April Exhibitions
Enjoy spring to the fullest with these visual art offerings
Don’t miss out on some great art this April! This month’s visual arts roundup is packed with new and ongoing exhibitions and spring art sales ready to delight, surprise and challenge your mind.
21st Annual Juried Members Exhibition
April 1 – June 4, 2023
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144th St. W, Millarville)
By donation
This annual exhibition at Leighton Art Centre celebrates the talent and creativity of their artists. The 2023 jury panel has selected 56 works from 40 artists, exploring a wide range of themes and media including ceramics, paintings, wearables and textiles
leightoncentre.org
Human Sprawl
April 1, 2023 – 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
MFA in Craft Media Thesis Exhibition 2023
April 4 – 15, 2023
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta University of the Arts (1407 14th Ave. NW)
Free to explore
Explore bodies of work created by students Anahita Mosayebi, Cici Lai and Kate Ritchie while they we were mentored by internationally acclaimed artists and scholars during their intensive 20-month program.
auarts.ca
False Promises: BFA Honours Degree Student Exhibition
April 6 – 29, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (435 Campus Lane NW)
Free to explore
Through various mediums, multidisciplinary artist Justine Bui’s BFA Honours Degree exhibition, False Promises, explores the layers of impact that colourism imposes on one’s body.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
Palette Fine Art Show and Sale
April 14 & 15, 2023
Triwood Community Hall (2244 Chicoutimi Dr. NW)
Free to explore
The Palette art show and sale features paintings by many independent artists in a variety of mediums including acrylic, oil, watercolour, pastel and mixed media that you can browse and buy.
calgarycommunitypainters.com
FCA Spring Art Show
April 15, 2023, 10am – 4pm
Haysboro Community Association (1204 89th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
You are invited to celebrate the arrival of spring surrounded by a collection of paintings carefully juried by the Federation of Canadian Artists at this annual spring art show!
federationgallery.com
Easter Group Show
April 15 – May 10, 2023
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
This group exhibition focuses on all things that our beautiful countryside has to offer, featuring works by Robin Smith-Peck, David Alexander, Simon Andrew, Bob Kebic, Dorothy Knowles, Brent Laycock and others.
wallacegalleries.com
Acclaimed Fine Art Show and Sale
April 21 & 22, 2023
Crescent Heights Community Association (1101 2nd St. NW)
Free to explore
Enjoy a stroll through original artwork by 12 of Calgary’s professional fine artists. This beautiful show features hundreds of paintings in a variety of styles, sizes and prices with the artists in attendance to chat.
acclaimedfineart.com
The Animal Show
April 21 – 23, 2023
Nvrlnd Boutique (1048 21st Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Local artists Daniel Audet, Heather Buchanan, Amy Gaulin, Tobias Luttmer, Karin McGinn, Gary McMillan, Nick Rooney, John Ross and Carl White express their relationship to animals through painting, sculpture and drawing in this exhibition.
instagram.com
Starry Dynamo Arts Market
April 22, 2023, 11am – 4pm
Royal Canadian Legion No. 1 (116 7th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Check out this art market showcasing smaller makers including low income, minorities, LGTBQ+ and other folks who don’t get the same opportunities to show their work. Enjoy live music, weird photo installations and over 50 local artisans!
instagram.com
Last Chance + Ongoing Exhibitions
Astral Dance
Until April 9, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
Astral Dance is the first solo exhibition of works by Chitra Ganesh in Canada, and a significant survey of her practice. Ganesh delivers fantastic, dreamlike worlds where the past, present and future are merged into new, speculative propositions.
contemporarycalgary.com
Jean McEwen
Until April 12, 2023
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Celebrating the centennial of his birth, Jean McEwen is a renowned Canadian Quebecois artist known for his ground-breaking work during the action expression movement of the ’50s and ’60s and beyond.
wallacegalleries.com
Snap Shots: Pages from the Past
Until April 12, 2023
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Wallace Galleries presents works on paper by Ted Godwin, Kenneth Lochhead and Harold Town. Snap back in time with some historic modern works of artists from the Regina Five and Painters Eleven
wallacegalleries.com
A Time for Stories
Until April 14, 2023
Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (425 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
As part of a rotating exhibition of artworks that feature connections to the land, this exhibition features 2D, 3D and sound artworks, by Shirley Hill, Amy Hill and Sonny-Ray Day Rider.
calgary.ca
Human Capital
Until April 16, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
Human Capital presents work that offers insight into the impact of Canada’s immigration policies and history: how it treats humans as capital, and the role it plays in shaping the complex and contested formation of a Canadian identity.
contemporarycalgary.com
Retainers of Anarchy
Until April 16, 2023
Glenbow at The Edison (2nd floor, 150 9th Ave. SW)
Free to explore, tickets required
Experience the mesmerizing 25-metre hand-drawn animation from artist Howie Tsui. The exhibition showcases Tsui’s talent at bringing together martial arts characters and techniques with social and political realities of present-day Hong Kong.
glenbow.org
David Garneau: Métissage
Until April 22, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free to explore
Edmonton-born artist David Garneau documents his Métis heritage and his struggle to shape a contemporary Indigenous identity. With imagination, wit and some ambivalence, this exhibition of more than 50 artworks celebrates historical and contemporary Métis lived experiences.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
The Birth of Portraiture
Until April 22, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free to explore
This exhibition explores the life of Alexander the Great and his successors through their portraits on ancient coins. Tiny masterpieces of Hellenistic art, these coins record likenesses and suggest the distinct personalities of their subjects.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
After Holbein – Turkish Carpets and the Tudors
Until April 22, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free to explore
Hans Holbein the Younger, a 16th-century artist, famously painted portraits of Henry VIII and other nobles that frequently included richly patterned Turkish carpets. Curator Michele Hardy offers a selection of these carpets and explores how they signalled power and wealth.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
The Visitors
Until April 30, 2023
Esker Foundation (4th floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Ragnar Kjartansson creates performances exploring the intertwining of pathos, humour and collective emotion. The Visitors is a large installation consisting of nine audio and video channels documenting a single-take musical performance.
eskerfoundation.com
Interiors
Until April 30, 2023
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Margaux Williamson is a painter who also writes and makes videos. Within her multifaceted practice, Williamson’s painting has evolved through long rhythms; her bodies of work have been produced over the years.
eskerfoundation.com
We Were Here: Stories from Early Chinatown
Until April 30, 2023
Gasoline Alley Museum, Heritage Park (1900 Heritage Dr. SW)
$4.95 – 9.95
Bring your family and learn about Chinese history on the prairies through art and imagination, discover fictional stories written by members of the Chinese community and explore two iterations of Chinatown in Calgary.
heritagepark.ca
It Looks Nice from a Distance
Until May 6, 2023
TRUCK Contemporary Art (2009 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Taking the form of a 12-channel video installation incorporating text, sound, video and sculpture, Anahita Norouzi’s multimedia installation explores the themes of otherness and displacement.
truck.ca
The Desert Turned to Glass
Until May 7, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
Contemporary Calgary presents Charles Stankievech’s The Desert Turned to Glass, a transmedia installation that inhabits both the projection room of the planetarium’s dome and the subterranean space below.
contemporarycalgary.com
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
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
Music & Wellness
Ongoing
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission
Check out National Music Centre’s new permanent Music & Wellness exhibition, which 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.
