The Art Gallery of Alberta’s Building History
Essay by Catherine Crowston and Anne Whitelaw
Founded in 1924 as the Edmonton Museum of Arts Association, the Art Gallery of Alberta began as an organization of influential Edmonton citizens whose vision was for a Museum that would be a vehicle “to promote the knowledge and enjoyment of, and cultivation of the fine arts and to preserve historical relics.” Their first exhibition was held in October 1924, presented in the Palm Room at the Hotel MacDonald.
Consisting of a selection of Canadian paintings on loan from the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the success of this exhibition prompted the Association to seek out a permanent space for the display of works of art. Over the next 25 years, rooms were rented in a variety of downtown buildings: the Public Library (1924 to 1927), the Civic Block (1927 to 1945) and the Edmonton Motors Building, an old car dealership building that was located on the corner of 99th Street and 102nd Avenue (1945 to 1952).
In these early decades, the goal of the Edmonton Museum of Arts was to bring culture to the people of Edmonton through exhibitions of Canadian and international art (many of which were on loan from the National Gallery of Canada); to support local artist associations such as the Edmonton Art Club and the Alberta Society of Artists, and to offer art classes for both children and adults.
As funds were limited, the Museum did not focus on building its collection in these early years, although some significant acquisitions by artists such as A.Y. Jackson, Walter J. Phillips, Franklin Carmichael and George Reid helped found the AGA’s current collection of Canadian art. Several artists, who have since become major figures in the history of art in Canada, also donated their work to the Museum, and collectors in Edmonton and beyond made a point of donating paintings, prints and sculptures to help build the collection over the next few decades.
The Edmonton Museum of Arts moved into its first permanent home, Secord House, in November 1952. The former residence of businessman Richard Secord, Secord House was located at 9842 – 105 Street and was a welcome refuge for a museum that had struggled with a series of inadequate exhibition spaces over the first 30 years of its existence. Four years after moving in, the Edmonton Museum of Arts officially changed its name to The Edmonton Art Gallery, a name which would be held by the institution until 2005.
At Secord House, The Edmonton Art Gallery was finally able to put its collection on display, provide suitable rooms for art classes, and rent space to other cultural organizations in the city. At this time, much of the Gallery’s programming consisted of exhibitions borrowed from the Western Canada Art Circuit, a network of museums and galleries formed in 1944 for the purposes of circulating art exhibitions to the western provinces. The number of acquisitions in the 1950s and 1960s increased dramatically, representing the broad range of work of such contemporary Canadian artists as Greg Curnoe, Michael Snow, Yves Gaucher and William Perehudoff. The acquisition of abstract art reflected its increasing prevalence in international art circles, but the collection was also boosted by the addition of significant works by important historical Canadian artists such as Tom Thomson and H.G. Glyde.
Within a few years of opening at Secord House, however, it became clear that the renovated house’s facilities could not meet the new level of museum standards required by national lending institutions. By 1958 the Board of Directors began planning for the construction of a new facility with federally designated “Class A” exhibition spaces that would provide the necessary environmental and security controls. A $600,000 bequest from Mrs. Abigail Condell in 1962 brought the dream of a new, purpose-built building within reach. In 1969, a new building designed by Edmonton architects Don Bittorf and Jim Wensley, opened to national and international acclaim. This was the Gallery’s first building designed to meet the needs of a modern art museum.
In the first years of operating in the new building, and after a moment of conceptual art experimentation, the EAG began to focus its exhibition and collecting activities on modernist abstract painting and sculpture. With the assistance of the Women’s Society, whose fundraising activities generated over $100,000 for acquisitions each year, the EAG built a significant collection of paintings and sculptures representing the work of international artists such as Anthony Caro, John Griefen, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons and Michael Steiner and Canadian artists Jack Bush, Joseph Drapell, Douglas Haynes, Peter Hide, Dorothy Knowles, William Perehudoff, Al Reynolds and Graham Peacock. The Bittorf / Wensley building was perfectly suited to the exhibition of these large modernist works and the Gallery soon developed a reputation for its exhibitions of Canadian and international abstract artists.
In 1975, the EAG collection was significantly expanded by the donation of Edmonton business leader Ernest E. Poole’s incredible collection of historical Canadian art. Works by artists such as Emily Carr, Clarence Gagnon, Lawren Harris, Cornelius Krieghoff, Marc Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Côté, J.E.H. Macdonald, David Milne, Tom Thomson, Frederick Varley and Frederick Verner, to name just a few, were important additions to the collection and formed the core of a permanent display of historical Canadian art presented in the 1969 building.
