Reflections
Oki. Taan-shi. Dâ âûch yahine. Gwanistłi naniya. Bienvenue. Welcome.
We recognize, with deep respect and gratitude, our home on the side of Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain. In the spirit of respect and truth, we honour and acknowledge the Banff area, known as “Minihrpa” (translated in Stoney Nakoda as “the waterfalls”) and the Treaty 7 territory and oral practices of the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda)—comprised of the Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Goodstoney Nations—as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy comprised of the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Shuswap Nations, Ktunaxa Nations, and Metis Nation of Alberta, Rockyview District 4. We acknowledge all Nations who live, work, and play here, help us steward this land, and honour and celebrate this place.
Mission
Banff Centre brings artists, leaders, and communities together to create, collaborate, share, envision, learn, and be inspired.
Vision
To be a catalyst for creativity and thought, where potential is realized.
To inspire leaders—artists, cultural, business, and community—to conceive powerful ideas and create new work that can be shared with and improve our world.
To experience the power of the mountains, particularly our home on Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain, supported by talented employees and thought leaders, to envision and to create, and be in relationship with our environment and each other.
To be accessible, open, respectful, and welcoming as we build new connections across disciplines and cultures, create new learning opportunities for participants, and enhance and share knowledge and experiences with each other locally and globally.
Message from the President
The 2024–25 season marked my first full year in Banff. In this time, I’ve gotten to know and appreciate the full breadth of what this area has to offer, including being within an hour of some of the best skiing in the world, experiencing the Northern Lights for the first time, and getting regular wildlife updates in the local newspaper. Being a part of this welcoming and warm community also makes me appreciate what a pleasure it is to live every day in a place that so many people from around the world want to visit and experience.
Over this past year, Banff Centre campus has—in wonderful and thrilling ways—been anything but quiet. Our staff have gone to heroic efforts to bring back on-site activity for artists, program participants, conference guests, audiences, and our community. We relaunched the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival, unveiling a multi-disciplinary slate of over 70 public events in both indoor and outdoor spaces
across campus. We brought back popular training programs in audio engineering, wardrobe and costume design, and piano repair and maintenance. Audiences once again flocked to the Banff International String Quartet Festival and the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, and our presenting series, Banff Centre Presents, welcomed artists from around the globe.
Internally, we’ve been busy too. We have focused on building a culture of “One Banff Centre,” where all employees have a clear sense of vision and direction and their role in advancing the mission of the organization. We’ve recruited a number of great additions to our executive leadership team, who bring fresh perspectives, open minds, and infectious energy. And a new Board of Governors has helped steer Banff Centre towards being more efficient and innovative, while maintaining stability and strong governance.
2024–25 has been a year of strengthening our foundation and building back stronger than ever, a year of reconnecting with our community and welcoming the world back to campus, and a year of planning for an exciting future that includes our centenary in 2033. We’re already witnessing the results of a new and revitalized Banff Centre. With our hearts in the present and our eyes on the future, it feels like we’re only getting started.
I hope you find the story of Banff Centre’s 2024–25 year as inspiring as I do.
Chris Lorway President and CEO
Cover: Emily Solstice Tait, Tasha Faye Evans, Kelly McInnes, Indigenous World Dance performance. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Opposite: IN A LANDSCAPE in the Shaw Amphitheatre during the 2024 Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival.
Photo by Arthur Hitchcock.
Above: Chris Lorway, Glyde Hall studio space. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Banff Centre in action
Watch the Reflections video
From the studio to the rehearsal hall to the podium to the spotlight— see Reflections come to life in this publication’s companion video.
Scan the QR code to watch now.
To 100 and Beyond Meet a new generation of Banff Centre leadership
After a year of renewal in 2023–24, the 2024–25 season saw Banff Centre establish a new generation of leadership—both in the Board of Governors (see pg. 35) and the senior leadership team. The combination of fresh perspectives and established leadership helped foster a year of critical learning and evaluation, which led to identifying opportunities that will help Banff Centre chart its course for years to come.
