Visual Arts at The Banff Centre

About Visual Arts

The Banff Centre’s Visual Arts programs focus on professional development, research, and training opportunities in media and visual arts. The programs provide access to world-class facilities in photography, sculpture, print media and papermaking, ceramics, painting, performance, architecture, new media, television, video, curatorial and critical studies, and textiles. Residencies are for professional artists with an exhibition record who have had formal training in visual arts, or equivalent experience and recognition from their peers.

Visual Arts Programming

Visual Arts programming at The Banff Centre is comprised of four main areas:

Creative Residencies

Creative Residencies offer artists a unique opportunity to explore, expand, and develop their practice within various studio environments. These also facilitate theoretical and intellectual growth through peer groups, lectures, and mentors, and provide access to the tools and support needed to nurture the creative process. They provide the luxury of time and space for the artist to create new works, research innovative ideas, and experiment with different techniques and modes of production. Artists are encouraged to explore all our facilities, regardless of their primary discipline. This exploration can open up new possibilities and directions for the contemporary artist. Creative Residency programs are for the professional artist, curator, art writer, or new media creator in search of a community of peers in the exploration of innovative contemporary art and ideas. Our Creative Residency program includes Thematic, as well as Self-directed Residencies:

Thematic Residencies

Thematic Residencies offer a more structured program where artists are brought together under the umbrella of a common theme that runs through their work. Through peer interaction, discussion groups, studio work, and formal lectures and studio visits from world renowned visiting artists and curators, the thematic resident gains new ideas and insights that can be applied to the continued creation of contemporary art.
» Current Opportunities

Self-directed Residencies

Self-directed Residencies are self-guided opportunities where the artist is free to experiment and explore new directions in the production of their work. Interaction with other artist residents is encouraged through presentations and informal discussion. This, combined with intense periods of art creation in a private studio, creates a transformative atmosphere of art as life, a stark and refreshing contrast to artmaking amid the distractions of every day living.
» Self-directed Current Opportunities

The Walter Phillips Gallery

The Walter Phillips Gallery, established in 1976, is committed to the production, presentation, collection, and research of contemporary visual art and culture. The Gallery exhibits and collects painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, photography, and new media-based works. The Gallery’s substantial collection of video art is housed in the Paul D. Fleck Library at The Banff Centre and is available for public viewing.

The Banff International Curatorial Institute

The Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI) adds a new level to the existing structure of support for artists and cultural workers at The Banff Centre with the consideration of the field of visual and media art curatorship. The Institute provides unique support for emerging and mid-career curators through its curatorial residency and work study programs and provides professional development opportunities through think tanks, symposia, and publications.

Work Study Programs

The Banff Centre’s Visual Arts program also offers Work Study (or internship) opportunities in visual arts studio, curatorial practice, arts administration and research, and gallery installation. These programs are designed to expand and upgrade creative and producing skills and to increase employability and creativity for these job categories.

Work Study placements are appropriate for individuals who have recently completed their studies or wish to leave their current work worlds or formal advanced studies for a period of time in order to expand and develop their careers, professional experience, and capabilities. These programs require full-time commitment and independent thinking.
» Current Opportunities

View a listing of current Visual Arts programs.