The 1970s and 1980s represented a time of great expansion for the Gallery’s collection, with works being acquired from across the country but also building the representation of work by historical Alberta artists such as Maxwell Bates, H.G. Glyde, Illingworth Kerr, A.C. Leighton, Marion Nicoll and John Snow, artists who can be seen to be the founders of art in Alberta, representing both its landscape and modernist traditions. Other acquisitions in this time period included work by Québec and Maritime artists from the 1930s, who were becoming the focus of increased attention by critics and art historians across Canada. This period in the Gallery’s history also saw the introduction of photography as a major acquisition focus, largely through the efforts of local photographers Hubert Hohn and Douglas Clarke. The Gallery acquired a significant photography collection, including works by major American photographers such as Ansel Adams, E.J. Bellocq, Edward Curtis, Walker Evans and Ben Shahn. As the Gallery’s collection and programming expanded, the original square footage of the Bittorf / Wensley building became inadequate and, in 1978, an addition was constructed on the east side of the building to increase the exhibition area and administration spaces.
In the two decades between 1990 and 2010, The Edmonton Art Gallery underwent dramatic shifts in both its program and collection objectives. The AGA’s exhibition program, while continuing to feature important exhibitions of historical art from around the world, also reflects the diversity of media and conceptual approaches that exist within contemporary art practice today. The AGA exhibition program now incorporates critical investigations into film, performance and other time-based and non-traditional media. The AGA has also taken important steps to expand the representation of contemporary media within its collection as well as new subject matter, ideas and artistic communities that have come to the fore in contemporary art practice over the last decade.
In this time, the Gallery has been fortunate to acquire important works by contemporary Alberta artists such as: Jane Ash Poitras, Blair Brennan, Catherine Burgess, Isla Burns, Eric Cameron, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Sean Caulfield, Chris Cran, Clay Ellis, David Hoffos, Alex Janvier, Frederick McDonald, Ron Moppett, Mark Mullin, Lyndal Osborne, Arlene Stamp, Carol Taylor-Lindoe and Peter von Tiesenhausen to name just a few. The AGA has also been successful in acquiring significant works by a diverse range of Canadian artists not previously represented in its collection, including Kim Adams, Edward Burtynsky, Marlene Creates, William Eakin, Evergon, Ivan Eyre, John Hartman, Wanda Koop, James Lahey, Medrie MacPhee, Leslie Poole, Tony Scherman, Judith Schwarz, John Scott, Jack Shadbolt and Alan Wood for example. The Gallery has also continued to build on the history of collecting that has occurred here with the acquisition of works by Maxwell Bates, H.G. Glyde, Illingworth Kerr, Jim Nicoll, Marian Nicoll and Clifford Robinson.
The expanded Bittorf / Wensley building served The Edmonton Art Gallery well for over 25 years, but with time, its mechanical and electrical systems became outdated, the building envelope was no longer able to maintain the environment required to meet international museum standards and each year, the Gallery was faced with the challenge of leaky roofs, ice damming in the walls, old plumbing and dramatic fluctuations in temperature and humidity. In the 86 years since the Gallery’s inception in 1924, the collection had grown to over 6,000 works of art and had long outgrown the capacity of its three art storage vaults. In the last few years of its existence in the 1969 building, gallery spaces were being annexed and converted into collection storage to accommodate the never-ending spatial demands of a growing collection. Together these factors catalyzed a capital building project, the “AGA New Vision.” In October 2005, to recognize the centennial of the Province of Alberta and the Gallery’s expanded mandate to serve all Albertans, The Edmonton Art Gallery officially changed its name to the Art Gallery of Alberta. Following an intense international architectural competition, the re-naming of the Gallery coincided with the announcement that Randall Stout was selected as the new building’s architect.
Preparation for the new building’s construction proceeded rapidly, starting with the design and construction of a new, off-site, state-of-the-art Collection Services Facility (CSF). As the new building was to be constructed on the existing site, it necessitated the relocation of the AGA’s collection for the duration of the construction period. From November 2005 to October 2006, the Gallery prepared the collection for this move. This included backing 180 paintings, the matting and casing of over 1,100 works on paper; the design and construction of 172 carrying frames and the construction of crates and palettes for 70 sculptures/installations. The entire collection was packed and relocated to this facility In the winter of 2006/2007, following which the AGA re-located to a newly renovated interim exhibition and administration space in the Enterprise Square complex, opened by the University of Alberta as a new downtown campus.
In the years between 2006 and January 2010, the Art Gallery of Alberta constructed a new gallery—a “New Vision” for Alberta’s capital—on the site of the old building on Sir Winston Churchill Square. Forged of steel, zinc and glass, the new AGA is like a work of art, communicating the dynamic and innovative relationship of the Gallery’s architecture and its programming. The history of the Art Gallery of Alberta’s buildings is tied to the development of its programming and collections, but also traces its increasingly important role in the cultural life of Edmonton, and its significance to the visual arts scene on both a national and international level. It is no surprise that in the 21st century, the Gallery’s search for a new home took on a truly global dimension.
In creating his design for the new AGA Randall Stout saw the sinuous curve of the North Saskatchewan River cutting through the rigid linear grid of Edmonton’s city plan. He saw the northern plains of Alberta illuminated by the dance of the northern lights. He saw the building as a transparent beacon of glass, and as a sculptural mass reflecting the play of sunlight across its metal surfaces. Randall Stout’s building plan captures these images and dualities and provides the new Art Gallery of Alberta with a fully functional, practical, home for the 21st century.
