Contemporary Calgary facts for kids
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| Established | 2019 |
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| Location | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Type | Art museum |
Contemporary Calgary is an exciting art gallery in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It's a place where you can see modern art from artists who live nearby, from other parts of Canada, and even from around the world! The gallery is inside the old Centennial Planetarium building in downtown Calgary. It first opened its doors in 2020.
Contents
Discovering Contemporary Calgary
How Contemporary Calgary Started
Back in 2013, three art groups in Calgary decided to team up. These groups were the Institute of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Art Gallery of Calgary. They joined forces to create Contemporary Calgary.
Their big idea was to build a permanent public gallery for modern art in the city. They suggested using the empty Centennial Planetarium building for this new gallery.
Making the Dream a Reality
In June 2018, Contemporary Calgary made a deal with the City of Calgary. They agreed to rent the old planetarium building for 25 years! The city helped out by giving $25 million to fix up the building. The Canadian government also promised $30 million, as long as the provincial government matched some of the funds. Other money for the project came from generous donations.
Opening Its Doors
In June 2019, Contemporary Calgary started to open to the public a couple of days a week. This was while renovations were still happening. By December 2019, a big part of the renovations was finished. The gallery announced it would launch its first art shows in 2020. They also planned to be open six days a week!
On January 23, 2020, the gallery had its official grand opening. They had two special art shows that honored the building's past as a planetarium. One show was called Planetary. It featured art from 35 local artists who worked on their pieces right there at the gallery. The other show was a huge art piece by British artist Luke Jerram called Museum of the Moon. More than 1,200 people came to the opening night!
In March 2020, the gallery had to close its doors temporarily because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But they kept offering art programs online! They reopened in September 2020 with new art shows by famous artists like Yoko Ono and Omar Ba.
The Building: A Cool Design
History of the Centennial Planetarium
The Centennial Planetarium building was built in 1967. It was created to celebrate Canada's 100th birthday! The building has a unique style called Brutalist. Part of its roof is shaped like a geodesic dome, which looks like a giant, cool ball.
From the 1980s until 2011, the building was home to a science center (which is now called Telus Spark). After 2011, the building was empty until Contemporary Calgary took it over. It's located in the west part of downtown Calgary.
Renovating for Art
In January 2019, Contemporary Calgary announced who would lead the renovation of the building. They chose Bruce Kuwabara from KPMB Architects (a company in Toronto) and Gibbs Gage Architects (from Calgary).
The first part of the renovation opened in January 2020. This included a large gallery space that was about 7,000 square feet. The next steps for the project include building even more gallery spaces. There are plans for a 10,000-square-foot gallery and another 3,000-square-foot gallery. They also plan to build a sculpture garden on the roof and a space for events. Plus, there will be a new entrance and a restaurant!