Institutional knowledge and leadership go hand in hand. In addition to Chris Lorway, President and CEO, the Leadership Group includes existing staff Valerie Kapay, Vice President, Talent and Culture; Mark Wold, Executive Director, Leadership; Martha Haldenby, Executive Director, Development; and Kyla Conner, General Counsel and External Relations.
The leadership team added several new faces over the course of 2024–25, each of whom brings decades of experience and vitality to their respective roles. This includes Derek Fast, Executive Director, Marketing and Communications; Kurt Fonseca, Vice President, Hospitality, Conferences, and Physical Facilities; Aliza Leblanc, Chief Financial Officer; and Josephine Ridge, Executive Director, Arts.
The combined forces of the new Board of Governors and this leadership team provide a solid foundation for Banff Centre at this important time in the institution’s history. Good governance, strong management skills, innovative thinking, and a unified vision will ensure that Banff Centre can set and achieve its strategic goals as it approaches its centenary.
Left to right: Chris Lorway; Kurt Fonseca; Valerie Kapay; Kyla Conner; Derek Fast; Martha Haldenby; Aliza Leblanc; Josephine Ridge; Mark Wold. Photo courtesy of Mark Wold.
Photos by Rita Taylor unless otherwise stated.
Opposite: Dance Artists in Residence rehearsal Nasiv Sall and Alexis Fletcher. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Community Connections
Banff Centre welcomes our community to campus to foster innovation, creativity, curiosity, and well-being in as many people as possible.
As a post-secondary institution dedicated to creating training and development opportunities in arts, leadership, Indigenous culture, and mountain culture Banff Centre welcomed over 1,000 participants for 57 arts and leadership programs in the 2024–25 season. For many of our participants and faculty, Banff Centre remains a “bucket list” experience, known for its unmatched facilities, staff, resources, and financial support. But that’s only half the story—for audiences in the Bow Valley, Alberta, and beyond, Banff Centre is a valued source of entertainment, recreation, and community.
In 2024–25, we learned how important Sally Borden Fitness and Recreation facilities were to the
community when damaged and leaky pipes led to a series of facility closures. Being the only public pool in Banff—a vital source for exercise in the winter—we quickly realized how critical it was to expedite repairs and clearly communicate timelines and updates to members of our community. The pipe replacements and other facility renovations will ensure a functional and effective recreational space for Bow Valley residents for years to come.
Banff Centre is known for its festivals like the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, the Banff International String Quartet Festival, and the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival In addition to ticketed events, these festivals returned this
season with ample free events to welcome thousands of mountain enthusiasts and arts-goers onto campus with no financial barrier. In the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival, nearly half of the 70+ events were free. At the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, free events like the Rab Stage of panels and presentations, art tours and workshops, and the Festival Marketplace attracted over 2,600 attendees.
Throughout the year, Banff Centre took its programs into surrounding communities, including popular film screenings at artsPlace in Canmore and the Lux Cinema in downtown Banff. On campus, our various arts departments capped off residencies with free
public events that included open studios, lectures, readings, and concerts, providing audiences with a glimpse into the creative process. Once again, we hosted the annual Banff Schools Holiday concert, a longtime tradition featuring an 18-feet-tall Christmas tree covered in 270 feet of lights. In total, free arts-related events and shows reached nearly 12,000 people.
Thanks to the unique model that Banff Centre employs—balancing support from provincial and federal grants, major gifts and individual contributions from our valued friends and donors, with earned revenues from campus activities and presentations—we are uniquely positioned to provide generous funding for our program participants. We continued scholarship funding of up to 100% covered tuition and 50% accommodation and meal plan, and funding from Banff Centre’s Paul D. Fleck Fellowships in the Arts Endowment and The Slaight Family Foundation provided 100% coverage of participant fees for some programs. In 2024-25, Banff Centre also launched 100% covered costs for Indigenous participants.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone—our staff, donors, sponsors, Board, and community— who make this work possible.
