VISION

Contemporary Calgary provides Calgary and its visitors with a significant visual arts destination dedicated to modern and contemporary art.

The former Centennial Planetarium, itself a significant work of brutalist architecture, is a world-class gallery where we deliver outstanding local, national and international contemporary art programming. As a young and ambitious institution, we uphold the values that make us a welcoming, inclusive, engaging and relevant space that is expansive in its representation of artists and ideas.

We exhibit art and offer arts related programming because:

• We believe that art can foster conversation and encourage the exploration of new ideas and critical thinking. 

• We believe in the power of art to transform the places and the lives we live.

• We share a passion for art that is relevant, meaningful, and challenging.

• We share a passion for Calgary as a global city of choice.

With recent exhibitions that include ground-breaking contemporary names like Yoko Ono, Robert Houle, Chitra Ganesh, Diane Arbus and Marman and Borins, the Gallery plays a central role in Canada’s cultural landscape and is pivotal to the continued growth of Calgary’s growing contemporary art quarter. 

In the spirit of respect and truth, Contemporary Calgary acknowledges the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprising the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations), as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations). The Cityof Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III. We also acknowledge that Contemporary Calgary’s building is situated on land immediately adjacent to the Bow River that has shaped this land and its people for generations.

Calgary is home to more than 1.2 million people. Over 120 languages are spoken in Calgary, reflecting a diverse population with ties to Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa, along with Settler European and Indigenous constituents.