July Exhibitions
Quench your thirst for visual art with these exhibitions
There’s no better time than summer to check out what Calgary’s visual arts community has on exhibition. Take a look at this month’s roundup and take in some art this July!
the places we’ve left behind
June 27 – September 4, 2023
Window Galleries, Arts Commons (205 8th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
the places we’ve left behind is a three part exhibition that talks about the environments that artist Ryle Ramirez has gone through. Ramirez’s artistic journey is showcased as part of the RBC Emerging Visual Artist Program
artscommons.ca
Gathie Falk: Revelations
June 28 – October 15, 2023
Glenbow at the Edison (Second Floor, 150 9th Ave. SW)
Free to explore with tickets
Revelations is an impressive collection of art created by visionary Canadian artist Gathie Falk, spanning more than 50 years and across a number of mediums. Embracing the simplicity of everyday objects, Falk invites audiences to see the world with curiosity.
glenbow.org
Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive.
June 29 – October 29, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
The Natalie Brettschneider Archive is an ongoing series of photographs, texts, music recitals, that together reconstruct the life and work of a genre-blurring historical performance artist. Brettschneider is fictional, but her story is laced with real references
contemporarycalgary.com
Interior/Periphery
June 30 – August 12, 2023
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. S)
Free to explore
Interior/Periphery invites Kylie Fineday, Tomo Ingalls and Raeann Kit-Yee Cheung, artists of Asian and Indigenous backgrounds, to consider the complexities of being both inside and outside—whether of a community, a place, or one’s own body.
thenewgallery.org
Converse Subversives
June 30 – September 2, 2023
Alberta Craft Gallery & Shop, cSPACE Marda Loop (Suite #280, 1721 29th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
In Converse Subversives, Calgary artist Shona Rae uses narrative, figurative sculptures to engage traditional myths, fairy tales, folklore, ancient artifacts and personal history. Through juxtaposition, she blurs the boundaries between sculpture and fine craft.
albertacraft.ab.ca
The Art & Story of Stampede Saddles
July 6 – 30, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
Saddles come in many different styles, shapes and sizes. These eight saddles, on loan from the Calgary Stampede Collection & Archives, represent a range of time periods and stories, from the very first Stampede in 1912 to almost the present day.
contemporarycalgary.com
BE YOURSELF, FEEL FREE
July 6 – 29, 2023
Sparrow Artspace (36 4th St. NE)
Free to explore
In this exhibition and residency, artists Almendra Vergara & Jessica Chiapa explore themes of ethnicity, immigrant women’s experience, identity and belonging. Their art is related to nature, mixing all these themes with the roots of their Mexican culture and heritage.
sparrowartspace.com
Last Chance + Ongoing Exhibitions
Good Job Arcade
Until July 15, 2023
TRUCK Contemporary Art (2009 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Good Job Arcade is a Teresa Tam led project that utilizes work and play to explore themes of asynchronicity experienced by diaspora communities that form into nostalgia. Visitors have the chance to engage in all of their senses, with many little treasures and moments to find.
truck.ca
Spotlight: Margaret Hall
Until July 15, 2023
Alberta Craft Gallery & Shop, cSPACE King Edward (2nd floor, 1721 29th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
This collection of summer hats and headpieces highlights traditional millinery techniques in vintage and modern hat styles with a contemporary aesthetic. Summer is a time to celebrate all that is floral and light with a colour palette of white and pinks and reds.
albertacraft.ab.ca
Fuel by Nat Cann
Until July 21, 2023
Alberta Printmakers (4025 4th St. SE)
Free to explore
In summer 2022, Nat Cann participated in a residency with the Calgary Allied Arts Foundation’s to find what fuels Calgary. The resulting exhibition is an inspection of glass pillars built atop localized establishments, and the people, things and actors who dwell between such venues.