Opposite Top: Graphic Score Making Workshop with Lou Sheppard, Gather Listen Hear. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Opposite: Suba Sankaran, pre-show community meal Mahabharata: The Journey Begins, a Why Not Theatre production. Photo by Abigaile Edwards.
Above: Climb with the Pros, Bronwyn Hodgins and Connor Runge at Sally Borden Fitness and Recreation Building Climbing Gym, Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Left: Indigenous Dance Workshop led by Joanna Gladue and Curt Young, National Indigenous History Month . Photo by Rita Taylor.
Literary Arts
50 years of excellence
Banff Centre is a writer’s paradise–offering a safe and inspirational environment for literary artists to push boundaries and explore their full potential with the support of exceptional mentors and peers.
Dr. Derek Beaulieu Director, Literary Arts and former Poet Laureate of Banff and Calgary
In 2024–25, the Literary Arts program at Banff Centre reached an incredible milestone: its 50th anniversary. Since it was initiated by W.O. Mitchell in 1974, Literary Arts has welcomed generations of groundbreaking writers onto the Banff Centre campus as both faculty and participants. Banff Centre alumni are consistently published nationally and internationally and recognized by major literary awards— including the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Governor-General’s Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and more.
This year was no different. Literary Arts held seven programs, beginning with its Spring Thematic residency, Form and Constraint, led by faculty Daniel Levin Becker and Giller Prize winner Ian Williams, which offered unique support for writers who work within limitations such as rhyme or metrics. Flagship programs Summer Writers and Winter Writers residencies welcomed artists of all disciplines, with faculty poet Sina Queyras, MacArthur Fellowship recipient A.E. Stallings, poet Danez Smith, and Giller Prize winner Omar El Akkad.
The 2024–25 year also saw a greatly expanded offering of the renowned Literary Journalism program, which grew from one iteration to three, featuring faculty from Canada, the United States, and Israel.
Along with the open Literary Journalism program, two thematic editions, Memoir and Environmental Writing , were introduced. This expansion not only met increased applicant demand but also responded to industry trends: Literary Journalism readings continued to be our best-attended events among Banff residents, and non-fiction sales consistently outpace fiction nationally. This was further evidenced by our sold-out An Evening with Naomi Klein, in which our Director of Literary Arts, Derek Beaulieu, hosted the thought-provoking author for a reading and conversation in the Jenny Belzberg Theatre.
Edna Alford (Cushman)
Edna Alford (Cushman) began her relationship with Banff Centre through her art. A Saskatchewanbased writer and editor, she was tapped to instruct a group of the Writing Studio – Fiction program in 1992 by one of its founding faculty members, Rachel Wyatt. (That group just happened to include Michael Winter and Lisa Moore.) After that, between 1992 and 2008, she became the Associate Director of the Studio program and Director of the Writing with Style program. Even now, Edna is moved by those experiences: “It has truly been one of the greatest privileges of my life to be part of Banff Centre and to have the opportunity to work with so many wonderful writers over the years.”
In fact, Edna met her husband, Dr. Richard Hook Cushman, while on the bus to Banff Centre in 2004: she on her way to teach Literary Arts, he on his way to the Banff International Research Station. When they both retired, they became donors to to Banff Centre’s Literary Arts department and other arts programs, inspired by the time they both spent on campus and the mission behind this legendary institution.
“Banff Centre has always filled an important gap in literary arts education in Canada, offering something that no one else offers anywhere in the country,” she said. “If there’s something that I could share it’s gratitude for the support of donors who have been instrumental in providing this tremendous gift to the arts in Canada.”
As Literary Arts approaches 51 years, we remain committed to fostering incredible artistic creation while responding to market conditions. Continuing to embrace themes and genres, we’re excited to develop residencies in Horror Writing , Science Fiction, and Young Adult & Children’s books in 2025–26—each enormously popular, yet often maligned, forms.
