October Exhibitions

This October is jam-packed with visual arts

  • Location: Various Venues

October is stuffed with visual art you’ll be thankful for. Check out a spectacular variety of exhibitions across Calgary this month alongside art sales and unique opportunities to meet and interact with the artists themselves.

Read this month’s roundup and get planning your next gallery visit!

Architectural

October 3 – 29, 2022
Artpoint Gallery & Studios Society (1038 17th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Vern Gray’s latest series focuses on the geometry and colour found in architecture. His works are inspired by buildings in urban and rural settings; Vern strives to maintain the original realism of his subjects while also exploring abstract art.
artpoint.ca

Our Own Kind of Beautiful

October 4 – 29, 2022
Framed on Fifth (1207 5th Ave. NW)
Free to explore

Framed on Fifth welcomes Calgary artists Sharon Lynn Williams, Becky Holuk and Marjorie Mae Broadhead to its gallery. The artists’ work is aptly described as impressionistic, bold, colourful and intuitive.
framedonfifth.com

Nazaria

Artist Meet & Greet October 29, 2022
Calgary Central Library (800 3rd St. SE)
Free to register

The Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation invites you to check out Nazaria by Anil Yadav throughout October. In this exhibition, Yadav shares his Nazaria, i.e, viewpoint or perspective towards the way we live, think and treat everything around us.
eventbrite.ca

Moments In Time

October 5 – 30, 2022
Eau Claire Market (200 Barclay Parade SW)
Free to explore

Moments in Time is a window gallery installation by visual artist Tiffany Lynn Cuffley inside Eau Claire Market created in collaboration with the RISE UP Downtown Vibrancy Program. The gallery box is viewable during mall hours.
tiffanylynncuffley.com

Found in oblivion

October 7 –  November 25, 2022
A/P Main Gallery (4025 4th St. SE)
Free to explore

The printmaking installation Found in oblivion by Melika Forouzan Pour is an attempt to revive memories forgotten; it’s a contemporary interpretation of historical images that brings attention to old Iranian family photographs.
albertaprintmakers.com

Calgary Sketch Club’s Annual Fall Show & Sale

October 15, 2022, 10am – 4pm
Dalhousie Community Association (5432 Dalhart Rd. NW)
Free to explore

The Calgary Sketch Club is hosting its annual Fall Show and Sale, featuring original artworks from over 25 local artists. There will be a door prize for an original piece of art, and both admission and parking are free.
calgarysketchclub.com

Beacon Original Art Annual Fall Art Show & Sale

October 15 & 16, 2022, 10am – 4pm
Bridgeland-Riverside Community Association (917 Centre Ave. NE)
Free to explore

Chat with artists at Beacon Original Art’s two-day annual Fall Art Show and Sale. Over 20 different artists are in attendance each day with painting, jewelry, glass, photography, ceramics, sculpture and textiles.
beaconoriginalart.com

Palette Fine Art Show and Sale

October 21 & 22, 2022
Triwood Community Hall (2244 Chicoutimi Dr. NW)
Free to explore

The Calgary Community Painters Society’s Palette Fine Art Show and Sale features paintings by many independent artists in a variety of mediums, including acrylic, oil, watercolour, pastel and mixed media.
calgarycommunitypainters.com

Calgary Artists Studio Tour

October 22 & 23, 2022
Various venues
Free to explore

On this self-guided tour, meet 12 of Calgary’s emerging and established artists while you tour the city at your own pace. All ages are welcome to learn about each artist’s process, view their work and ask as many questions as they’d like!
mjlfineart.com

October Showcase Series

October 27, 2022
cSpace King Edward (1721 29th Ave. SW)
Free to attend

Mingle with the artists and creative entrepreneurs that make up the cSPACE community at this showcase series featuring a cash bar, live music, art exhibitions and live demo and activities.
facebook.com

Ongoing Exhibitions

6ix Points of View

Until October 15, 2022
500 Collective (500, 321 50th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Six photographers exhibit a series of prints ranging from cyanotypes to digital carbon monochrome, to conventional digital colour. The common thread of 6ix Points of View is the intersection of the human-built environment and the landscape.
500collective.com

Topical Ointment 22

Until October 15, 2022
Ruberto Ostberg Gallery (2108 18th St. NW)
Free to explore

Working with curved oak chair backs salvaged from the renovation of the Martha Cohen Theatre, Lisa Brawn dives deep into the shallow waters of this current cultural moment to extrapolate a Theatre of the Absurd tour of our imminent future.
ruberto-ostberg.com

