For decades, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) has been a champion of Calgary artists, providing both grants and purchasing works of art to support their careers and artistic endeavours.

Despite that, the foundation has been largely based in Edmonton without a physical presence in Calgary—at least until Sept. 10, when the AFA opened its first-ever gallery in Calgary as the AFA art house.

The gallery is located on the second floor of the Edison building, occupying the space previously used as a temporary gallery by the Glenbow Museum through their own renovation.

Cynthia Moore, Chair for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, said that the foundation was pleased to partner with the City of Calgary on downtown revitalization.

“We have a real, visible presence, and I think that is very important. We’re excited about this. I’m a true Calgarian, and I’m very excited about this. This is part of the city,” she said.

“We have 10,000 pieces of art in our collection… part of the mandate of the organization is to get more of our art out to the community.”

The AFA art house will host revolving exhibitions from its collections, and with the opening exhibition New Views having 50 works that were purchased by the foundation on display within the last decade.

Moore said that a component of the gallery will also be to allow Alberta artists to display and sell their art.

Alberta art and myth-making on display at art house

Calgarian Rita McKeough, who will be awarded the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta 2025 Distinguished Artists Award in Oct., has two of her works on display at the gallery.

Another must-see work in the gallery as part of its opening was Portrait of Don Getty, a print that featured the former premier’s playing card from when he was an Edmonton Eskimos player. That representation started the AFA collection through an anonymous donation

The initial display of artworks also includes pieces that have never been on display before anywhere in the province.

“Minister [of Arts, Culture, and Status of Women] Tanya Fir, she always thought it was such a sad state of affairs where all of the art is kept in Edmonton, and many of those pieces people had never seen,” said Moore.

When she was first introduced into the portfolio, her first thought was to introduce all of those unseen works of art to the public, said Minister Fir.

“People need to see this. It shouldn’t be in storage. Fast forward, two years later, the amazing work of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts it’s all come to fruition tonight, and we’ve got this space where Albertans and Canadians and the world can view Alberta artwork,” she said.

“The beauty of it is it’ll be rotating shows and pieces and exhibits where people can experience the unbelievable depth and creativity and talent of Alberta artists.”

The addition of the AFA art house to the galleries in Calgary, said Minister Fir, was a way to add to the incredible collections that already exist within the city at places like the Glenbow and at the Werklund Centre.

Samantha Williams-Chapelsky, the 2024-25 AFA Alberta Artist in Residence and Arts Ambassador, will be having her first solo exhibition at AFA art house beginning in Oct.

AFA art house admission is free, and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Thursday. For more details, see www.affta.ab.ca/art-house.