The Literary Journalism program at Banff Centre is supported by the Rogers Communications Chair in Literary Journalism Endowment Fund.
I marveled that such a place could exist, a place where artists were in the majority, if you can believe, where their needs were paramount.
Edna Alford (Cushman) Donor, Literary Arts
Opposite: Danez Smith, Winter Writers faculty reading. Photo by Rita Taylor. Naomi Klein. Photo by Sebastian Nevols. Below: Edna Alford (Cushman) during a Literary Arts program, 1993. Photo by Banff Centre.
I knew that this residency would provide me with a quiet space to focus for an extended period of time, but the environment was far more effective and nourishing to my artistic practices than I had anticipated.
Miyama McQueen-Tokita
Leighton Artist Studio Participant
Paul D. Fleck Fellowship in the Arts Recipient
Leighton Artist Studios
Given that artists are increasingly working at their kitchen tables or sharing studio spaces in contexts of increasing rental precarity—the Leighton Artist Studios refer to an understanding and valuing of what artists do, and the conditions needed to support creative work.
Haema Sivanesan Director, Leighton Artist Studios in Canadian Architect magazine
The Leighton Artist Studios opened in 1985 and, in the 40 years since, they have become an iconic element of the Banff Centre campus: 10 unique retreats for self-guided artist practice, free from expected outcomes or predetermined evaluative metrics. Most of the studios are nestled in a secluded forested area of campus, creating a dreamlike experience where artists can escape the demands of everyday life.
Under the direction of Haema Sivanesan, this year returned to a three-stream structure for welcoming artists onto campus: through open application, invited residencies under the Paul D. Fleck Fellowship in the Arts program, and prize agreements with Canadian arts prizes such as CBC/Radio Canada, and the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Art Awards. As of this year, the winner of Banff Centre’s Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography also receives a residency in the Leighton Artist Studios.
This year, Sivanesan also reopened the Painter House studio to host collectives of two or more people. The Painter House now enables Banff Centre to accept group applications for the interdisciplinary program and host up to 10 individuals at once in this space alone.
In 2024–25, the Leighton Artist Studios welcomed artists like Jordan Tannahill (playwright, author), Charwei Tsai (visual arts), and T. Patrick Carrabré (music) through our Fleck Fellowships. In total, Banff Centre hosted 94 artists over a combined 241 weeks of autonomous, distraction-free creation time in the Leighton Artist Studios.
The Leighton Artist Studios are generously supported through the Leighton Artist Studios Scholarship Endowment, the Leighton Artist Studios Facility Renewal Fund Endowment, and the Paul D. Fleck Fellowships.
My three weeks in the Leighton Artist Studios were a highlight of my five-decade (so far!) career as a writer. I made great progress on two poetry projects and wrote an entire first draft of a short experimental novel, my writing methods inspired in part by improvisational musicians I met from the Music program. I collaborated with a cellist and wrote collaborative poems with a poet from the Literary Arts program, and I had many great talks about art with artists from many disciplines.
Stuart Ross Leighton Artist Studio Participant
Opposite Top (left to right): Thom Studio and Davidson Studio, Leighton Artist Studios. Photo by Chris Amat.
Bottom: Miyama McQueen-Tokita, Leighton Artist in Residence Video still by Banff Centre.
Banff Centre’s new Professional Training programs are not additions to our arts programs, they are intentionally created as one and the same— they learn together, just like in real life. Our participants will come away with realworld experience like never before.
Kerry Stauffer Managing Director, Digital, Film, and Media
Professional Training
Putting the spotlight on behind-the-scenes training
While Banff Centre marked a season of putting artists into the spotlight on our stages and studios, we also revitalized training in behind-the-scenes roles. Designed to take place entirely within an Arts program, Banff Centre’s Professional Training programs focused on key areas of specialized skills while making worthwhile professional connections for emerging practitioners and showcasing their skills in an Open Studio event.
