An Artistic Hub Since 1976
Contemporary Art and Curatorial Innovation in Banff
Walter Phillips Gallery celebrates its five-decade legacy with an exhibition of postcards featuring recollections from former exhibiting artists, exhibitions and events by acclaimed artists, and highlights of the gallery’s innovative publishing history.
This year, Walter Phillips Gallery at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity celebrates 50 years of contributions to visual culture in Canada and internationally through exhibitions, publishing, curatorial research, and as stewards of Banff Centre’s permanent collection, featuring many works by artists who participated in exhibitions or residencies on its campus.
A pillar of year-round programming at Banff Centre, a post-secondary institution dedicated to arts development and training located in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Walter Phillips Gallery was founded in 1976 under the leadership of celebrated artist Takao Tanabe, Banff Centre’s then head of the painting department. The gallery was envisioned as part of Banff Centre’s arts training ecosystem, and continues to serve as a site of learning and engagement for artists at Banff Centre as well as the broader communities of the Bow Valley and beyond.
With a strong history as a platform for emerging forms of practice, Walter Phillips Gallery has long been an important site for contemporary art within Canada and internationally, with a legacy of supporting artists in the creation and presentation of new work. Over its nearly fifty year history, Walter Phillips Gallery has presented the work of a multitude of acclaimed artists including Rebecca Belmore, Neïl Beloufa, Diane Borsato, Andrea Büttner, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Carolina Caycedo, Cassils, Raven Chacon, Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser, Brian Jungen, Ragnar Kjartansson, Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Candice Lin, Rita McKeough, Steve McQueen, Caroline Monnet, Sharon Lockhart, Carmen Papalia, Takao Tanabe, Peter von Tiesenhausen, Lou Sheppard, Jin-me Yoon, and many others.
Walter Phillips Gallery exhibitions and programming are free and open to all.
Current Programming
Anniversaries often ask us to look back, but the exhibition One arc in colour, one in time invites its audience to look forward. Walter Phillips Gallery’s history doesn’t just lie in exhibitions and a permanent collection—the conversations, interactions, and relationships have shaped the gallery over the past 50 years. By inviting past artists to share their stories and memories, we’re building a living, breathing archive.
Josephine Ridge, Executive Director, Arts at Banff Centre
Walter Phillips Gallery has long been a home for artistic and curatorial experimentation, and a place for new work and new directions for artists in the context of their practices. Its enduring legacy is reflective of the importance of supporting artists in pursuit of their work at all moments in their careers. As we reflect on the milestone of Walter Phillips Gallery’s fiftieth anniversary, we celebrate a history of creative risk-taking and the communities of artists, curators, writers, and learners who have shaped our history.
Jacqueline Bell, Director, Walter Phillips Gallery and Collections at Banff Centre
Timeline
Explore a selection of moments from Walter Phillips Gallery's fifty-year history.
1976
Walter Phillips Gallery opens under the leadership of artist and educator Takao Tanabe with an exhibition of works by the Gallery’s namesake, Walter J. Phillips.
Image credit: Walter J. Phillips, Flying Island, 1923. Colour woodblock print, 27.5 cm x 24.5 cm. Collection of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
1983
The Second Link — Viewpoints on Video in the Eighties organized by Walter Phillips Gallery was later presented at numerous institutions including Museum of Modern Art, New York and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Image credit: Cover of exhibition catalogue, The Second Link – Viewpoints on Video in the Eighties, published by Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre School of Fine Arts, 1983.
1991
Rebecca Belmore’s Ayum-ee-aawach Oomama-mowan: Speaking to Their Mother and Jin-me Yoon’s Souvenirs of the Self in its original postcard form are commissioned for Between Views and Points of View, alongside four additional projects.
Image credit: Jin-me Yoon, Souvenirs of the Self (Lake Louise), 1991, printed 1996. Chromogenic print transmounted on Plexiglas. Collection of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
2001
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s Paradise Institute represents Canada at the 49th Venice Bienniale, presented by PlugIn ICA, Winnipeg and contributing partner, Walter Phillips Gallery, winning the La Biennale di Venezia Special Award.
Image credit: Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, The Paradise Institute (2001), installation view from mixed media installation, courtesy the artists and Luhring Augustine.
2010
Ragnar Kjartansson and Davíð Þór Jónsson‘s The End (2009) was exhibited at the Icelandic Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, produced with support of Banff Centre and exhibited at Walter Phillips Gallery in 2010.
Image credit: Ragnar Kjartansson and Davíð Þór Jónsson, production shot The End (2009). Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik.
2018
Caroline Monnet’s Like Ships in the Night opens at Walter Phillips Gallery.
Image credit: Installation view of Caroline Monnet’s Proximal I, II, III, IV, V (2018) and Transatlantic (2018)
in Like ships in the night, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Photo by Rita Taylor.
2026
Cheryl L'Hirondelle: where the voice touches (((acts, utterances, transmissions for freedom))), the first career survey on the artist’s work, is presented in conjunction with L’Hirondelle’s performance-based artwork and event, yahkāskwan mīhkiwap (aka Light Tipi) that was organized by Walter Phillips Gallery and Indigenous Arts at Banff Centre.
Image credit: Cheryl L'Hirondelle, yahkāskwan mīhkiwap (aka Light Tipi), 2026. Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Photographer: Abigaile Edwards.
One arc in colour, another in time
To mark its fiftieth year, Walter Phillips Gallery mailed out postcards featuring the image, Misty Bow River by Steven Beckly to past exhibiting artists and curators with the invitation to return it with a recollection, creating a growing archive.
July 6 - January 3 | Free | Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Bldg, Main Floor
Celebrating Takao Tanabe’s 100th Birthday
Alongside Walter Phillips Gallery’s fiftieth anniversary, 2026 marks another significant moment in Canada’s contemporary art landscape–Tanabe’s 100th birthday. Tanabe’s leadership was instrumental in shaping the gallery’s early vision, and his impact and role as head of painting at Banff Centre from 1973 to 1980 are still felt on campus.
His commitment to improving teaching and his focus on art itself laid the foundation for the gallery, which has become an influential space that few artistic spaces can replicate. Celebrating these milestones together honours both Tanabe’s leadership and the gallery’s legacy as a space that brings critical recognition to emerging art forms.
Legacy of Publishing
Walter Phillips Gallery has an extensive publishing history that has included exhibition catalogues, writings on curatorial practice, among other texts on contemporary art. The gallery recently launched Cheryl L'Hirondelle: where the voice touches (((acts, utterances, transmissions for freedom))), the first monograph on the multidisciplinary artist and singer/songwriter’s practice, published by The Magenta Foundation in collaboration with Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; the Agnes Etherington Art Centre (AGNES), Queen’s University; and the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University.
Many of these publications are currently available for lending at the Banff Centre Library or for purchase in person at Walter Phillips Gallery or by email. If you’d like to learn more about this history of publishing or want to be the first to know about upcoming exhibitions and events, sign up for the Walter Phillips Gallery newsletter here.
Banff International Curatorial Institute: Curating While Black
January 25, 2027 – February 12, 2027
Curating While Black is a research-based residency through the Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI) led by faculty Sally Frater, Michelle Jacques, and Crystal Mowry.
Looking Forward
2027 begins with the upcoming researched-based residency, Curating While Black through the Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI) led by faculty Sally Frater, Michelle Jacques, and Crystal Mowry, taking place from January 25, 2027 – February 12, 2027.
The exhibition Whispers of the Mountains, curated by eunice bélidor, will launch on February 10 in conjunction with the residency program, Curating While Black, running through June 6, 2027.
Stories and Media
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