Glenbow is an art museum and a place for all to be inspired by art, cultures, and history. It’s a place to explore story, identity, and expression from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and the world.
Founded in 1966 as an independent, non-profit museum, archive, and gallery, Glenbow cares for an extraordinary collection of more than 250,000 artworks, objects, and belongings – from our region and around the world – on behalf of the people of Alberta. For almost 60 years, Glenbow has been part of the fabric of our communities, committed to expanding accessibility and impact through our collections, exhibitions, and programming.
Our Mission
At Glenbow, we are inspired by the stories that came before us, amplifying the diverse stories of today, and helping to co-create new stories for the future. It’s a place for all to be inspired by art, stories, and belongings.
Our Vision
An art museum where you belong.
Glenbow's Values
We strive to create a welcoming space that fosters a sense of belonging for all, while honouring the Indigenous lands we operate on through engagement and ongoing work to decolonize museum practices. We look to our communities for guidance in developing our services and we believe in giving back by ensuring accessibility to art, culture, and belongings.
We challenge the status quo, embrace risks, and welcome failure as a path to growth. We foster creativity to deliver innovative experiences. We also welcome taking new paths internally with our team to continue to develop internal cultures of innovation.
We value the spirit of fun and recognize that it means different things to different people. We strive to create experiences where everyone can enjoy and explore the playful side of art.
We take a relational approach to our business practices, community engagement, and museum operations by being a relative first. This means understanding how our decisions impact people, the land, and all our relationships. Being a relative involves more than business partnerships; it means caring for each other, building trust, and supporting each other.
A key part of being a relative is practicing relational integrity—the ongoing commitment to build and sustain good relationships through care and respect. Relational integrity isn’t fixed or transactional; it grows over time as we listen, learn, and act together.
Being a relative also involves allyship and accompliceship. Allies support marginalized communities, while accomplices work to dismantle oppressive structures, guided by those communities.
Additionally, being a relative also requires active participation in community events and relationship building.
We take action to lay new paths to understanding and dismantling colonial systems, recognizing this work requires strength, care, and courage. At Glenbow, we imagine new ways of being and question historic museum practices created by dominant voices. This requires courage to forge new paths and acknowledge historic wrongdoings.
Glenbow was founded in an era when museum ambitions were inseparable from a Eurocentric, colonialist worldview. We acknowledge our historical context and complexities and commit to adopting best practices that actively address colonialism in our work. We are dedicated to challenging and reimagining how museums operate. Throughout this journey, we will remain transparent, inviting open dialogue and encouraging conversations with our visitors and the broader public to continue learning.
We work collaboratively and value the opinions, thoughts, and ideas of others within our Glenbow teams, other organizations, and the communities we serve.
We honour the rights and interests of the communities whose belongings we steward. By engaging with these communities, we ensure culturally appropriate best practices in our operations and programming. We are committed to ethical stewardship in resource sharing, donor relations, and the care of collections and belongings.
We strive to provide the best quality of care, experiences, and programs. Our values guide us in upholding the highest standards of excellence and care.
Integrity is defined as the honesty and truthfulness of one’s actions. We hold ourselves accountable to the community and to each other. We seek to make responsible decisions and understand the impacts those decisions have for our communities through active engagement and continued reflection