First, Wardrobe Technician program participants developed skills in hands-on workshops led by industry professionals and lead faculty Patsy Murphy. The program—integrated
into the Interplay opera workshops—offered training in stitching, cutting, costume development, dyeing, wardrobe management, and boots and shoes.
Audio Engineer participants were mentored by lead faculty Theresa Leonard, engineers, technologists, and industry professionals. Throughout the program, they recorded live concerts in classical, jazz, and contemporary genres, as well as recorded and produced tracks for artists participating in several Music residencies.
Piano Technician participants worked with Music’s Art of Piano program to be immersed in a high-performance environment with world-class musicians and audio technicians. They developed their skills in rehearsal, seminar, recording, and live performance
settings. Participants also enjoyed Banff Centre’s shop facilities and staff expertise, where they honed comprehensive piano maintenance and rebuilding skills.
With the benefits of a low cohort size, close collaboration and mentorship from staff and faculty, hands-on experience, and professional networking, participants in Professional Training also leave Banff Centre with portfolio material to launch their career outside of an educational setting.
Above: Participant Wesley Ballard (front) and Head Piano Technician Albert Picknell (back), Piano Technician Open Studio. Photo by Abigaile Edwards.
Opposite:
Top left to right: Faculty Graham Lessard and Audio Engineering participant Michael Borsellino. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Right top: Michael Code, Paul Baay, Minister of Advanced Education, Rajan Sawhney, and Chris Lorway. Photo courtesy of Rajan Sawhney.
Right middle: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaking at The Future of Energy Global Summit at Banff Centre. Photo by Alberta Newsroom / Flickr.
Right bottom: Tanya Fir, Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, at the first annual Banff Centre Celebrates fundraiser. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is the meeting place I needed in my life. It is a place where people of all walks of life come together to learn, think, and create. My time there as an Audio Engineer will be fondly remembered as one of the highlights of my whole life because of the great care and nurturing provided to me and my career. Having the opportunity to record a diverse group of high-level artists in worldclass facilities in the heart of the Canadian Rockies has been the ultimate privilege, and I would recommend this experience to anyone who is open to the adventure.
Michael Borsellino Audio Engineer Professional Training Program
Government of Alberta
Banff Centre is grateful for the support of the Government of Alberta as a post-secondary institution located in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. With mountain culture, arts, innovation, and leadership at the core of our mission, we’re proud to represent true Albertan ideals.
We were pleased to welcome a visit from the Minister of Advanced Education, Rajan Sawhney, to Banff Centre, where she met with President and CEO Chris Lorway, Board of Governors chair Paul Baay, and former Vice President of Operations, Michael Code.
Premiere Danielle Smith also arrived at Banff Centre for a special appearance at one of our hosted conferences, The Future of Energy Global Summit, where
she spoke to energy industry stakeholders to chart the course for a more sustainable future.
Tanya Fir, Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, was also sure not to miss a few Banff Centre tentpole events. She joined us in July 2024 for the first annual Banff Centre Celebrates fundraiser, including a show with the legendary Patti LuPone, as well as an evening with the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival in the fall.
Support from the Government of Alberta is pivotal to the work Banff Centre does every day in supporting participant learning and career development.
The spring residency at Banff Centre was a world-altering experience. To live in such a beautiful place with a group of extraordinary artists was once-in-a-lifetime and will live in my heart and my practice for many years to come!
