DIGITAL LIBRARY

When our eyes touch invites visitors to look again at Catharine and Peter Whyte’s portraits, relationships, and legacy. Through archival research, community engagement, and close attention to portraiture, the exhibition explores intimacy, agency, colonial context, and the humanity behind familiar stories of The Whyte’s founders.

The idea of this cohort being in relation with one another, through nationhood, artistic process, locality, kinship, or experience, is embedded in this exhibition and in Indigenous curation as a discipline. In contrast to Western art spaces, where artists, curators, museum teams, mentors, and communities occupy separate roles, the IAM Project fosters relationality, connection, and support interwoven within the entire project network.

When you support The Whyte, you are supporting the daily work of individuals and departments caring for art, preserving stories, researching histories, building exhibitions, and creating meaningful visitor experiences. Discover a few highlights of the breadth of careful work across departments and disciplines. This summer, we ask you to become part of the community of donors who support our museum work.

Opening May 2025, The Ancestors Are Talking: Paintings by the Indigenous Seven has seen overwhelming success this summer. Opening weekend featured two celebrations and a sold-out performance by Mohawk singer-songwriter Logan Staats, welcoming artists’ families, Indigenous communities, arts leaders, members, donors, visitors, and Bow Valley and Mini Thni locals. Curated by Joseph M. Sanchez with Dawn Saunders Dahl and Chief Curator Christina Cuthbertson. On view through Octobe

In March 2025, The Whyte confronted a troubling object on its grounds: a 38-foot “carved pole” made in the 1960s that appropriated Indigenous imagery. Acknowledging evolving understandings of cultural appropriation, the museum removed the pole, began deaccession planning, and committed to transparent, community-guided next steps aligned with CMA and UNDRIP principles.

The Whyte’s Heritage Gallery is undergoing change through new Truth-Telling Interventions - yellow labels added to existing panels to address missing voices, misrepresentation, and colonial narratives. These interventions highlight overlooked histories, including Indigenous communities, internment camp prisoners, and Chinese railway workers, fostering a more inclusive and ethical telling of our shared past.