DIGITAL LIBRARY

On December 18, 2025, Chic Scott sat down with Barry Blanchard for a Fireside Chat at The Whyte. Barry Blanchard is one of Canada’s most accomplished and respected mountaineers. A legendary alpinist, guide, and author, Barry has played a pivotal role in shaping modern Canadian mountaineering and shares a long history and deep connection with Chic Scott.

Set in 2119, What We Can Know imagines a world reshaped by war and climate disaster, where humanity survives on scattered islands and cultural memory is fragile. Thomas Metcalfe, a humanities scholar, becomes obsessed with a long-lost poem read once in 2014 and never seen again. Through dense archives, shifting narrators, and a dramatic second-half turn, Ian McEwan explores nostalgia, digital excess, and the uneasy question at the novel’s core: what can we really know about t

On November 1st, 2023, Frances Klatzel joined Chic Scott for a Fireside Chat at The Whyte. Born and raised in Calgary, she obtained a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Calgary and worked for the Canadian Parks Service for seven years. A trip to Nepal in 1980 changed her life; she helped create a museum of Sherpa culture, founded Mera Publications and co-founded CORE International.

This summer, The Whyte’s Heritage Gallery became one of Banff’s most inviting music venues with its Summer Performance Series. Five diverse shows - spanning Indigenous storytelling, prairie ballads, honky-tonk, R&B, and more - drew nearly 550 attendees. Artists and audiences alike praised the intimate, welcoming atmosphere, calling it a true community connector. Supported by The Rimrock Banff, the series added fresh energy to Banff’s cultural life.

In 1961, Andy Russell and his sons set out to document grizzly bears with respect rather than fear. Their groundbreaking film and book Grizzly Country challenged myths and revealed the bears’ true nature. Decades later, The Whyte restored the film, capturing Russell’s narration and adding Ian Tyson’s introduction. This preservation effort ensures new audiences can experience the powerful work that helped inspire awareness and protection of grizzlies and their habitat.

In A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder, Ma-Nee Chacaby shares a deeply moving and powerful life story that spans from her early childhood in Ombabika to her experiences navigating life as a Two-Spirit Indigenous woman in Canada. In this thoughtful review, Emma De Sousa reflects on the importance of Chacaby’s voice and how her story resonates across generations, offering readers a rare and vital perspective rooted in resilience, love, and tru

The 2025/26 Lillian Agnes Jones Scholarship has expanded with $50,000 in funding and two streams: Academic Research and Creative Production. Open to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents, the program supports projects exploring Western Canadian history and culture. This year’s scholarship recipients are Rosanna Carver, Stephanie Weber, Giona Smalleyes, and Kari Woo.

Opening November 1, 2025, at The Whyte, Elise Rasmussen: An Alpine Trilogy takes this question into the heart of the Alps. Through three interlinked bodies of work that resonate deeply in Banff, Rasmussen reframes histories of conquest, grandeur, and nostalgia.