerstone in Calgary for nearly 50 years, Glenbow has surprised and engaged generations of Albertans and visitors to the province with remarkable connections between art, culture and the world around us. Glenbow provides us with a sense of place – what it means to live in this amazing landscape – and an appreciation for the legacy of the remarkable people and events that have shaped our community. We are proud to collect, showcase and involve Alberta’s wealth of artistic talent in our programming and to offer a glimpse into the artistic and cultural achievements of other parts of the world. Glenbow has always been a trusted place to explore ideas, to present new ways of thinking, and to open discussions on topical issues in our community. In the year ahead, we’ll be planning programs and exhibitions to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. Calgary has changed dramatically in the last 50 years – even the last five years – and Glenbow is repositioning itself to respond to a new generation of visitors. We look to artists and cultural creators to help us explore our world. Artists are fearless observers, and their works – funny, beautiful, poignant, challenging – open the door to new conversations. We invite you to discover Glenbow for yourself (and prepare to be amazed). Donna Livingstone President & CEO, Glenbow Museum 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 1 2 | 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY GLENBOW AS A GATHERING PLACE On February 16, 2015, the line-up at Glenbow went out the doors and into the street. Thousands of Calgarians visited us throughout the day to take 6,826 advantage of free admission to Glenbow, thanks to Total attendance on Community Day the generosity of Chevron Canada who sponsored February 16, 2015 our second annual Community Day. It was thrilling to see every floor filled with people of all ages and from all walks of life. There is a tangible desire in Calgary to build and share community experiences, and Glenbow acts as a key gathering place where people want to be. With 87% our exhibitions, programs, educational outreach of Calgarians believe that arts help and even our social media channels, we are helping bring people together and enable people to connect to each other* people make connections to different perspectives and encouraging them to make creativity and culture *Data from 2014 Calgary Engagement Survey an important part of their lives. Calgary Arts Development, released summer 2015 As our city grows, Glenbow is a resource for the broadening, deepening and diversifying of our community identity. We are growing with the community and helping to trace our collective culture from past to present and into the future. 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 3 181 Number of Canadian artists represented in Glenbow exhibitions between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015 EXPANDING OUR BORDERS Whether we were giving Calgarians the rare opportunity to see art by the likes of Dali, Matisse and Delacroix (Masterworks from the Beaverbrook Art Gallery), or inviting visitors to explore the planet’s frozen frontiers (Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art 1775 - 2012), in 2014- 15, Glenbow presented large-scale, world-class exhibitions to Calgarians. We made headlines, locally and nationally, with our unprecedented partnership with Esker Foundation, Illingworth Kerr and Nickle Galleries. The collaboration was a unique way to present the massive Oh, Canada exhibition (MASS MoCA’s ambitious survey of contemporary Canadian art), which was too extensive to fit in just one gallery. The partnership also allowed us to program on a larger scale – we created a city-wide celebration of Canadian culture, featuring readings, films, lectures and, of course, visual art. With every high-calibre exhibition, Glenbow adds to Calgary’s growing reputation as a cultural hub and as a destination of note. Our goal is to present art (from around the world and from our own backyard) that offers a compelling experience, as well as presenting work by artists who investigate challenging ideas and create work that sparks the imagination. 4 | 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 5 67,636 Students who participated in Glenbow’s school programs and educational outreach opportunities ENGAGING AND INSPIRING We are proud of our role as a learning institution. Our educators provide powerful programs that encourage creativity, critical thinking, social engagement and that make art, history and culture more accessible and hands-on. In 2014-15 Glenbow hosted the Legacy of Hope Foundation’s exhibition, Where Are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools. The exhibition of photographs and archival documents examined the experiences, consequences and ongoing impact of Canada’s residential school system on Aboriginal peoples. Glenbow offered programs led by one of our Aboriginal educators, himself a survivor of residential schools. The overwhelmingly positive teacher feedback, along with recent changes in the school curriculum, spurred Glenbow to add a new program focused specifically on treaties and residential schools to our core program repertoire for the 2015-16 school year. We believe it’s essential to continue to be a primary resource for teachers, students and the general public and increase awareness about this crucial topic in our history. We also developed new school programs for feature exhibitions such as Vanishing Ice and Oh Canada, making connections between art, history and science and issues currently affecting the world around us. 6 | 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY Glenbow’s school programs help students to learn more about Alberta’s history while also broadening their perspectives through exposure to international “ exhibits. Nexen Energy is extremely proud to support this unique program that enriches the learning opportunities for students in our community. Brian Humphreys, Vice President, Government, Stakeholder and Regulatory Affairs, Nexen Energy” 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 7 27,500+ @Glenbow Twitter Followers 4,287 Number of people who attended adult programs at Glenbow in 2014-15 MAKING IT PERSONAL We are passionate about sharing art and culture at Glenbow. Our role is to bring it to life – to make it vivid, meaningful and relevant. We’re at our best when we can activate the art and artifacts within our walls and create opportunities for people to have emotional, memorable experiences in the museum. Whether it’s an intimate behind-the-scenes tour or a huge social event like a Launch Party with hundreds of attendees, we offer people many ways to engage and connect with content that is meaningful to them. Our mission – for more people to experience art and culture more often – is embodied when someone is dancing to a local band during a Launch Party, when they share a #museumselfie on social media, or when they create a huge charcoal drawing that takes them out of their comfort zone and into a thrilling place of self-discovery. 8 | 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY Our sold-out Art on the Rocks adult evenings paired a casual cocktail-party atmosphere with a creative workshop led by local artists. Inspired by the art on view in our galleries, attendees explored their creative impulses. 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 9 103 Number of Calgary artists represented in Glenbow exhibitions between April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015 82% of Calgarians believe that a strong arts and culture scene is key to creating a vibrant, safe and prosperous city* *Data from 2014 Calgary Engagement Survey, Calgary Arts Development, released summer 2015 SUPPORTING LOCAL An important part of Glenbow’s mandate is to celebrate and share the art, history, creativity and beauty of Western Canada. We foster and support a strong community of artists, as well as art appreciators. This year our exhibitions featured work by 103 Calgary artists and our Museum Shop showcased wares from over 80 regional artists and artisans, demonstrating that Glenbow is wholly committed to local art. In 2014, Glenbow capped its five-part, decade- by-decade survey of the city’s art scene with Made in Calgary: The 2000s; tellingly, the roster of artists showing works in the exhibition significantly overlapped with those in Oh, Canada, MASS MoCA’s sweeping survey of contemporary Canadian art. The eyes of the art world are turning to Calgary, and Glenbow plays a vital role in bringing our vibrant art scene into focus. 10 | 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY Bee Kingdom: Iconoclasts in Glass (curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette) showcased the colourful and, at times, subversive, work of the adventurous Bee Kingdom collective (Phillip Bandura, Tim Belliveau and Ryan Fairweather) which operates out of a backyard in northwest Calgary. 2014 – 15 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 11 COLLECTING FOR THE FUTURE Glenbow’s collection represents Western Canadian 7,038 km art and culture, both as a repository of important cultural history but also as a living record of Greatest distance travelled by an item contemporary life in this part of the world. from Glenbow’s collection The painting Clover Point, Victoria, BC by Emily Carr went Our collecting priorities respond to our to The Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, England for the community and shift to incorporate new voices exhibition From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr and the Indigenous Art of Canada’s Northwest Coast and perspectives.