The Glenbow Museum

About Us

Glenbow's vision is for more people to experience art and culture more often. In February of 2014, Glenbow announced its new direction - to provide visitors with a new kind of art museum experience. Glenbow showcases world-renowned travelling and permanent exhibitions that are meaningful to many diverse groups in our community, boasts the largest art collection in Western Canada and provides access and care to our collections.

Glenbow also tells the story of Southern Alberta and the West to thousands of visitors to our city each year through permanent exhibitions on our third floor.

Last year, 120,000 guests passed through Glenbow's doors, including more than 43,000 school children who took part in Nexen School Programs and Chevron Museum School. Glenbow's Library and Archives is Canada's largest non-governmental archival repository. It is a major research centre for historians, writers, students, genealogists, filmmakers and media.

The Glenbow Shop offers visitors a unique retail experience while providing a viable revenue stream for the institution. Glenbow also serves as a rental facility for many corporate and private functions, offering a 210-seat theatre, meeting rooms and three gallery floors as event space.

Glenbow is a member-based, not-for-profit, non-governmental arts and culture organization located in the heart of Calgary's cultural district.

Historical Art from the Glenbow Collection

This unique collection of western North American art celebrates the Great Plains and the mountainous areas of the continent and reflects Calgary's unique vantage point as a gateway to the Rocky Mountain parks.

Guest curator Roger Boulet (curator of Glenbow’s 2009 exhibition Vistas: Artists on the Canadian Pacific Railway) has chosen to emphasize works that focus on the prairies and the West, highlighting their narrative and traditional values and deep vernacular roots in Alberta culture and social history.


From images that depict the age of exploration in North America (before Confederation), to vast grassy plains inhabited by buffalo and the transformation of southern Alberta in the early 1900s by massive irrigation projects and agriculture, this exhibition features artwork by some of the most revered artists represented in Glenbow's historical collection, including Paul Kane, Carl Rungius Cornelius Krieghoff, Frances Ann Hopkins, Thomas Mower Martin and Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Côté.

Glenbow's Asian Gallery, Many Faces, Many Paths: Art of Asia, includes more than 80 superb sculptures from Asia, some of which have been loaned and most of which have been gifted by the Bumper Development Corporation Ltd. of Calgary. Glenbow is especially pleased to be the steward of this outstanding collection because it gives the museum an unusual opportunity to represent the splendid artistic heritage of the growing population of Asian Canadians in our city and province. The Asian Gallery is an integral part of Glenbow's effort not only to bridge cultures while building awareness of the diverse communities of Canada but also to make Calgary the home of some of the world's most accomplished works of art.

Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta
Mavericks presents the story of Southern Alberta in a dynamic and compelling way. Unlike a traditional history exhibition that lists dates, names, and events, Glenbow will provide visitors with an experience of what it means to be Albertan. The dynamic gallery tells our province's history through the stories of 48 mavericks – adventurous, hard-working and spirited men and women. This gallery sees the old “book on a wall” text panels replaced with interactive technology. Glenbow has also rolled dusty old cases away and replaced them with new hands-on environments built to recapture the maverick spirit that shaped, and continues to shape, Alberta.

Niitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life
The Blackfoot Gallery

Journey through the Blackfoot Gallery: Niitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life. Uncover the traditions, values, and history of these people, who have lived for thousands of years in the northwestern plains of Alberta and Montana. The Blackfoot share their story through interactive displays and artifacts and through a circular narrative path that guides visitors through Nitsitapii history. This innovative permanent gallery, the culmination of 10 years of collaboration and friendship, showcases artifacts from Glenbow's world-renowned Blackfoot collections.
Treasures of the Mineral World

Glenbow's mineralogy exhibition, Treasures of the Mineral World, offers a colourful glimpse into the depth and diversity found in the mineral world. The gallery is a popular stop for geologists, rock hounds, and visitors of all ages. You can see minerals that glow in the dark, find out what Fool's Gold really is, look at a piece of the earth's oldest rock, or just enjoy the sheer natural beauty of rock crystals in every colour of the rainbow.

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