Top Moments of 2017 at the Whyte Museum

It’s hard to believe that 2017 is nearing its end. Here at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies we’d like to look back on 2017 and recall some of our top moments of the year.

So get cozy by the fire with a warm drink in your hand and reminisce with us…

Fireside Chats

Are you warm and cozy by the fire? Because we had some great Fireside Chats this past year with Chic Scott and his guests. An oral history tradition at the Whyte Museum that has continued since the time of our founder Catharine Robb Whyte, Fireside Chats look to preserve the stories of the mountains and the people who have made their homes in them.

          

The first Fireside Chat of 2017 saw Eddie Hunter cross-examining his interviewer Chic, while the second took us on a journey from Austria to Canada with Leo Grillmair. Both events had record numbers of attendees, from 140-160 members of the community filling (and maybe slightly overfilling) our Heritage Gallery. These events really demonstrated the strong regard people have for longtime locals like Chic, Eddie, and Leo, and we hope to see this continue into 2018!

You can watch both of these Fireside Chats along with previous ones on our website in our Digital Vault.

Museum Wars: Return of the Blog 

This year we saw the return of our blog! Re-vamped and re-named, the Peaks & People Blog is the official blog of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. It is here that you can find those extra nuggets of information about our collections and activities from the convenience of your own computer or while you’re on the move. Sometimes it’s a battle to fit all of the information we’d like to on a label or a panel, so we try to add to your experience by highlighting more of those stories here in the digital world.

Bow Biennial: Tats, Skaters & Scales

We like to think that we turned a few heads this past Fall when people walked past the museum and saw a large image of an arm being tattooed on the side of the building. Or when visitors were confronted by Wonder Woman upon entering the main gallery. Or when they couldn’t pull their eyes away from our wall of skateboard decks.

                                                 

This year’s Bow Biennial ‘On the Fringe of the Bow’ featured local artists whose art is just on the cusp of the mainstream art world. When most of the art featured in the show is regularly seen moving around in our everyday lives (tattoos on skin, skateboards on pavement and chainmail on bodies), we took this opportunity to momentarily freeze them in our galleries so people could get a closer look and appreciate the talent of our local artists.

‘On the Fringe of the Bow’ is up in our gallery until January 28^th, 2018. Come check it out over the holidays!

Art for the Year

Have you ever walked through a gallery and thought: “I wish I could have these paintings in my home all year round”? Well, you’re in luck! This past year we carefully picked some of our favourite paintings from our Art Collection and made them into a calendar! Whether you hang it on a corkboard or your fridge, the Whyte Museum calendar will add a little Canadian Rockies flare anywhere! Pick one up at the Whyte Museum Shop!

Catharine Robb Whyte, 'Mount Temple & Larches'

Carl Rungius, 'Moose, Upper Ram River'

Arthur C. Leighton, 'Bow Lake'

Peter Whyte, 'Skiers'

Sixty-Two

Since January 1^st of 2017 we have had the pleasure of welcoming 62 new members to the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies! From near and far, 62 people have shown their passion for our mountain community by becoming a member of our museum. 62 people have enjoyed free admission, free entry to Whyte Museum events, and discounts at the Museum Shop! Through their actions, 62 wonderful people have enabled us to put on quality exhibitions and offer a variety of programs. To those 62 people and our long term members we send our heartfelt thanks.

Want to be our first member of 2018? Head over to our Membership page and buy a membership online!

Rockywood Reels: A Movie Buff’s Paradise

Marilyn Monroe in Banff during filming of River of No Return
during the summer of 1953.
Photo taken by Banff local Eddie Hunter.

Thanks to the enthusiasm of our Head of Library & Archives Elizabeth and the organizational expertise of our Events Coordinator Nathalie, the Banff community was treated to a series of movie nights at the museum this past summer. Featuring six movies filmed right here in the Canadian Rockies (49^th Parallel, Son of Lassie, Eternal Love, Saskatchewan, River of Not Return and Far Country), Rockywood Reels, with the help of film historians Mary Graham and Brian Patton, took visitors behind the scenes with images from our Archives that locals took of movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, as well as gossip and little known facts from shooting in our mountains. Many well-known local characters made appearances working on the sets and some even made it into the films!

We hope to be able to bring Rockywood Reels back in 2018 so keep an eye on our Events page!

New Space, New Opportunities

Following the renovations that took place in our Heritage Gallery last Fall, we have been able to bring you more events and more of our collections over the past 12 months. With plenty of room for chairs we’ve been hosting movie nights, artist and author talks, and special events of all sorts. The space also lets us get creative with Pop-Up exhibitions! Our Curatorial Team has been developing themed mini-exhibits in our mobile, wheelie exhibition cases. Featuring themes such as the Banff Winter Carnival, Rockywood Reels, Banff Kitsch, and our newest pop-up on now: Eddie Hunter! These exhibits allow us to bring out some of the amazing artifacts from our collection that might not otherwise make it into the spotlight of permanent exhibitions. Be sure to check in for new Pop-Ups every couple of months! 

 

#BestNine2017 on Instagram

For those of you who follow us on social media you'll know that we love to share our mountain stories through Instagram (@whytemuseum). From archival photographs to paintings to snapshots from our galleries, Instagram has been a great tool for us to share more great mountain culture with you! 

But what were your favourite #whytemuseumgrams of the year? Instagram has got us covered with #BestNine2017. Here are our top 9 posts from this past year, and no one is surprised that our archival photographs stole the show with a Byron Harmon photograph (top left) taking the top spot with 102 likes! 

We would like to thank everyone who has visited the Whyte Museum over the past year and to all of the artists and creative minds who have contributed to our exhibitions, programs and events! We would also like to encourage everyone to keep their eyes and ears open for some exciting announcements coming in 2018…

V692/PA-133/9ac, Catharine Robb Whyte at sod turning of Whyte Museum in 1967.