Carl White: Where Tiger Sleeps

Until October 16, 2022
Christine Klassen Gallery (321 50th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Carl White’s newest series of works positions himself as the conduit to the mythos — his lush handling of paint, striking use of colour and unique rendering provide us access to where each painting emerged from.
christineklassengallery.com

Blinding

Until October 22, 2022
TRUCK Contemporary Art (2009 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Blinding is a room-size installation, sound and light piece consisting of Venetian blinds, chandelier parts and other scavenged items by artist Violet. These aspects come together to heighten the sense of anxiety in the room.
truck.ca

Members’ Choice 2022

Until October 22, 2022
ASA Gallery, Crossroads Art Centre (222, 1235 26th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

The Alberta Society of Artists presents this group exhibition featuring works by its members. The annual show gives ASA members and some of Alberta’s finest visual artists the opportunity to submit a work of their choosing.
albertasocietyofartists.com

Night Lights: The Wonder of the Northern Lights

Until October 23, 2022
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144th St. West, Millarville)
By donation

Billie Rae Busby presents a new body of abstract landscapes to interpret her fascination with the aurora borealis. Using her signature painting style, the artworks capture the magic, beauty and energy of this natural phenomenon.
leightoncentre.org

Resilience

Until October 27, 2022
TRUCK Contemporary Art (2009 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Susana Pilar highlights the interaction of race and gender to reveal its effects on the everyday experiences of Black women through performance and video, examining how Black women disproportionally face sexual violence and exploitation.
truck.ca

More Than a Party

Until October 28, 2022
ATB Branch for Arts + Culture (102 8th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts), in partnership with ATB Financial, is showing its Pride with the exhibition More Than a Party. It honours self-expression, celebrates victories and advocates for 2SLGBTQ+.
auarts.ca

The New New Society: Ang Bagong Bagong Lipunan

Until October 29, 2022
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. SE)
Free to explore

The New Gallery presents an exploration of the fragility of history by Cris Mora. Through video, photography and installation, Mora investigates the history and plight of Filipino Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) migrating to Canada.
thenewgallery.org

Erik Olson

Until November 6, 2022
VivianeArt (1018 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

VIVIANEART presents an exhibition of all new portraits by artist Erik Olson. Using his bold and expressive application of colour and form, he furthers his exploration into portraiture with both paintings on canvas and painted wood sculptures.
vivianeart.com

Image of artwork by Erik Olson
Explore an exhibition of all new portraits by artist Erik Olson | Photo: Courtesy of VIVIANEART
Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob

Until November 20, 2022
Glenbow Satellite Exhibition Space, The Edison (150 9th Ave. SW)
Free to explore, tickets required

In this first-ever retrospective of Tahltan-Tlingit master carver Dempsey Bob’s career from the 1970s to the present, visitors discover a selection of masks, sculptures and regalia, complemented by Bob’s work in bronze casting and vestment production.
glenbow.org

Northern Oracle

Until November 26, 2022
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta University of the Arts (1407 14th Ave. NW)
Free to explore

Northern Oracle is an ambitious rooftop installation emerging from the floor of the gallery, accompanied by a series of mixed-media drawings. Heather Hart considers Black histories, access to ownership, physical space and the significance of having a place to call home
auarts.ca

The Garden of a Former House Turned Museum

Until December 18, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Chloë Lum & Yannick Desranleau’s work requires collaboration with not only choreographers, musicians and dancers, but also with the objects they produce. Theirs is a performance and practice informed by their experiences.
eskerfoundation.com

Falling Off The Log

Until December 18, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Robin Arseneault’s work is performative, provocative and luxurious one minute, and silly, self-deprecating and raw the next. Layers of meaning are constructed and then intentionally wiped away, removed, torn apart or erased.
eskerfoundation.com

From The Studio Floor

Until December 18, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Gailan Ngan’s exhibition features hand-built and cast ceramic sculptures that broadly explore shape, surface treatment and colour. It also presents a collection of industry byproducts, organic and processed objects, and studio experiments contributing to a narrative of material influenced by the historically resource-rich West Coast.
eskerfoundation.com

Music & Wellness

Ongoing
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission

National Music Centre’s new permanent Music & Wellness exhibition taps into the power of music on mental and physical health through a series of powerful video interviews that create an immersive sense of personal conversation.
studiobell.ca

Canadian Music Hall of Fame 2022 Inductee: Deborah Cox

Ongoing
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission

This exhibition celebrates the life and career of 2022 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Deborah Cox, the first Black woman to receive this national honour, through a larger-than-life Hall of Fame magazine-style spread.
studiobell.ca

Have a visual arts event that’s not listed? Email us at events@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or fill out this form.