February 4 to April 1, 2012
Opening Reception February 4, 7 to 9 PM
Main Gallery
Lawrence Chrismas is a photographer, author, mining historian and storyteller living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. For more than 30 years he has explored the culture of Canadian miners through his environmental portraits and thoughtful synopses of the stories of their lives.
In 1979, while Chrismas was participating in a photography masterclass with Robert Bourdeau at The Banff Centre, the Canmore Mines closed after 93 years. Lawrence was swept up in the local wave of shock. Through acquaintances he was introduced to Atillio Caffaro, a miner who had worked for fifty years at the Canmore mine and loved his job. Caffaro was his first coal miner portrait that started a life-long obsession of photographing miners and capturing their stories. What began in Canmore has led Chrismas to every coal mining community in Canada. This exhibition of miners is the first time that the Whyte Museum has shown this body of work.
"Coal Mining Stalwarts: Photographs by Lawrence Chrismas" is part of EXPOSURE 2012, the Calgary Banff Canmore Photography Festival.
February 4 to April 1, 2012
Opening Reception February 4, 7 to 9 PM
Main Gallery
The While in Kosovo in 2010 pursuing a subject that never materialized, a different story presented itself. This story was of the neglected Stan Terg mine that may hold the key to a prosperous future but remains, sadly, mired in politics and economic hardship. In February 2011, Andrew Querner returned to Kosovo to start a project that he “does not consider finished.”
In the past, the Stan Terg mine located in Trepca, Kosovo was the jewel of a giant Yugoslavian mining conglomerate. Two thousand miners supplied factories and smelters throughout the country with lead, zinc and gold, among many other metals.
Today, an anemic crew of aging Albanian miners ensures a modest production schedule. With little or no economic activity in the region, miners in their 50s and 60s bear the burden of providing for their extended families.
"The Bread With Honey: Photographs by Andrew Querner" is part of EXPOSURE 2012, the Calgary Banff Canmore Photography Festival.
February 4 to April 1, 2012
Opening Reception February 4, 7 to 9 pm
Main Gallery
In its 15th year, "Through the Lens" continues to expand the influence of photography and the creative experience by immersing Morley, Canmore and Banff high school students in the creative process of traditional and digital photography. Participants are encouraged to experiment and learn about themselves, their community and the exciting medium of visual communication through photography.
"Through the Lens" is part of EXPOSURE 2012, the Calgary Banff Canmore Photography Festival.
January 21 through March 20, 2012
Museum Shop and Swiss Guides Room
Watermedia has been a traditional medium for artists in the Rocky Mountains. Keeping with tradition this show will feature the work of watermedia artists who have portrayed their love and respect for the Rocky Mountains and areas nearby.
Get a sneak peak of current artwork available by viewing the Watermedia in the Rockies Show Sheet
From Donna Jo Massie...
Watercolors have a spontaneity and transparency evidenced in work by many notable artists such as Winslow, John Singer Sargent, Georgia O'Keeffe and Andrew Wyeth. These are also the qualities that that make watercolors ideal for plein aire painting in the Canadian Rockies. Watercolours, historically used as sketches for major artworks, have now become a primary medium, as evidenced by contemporary artists work, the proliferation of watercolor societies and enthusiastic museum curators and gallery owners.
When John Singer Sargent went on vacation and could use whatever medium he wanted, his choice was watercolours. On his trip to the Canadian Rockies during World War I, he created numerous paintings on location at Lake O'Hara, Lake Louise and the Yoho Valley. Mary Schaffer completed botanical watercolor studies for the book Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, published in 1907. Georgia O'Keefe's brilliant watercolors of Texas helped her hone her theories of composition and Andrew Wyeth demonstrated the intensity of values that can be achieved in watercolour. Homer "recognized watercolor as a liberating medium" and he used Chinese white, drybrush techniques and intense dark to create the color of light.
In the Canadian Rockies, we are challenged to translate a powerful landscape with ever-changing light while attempting to control, although not too much, watercolors uninhibited spirit. Walter J. Phillips and A.C. Leighton, both trained in the English landscape methods, found new ways to handle glazes and large washes to capture shadows and rock faces. Painters often say that watercolours are the most difficult media. Those who love, and attempt to master it, will say that it is the movement, the "life", of the paint on paper that keeps them intrigued.
Ongoing
Heritage Gallery
Celebrate the Luxtons – one of Banff’s most well-known and influential families. This exhibition is a tribute to the spirit, vision, commitment, and creative energy of one of the early pioneer families in Banff and the Bow Valley. It showcases many wonderful artifacts and photographs of the Luxton family, as well as several video vignettes produced by The Banff Centre which incorporate the recollections of Stoney elders and others who remember the Luxtons.
High Fashion in the Rockies – A surprising collection of gorgeous dresses belonging to Georgina and Eleanor – the Luxton ladies - is now featured. Rediscovered in the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation collection were dozens of beautiful dresses from 1910 through the 1960s. A small percentage of this extraordinary assortment of apparel along with accessories including gloves, purses, smoking paraphernalia, and lingerie, is on display in the Heritage Gallery.
