Visual Arts

Explore your limits

Visual Arts at Banff Centre offers exceptional programs for professional artists, curators, and art critics and researchers, as well as practicum opportunities for emerging practitioners. Visual Arts also supports, develops, and presents contemporary art through the Walter Phillips Gallery.

Our residency programs provide the time, studio space, facilities, feedback, and engagement with peers and faculty to hone your artistic development. Our thematic and self-directed programs encourage experimentation and exploration of ideas, theory, and process.

The Walter Phillips Gallery is committed to the production, presentation, collection, and analysis of contemporary art. The gallery houses the Banff International Curatorial Institute which focuses on programming and publications exploring curatorial research, pedagogy and practice, visual art criticism and writing.

An update on our offerings

With the evolving and ever-changing realities of Covid continuing to impact Banff Centre, we will be offering a smaller palette of Visual Arts residencies for the 2023/24 season. Banff Centre remains dedicated to supporting Visual Artists across many disciplines which will be reflected in our evolving offerings.

As Banff Centre continues to rebuild our programming and staffing across all departments, we are continuing to review and redesign the Practicum Program to meet post-Covid needs. We are not expecting to announce any practicum programs in 2023 to allow time for the rebuild process to be completed and then move to recruitment. Banff Centre remains dedicated to supporting emerging practitioners in the creative sector and we expect that this stream of programs will return as funding and capacity allow. 

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Thematic residencies bring participants together to create, discuss, and develop artistic research and projects around a specific theme. Through peer interaction, conversation, independent studio work, formal lectures, collective activities, and studio visits from visiting faculty and guests, participants gain new ideas and insights that can be applied to the thematic exploration of their work.

Self-directed residencies like the Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) program are designed for participants to focus on their practice in a supportive environment. Participants are encouraged to cultivate new directions in their work, experiment with production techniques, and self-direct their research, activities, and time. Participants may attend talks, exhibitions, and performances by visiting artists as well as receive studio visits from program guests. Depending on the nature of your program and project, participants have access to an individual studio 24 hours a day as well as access to outstanding art production facilities and knowledgeable staff.

Practicum programs offer practical hands-on training, mentorship, and experiential learning opportunities for aspiring artists, curators, and museum and gallery practitioners. Our practicum programs are currently on hold.