albertaprintmakers.com
Treelines — Here and There
Until July 21, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free to explore
Gwen MacGregor explores the multilayered and contradictory relationships that settlers have to land. Her installation brings together photographs and videos with a forest of crocheted trees — altering perspectives, toying with memory, loss and environmental degradation.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
Making Treaty 7 Artist of the Month Exhibit
Until July 28, 2023
ATB Branch for Arts & Culture (102 8th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
This group exhibition features the works of talented Indigenous creatives selected by Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society as its Artist of the Month cohort for 2022 – 2023.
eventbrite.ca
Pulse of the Planet
Until August 27, 2023
Esker Foundation (4th floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Pulse of the Planet is a major solo exhibition by Paris/Sydney-based artist Mel O’Callaghan. For the last 20 years, O’Callaghan has explored resonant objects, spaces and tools and how they affect, codify and connect bodies.
eskerfoundation.com
Entwined & Entangled
Until August 27, 2023
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144th St. W, Millarville)
By donation
Entwined & Entangled celebrates contemporary fibre arts, creative collaboration, and a half century of shared history between the Sheep Creek Weavers Fibre Arts Guild and Leighton Art Centre.
leightoncentre.org
Prairie Persuasion
Until August 27, 2023
Gasoline Alley Museum, Heritage Park (1900 Heritage Dr. SW)
With admission
Beginning in the 1860s, propaganda was everywhere. It brought settlers and tourists to the province, helped form community groups, enlisted troops for war efforts and opened doors for fake remedies and advertisements. Join Heritage Park for their newest temporary exhibit all about propaganda.
heritagepark.ca
Summer Exhibition
Until August 31, 2023
City & Country Urban Winery (544 38A Ave. SE)
Free to explore
View the work of local abstract artists Barb Kreutter, Patricia Langevin and Claudia Lorenz at the Abstract’d Art Collective Summer Group Show! Drop by during its run to take in the work in a lovely contemporary space.
instagram.com
People We Know
Until September 1, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (435 Campus Lane NW)
Free to explore
Portraiture has a unique place in the history of art. This exhibition looks at gender, race, status and self-portraits that move beyond the capturing of the physical likeness or personality to depict time, emotion, thought, place and history.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
Devotion: Louis Riel Writes Home
Until September 1, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (435 Campus Lane NW)
Free to explore
In 2022 the University of Calgary’s Libraries and Cultural Resources acquired an important collection of archival materials from the descendants of Louis Riel. A selection of personal artifacts from this collection is featured in this exhibition at Nickle Galleries.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
Diane Arbus: Photographs, 1956-1971
Until September 17, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
Free to explore
In 1956, photographer Diane Arbus (1923–1971) marked a roll of film with the number 1 and her career as an artist began. Over the next 15 years, she produced a body of work that would revolutionize not only the portrait genre, but the medium of photography.
contemporarycalgary.com
Hearing Home / Seeing Home
Until October 1, 2023
Lougheed House (707 13th Ave. SW)
With admission
The Lougheed House exhibition brings together Tyler J. Stewart’s Hearing Home, an audio exhibit with listening stations throughout the house, and Seeing Home, a re-interpretation of the collection by members of the Lougheed House Re-Imagined Community Advisory Committee.
lougheedhouse.com
Canadian Music Hall of Fame: Nickelback
Until September 30, 2023
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission
This exhibition features numerous instruments, personal items, concert footage and behind-the-scenes photos. The gallery includes a large video wall outfitted with a full stage display with many of Nickelback’s outfits and customized instruments.
studiobell.ca
Human Sprawl
Until March 31, 2024
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144th St. W, Millarville)
By donation
Michelle Atkinson explores humanity’s tendency to live in excess, with personal consumption impacting biodiversity. Born from industrial waste, animal sculptures were created using thick slabs of once broken office window glass destined for the landfill.
leightoncentre.org
11,104 Days: From Artists to Zenith
Ongoing
Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art (730 11th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
In honour of its 30th anniversary, 11,104 Days: From Artists to Zenith displays each of Newzones’ represented artists, including spectacular new work created by gallery artists in celebration of this milestone.
newzones.com
Music & Wellness
Ongoing
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission
National Music Centre’s 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
Have a visual arts event that’s not listed? Email us at events@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or fill out this form.