Participant Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) – Spring 2024
Visual Arts
In 2024-25, Banff Centre’s Visual Arts programs once again demonstrated their powerful alchemy of esteemed faculty, expert staff, inspired participants, and stunning facilities. This year was one of witnessing incredible connections between peers and mentors across all five Visual Arts programs, from the three cohorts of the Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) program to the thematic residencies Get LIT! Language, Image, Text and The System and Other Universes
In the latter, faculty member and artist Shary Boyle responded to a previous residency she led at Banff Centre in 2014 (titled The Universe and Other Systems), wanting to explore not only an artist’s practice but the cultural and social structures in which they work. The 2024 iteration, with
Long-lasting relationships forged in fire
faculty Howie Tsui, saw Boyle, the participants, and Banff Centre Ceramics Facilitator Ed Bamiling (celebrating his 35th year at Banff Centre) find a particularly beneficial relationship through community, practice, and our raku kiln. Shary and Ed co-led a workshop born out of their mutual admiration for each other’s ceramics work, leading to a day of firings. The relationships between faculty and participants in this residency were so strong, it led to an exchange of handmade zines between them by the end of the program.
This year, Visual Arts also produced a packed calendar of public events, including 13 lectures, five Open Studios, and a symposium for the thematic residency Banff International Curatorial Institute: Art, Writing, Practice
After a busy year, Visual Arts ended with a celebratory announcement: Haema Sivanesan, former Director of the Leighton Artist Studios and Partnerships, was named the next Director, Visual Arts at Banff Centre. She will begin her new position in May, 2025.
Visual Arts at Banff Centre is supported by the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.
Opposite
Top: Neeko Paluzzi, Get LIT! Language, Image, Text Open Studio.
Left: Michelle Sound, Get LIT! Language, Image, Text Open Studio.
Photos by Rita Taylor.
Clint Neufeld and detail of work, The System and Other Universes Open Studio.
Walter Phillips Gallery
In 2024–25, Walter Phillips Gallery (WPG) at Banff Centre concluded Cassils: Movement, curated by Jacqueline Bell and Carol A. Stakenas, before beginning necessary construction to improve the gallery’s physical facilities. Though the space was closed from June 2024 to February 2025, this did not slow down WPG activity.
In August 2024, Walter Phillips Gallery launched the exhibition Listening Devices. This ongoing exhibition presents audio and score-based works in Banff Centre’s Permanent Collection and on long-term loan, with Listening
Devices informed by the relationship between sound, listener, and location. Many of these works are accessible online and available to experience by those not physically on Banff Centre’s campus.
In 2024, WPG commissioned the new score, Background Music by Raven Chacon, with the world premiere taking place during the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival event, Gather Listen Hear. WPG was also thrilled to present a commissioned audio-based work with graphic score by Lou Sheppard, Dawn Chorus, Evensong (Bow River Valley) in the Shaw Amphitheatre.
Further coinciding with Gather Listen Hear was a moving and intimate activation of Rebecca Belmore’s iconic work, Ayum-eeaawach Oomama-mowan: Speaking to Their Mother at Two Jack Lake, where invited guests and those in attendance spoke, drummed, or sang to the land amplified by the sculpture. Gather Listen Hear also featured a conversation with artists Lisa Myers, Anne Riley, and T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss.
In February 2025, WPG reopened its doors with Facing Photographs, curated by Jacqueline Bell. Comprised mostly of lens-based
works from Banff Centre’s collection, the exhibition drew inspiration from Rosalie Favell’s Facing the Camera series, which originated during her 2008 residency at Banff Centre. Facing Photographs displays works that pose questions around portraiture, identity, politics, and community building.
Through these exhibitions, WPG continues to build and honour our relationships with artists who have a history with Banff Centre. In 2024-25, this commitment also appeared in a renewed emphasis on acquisitions to Banff Centre’s
Permanent Collection. New works by artists such as Lou Sheppard, John Edmonds, Anna Binta Diallo, Rodney Konopaki and Rhonda Neufeld, and more joined the Banff Centre collection as acquisitions or donations. Not only does this maintain our commitment to supporting artists throughout their career, it also ensures that works with a relationship to Banff Centre are stewarded by the institution for generations to come.
Across our exhibitions and the Gather Listen Hear event, it was a privilege this year to present the work of many artists with relationships to Banff Centre.
Jacqueline
Bell Director, Walter Phillips Gallery and Collections
Below: Performance of Raven Chacon’s Background Music, 2024, as part of Gather Listen Hear, 2024. Commissioned by Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Photos by Rita Taylor.
