Peaks and People

Shop Features: Coffee Table Books Our shop features a wide range of coffee table books that are intended to inspire, spark conversations, and illustrate the sheer beauty of the world we live in. Flipping through their pages allows the reader to immerse themselves in both the imagery and the evocative texts.   Below is just a segment of what is available in the shop!  Great Bear Wild: Dispatches from a Northern Rainforest By Ian McAllister, Forward by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. $50 +GST An exceptionally detailed book that illustrates the biodiversity of the Great Bear Rainforest and the current threats to its sustainability.  An excerpt from the front jacket states, "In eloquent, evocative prose, McAllister portrays the rainforest's rhythms. We meet Gitga'at elders from the small community of Hartley Bay, Heiltsuk engaged in the traditional herring roe fishery, and scientists devoted to studying the region's fascinating ret...

Mary's Flowers  A Selection of Flora from the Canadian Rocky Mountains Part I [Jonas Pass?], [ca.1900 - 192-], Mary Schäffer fonds (V527/PS/1/390) Mary Schäffer's fascination with natural history was ingrained in her from a young age, through her Quaker education. Her father was an avid mineralogist and took her on many trips. The stories told by family members of the west, its landscape, and Indigenous Peoples sparked a keen interest in her to see it for herself.  Family trips to California and to Alaska reaffirmed her interest in Indigenous Peoples and their way of life. In 1889, she boarded the Canadian Pacific Railway from Montreal to Vancouver. The stop at Glacier House, in the Selkirk Mountains would forever change her life. Here she was introduced to Dr. Charles  Schäffer , who was extremely interested in the botany of the region. After they had returned  to Philadelphia, Mary would become his bride. 833. The Glacier Hou...

Lakes of the Rocky Mountains As Seen by Catharine and Peter To this day, the lakes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains are admired by people from all over the world. They travel far and wide to have just a glimpse of the kaleidoscope of colours that they provide. Catharine and Peter showed their admiration through their sketches and paintings. A wide variety of their paintings are now on view at the museum in our latest exhibition, Artistry Revealed: Peter Whyte, Catharine Robb Whyte and Their Contemporaries . This show is on until October 21st in our main gallery. Can't make it to the show? You can adventure through the lives of Catharine and Peter with our virtual home tour linked here:  Whyte Home Tour 1) Peter Whyte (1905- 1966, Canadian), Mount Rundle from Vermilion Lakes , n.d., oil on canvas, WyP.01.058 2) Peter Whyte (1905- 1966, Canadian), Lake O'Hara , 1928, oil on canvas, WyP.01.144 3) Catharine Robb Whyte, OC (1906- 1979...