Opposite: Installation view of Facing Photographs, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, 2025. From left to right: Anna Binta Diallo, Whispering Doves, 2019/2024; Moon Woman, 2021/2024.
IA240821_DSC3155.dng
In 2024–25, the Indigenous Arts department, led by Director Janine Windolph, saw a rise in both the number of programs completed and the quality of the applications received (applications overall approximately tripled from 202324). Several factors played into this rise, according to Windolph: increased word of mouth from past participants, heightened anticipation of upcoming programs due to its biannual cycle, and a growing reputation for the department’s core programs.
Simultaneously, a series of small but impactful decisions led to a deeper participant experience across Indigenous Arts programs. From organizing on-campus karaoke parties, to choosing a program space with a communal sink, to booking a nightly fire pit, Indigenous Arts made community-building central to its outcomes, and, according to Windolph, choices like these help create a culturally safe and brave space for participants.
Indigenous Arts is a full-time department uniquely situated on Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain. We are dedicated to supporting and developing Indigenous artists of various disciplines who are bridging old and new ways of artistic expression and storytelling.
Janine Windolph Director, Indigenous Arts
celebrated Hide Tanning and Parfleche Residency with its stunning accompanying Open Studio event, Indigenous Arts programs supported creative development while equally valuing Indigenous methods of learning through community engagement, guest workshops, and visits from Elders.
The impact of Indigenous Arts didn’t only leave an impression with its participants. Audiences also enjoyed a wealth of programming, from National Indigenous History Month events—including a virtual craft market, dance workshop, story session, and a concert from Jah’kota in the Jenny Belzberg Theatre—to the Decolonizing the Narrative lecture series, which are now available online and in-person.
Indigenous Arts at Banff Centre is generously supported by RBC Foundation and Indigenous Screen Office (Write Over Here program). National Indigenous History Month is supported by the Banff Canmore Foundation.
I have never felt so supported and reassured as an Indigenous artist in my life. The faculty, staff, and the other participants in the program fostered a deeply caring environment and a lifelong community. Our efforts as Indigenous artists were valued and respected, and we were given constant validation that our work was meaningful and important.
Participant Indigenous Classical Music
Opposite: (left to right) Anang Binesi, vibraphone; Melody McKiver, viola; Tyler Evans-Knott, flutes; Rebecca Crane, voice; Kerey Harper, electronics; Breana H. McCullough, viola; Shea Iles, guitar; Cris Derksen, cello; Lorena Navarro, marimba; (not pictured Nicole Stonyk, piano; Beverley McKiver, piano). Classical Indigenous Music Residency performance.
Right: Eva Macias, Indigenous World Dance
Below (left to right): Amethyst FirstRyder, Leanne Allison, Dr. Leroy LittleBear, Anders Hunter, and Peter Bawkwill, Indigenous Storytelling panel.
Photos by Rita Taylor.
Theatre and Dance
Bringing theatre training back to our roots
Whether it’s in theatre, dance, or opera, we are listening to artists and what they need to develop the skills they will require to lead to us into the next 100 years.
Amiel Gladstone Director, Theatre Arts
Opposite: Final Tuning residency Late Bloomer, Paige Amicon, Liane Aung, Joseph Davis, David Ferri, Melanie George, Juan Pereira Duarte, Alisia Pobega, Amanda Sachs, Frances Samson, Kevin Shannon. Choreography by Hélène Simoneau of Hélène Simoneau Danse.
Right: Playwrights Lab 2024. Photos by Rita Taylor.
Studying at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity allowed me to further my growth as an artist, re-inspired my passion for new play development, and truly pushed me to be active in what I want the next twenty years of my creative career to look like.
Caroline
Bell Slaight New Play Actor Training participant
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity began with a single course in drama. This season, noticing a gap in training across the country, we returned to that foundation. “Actor training is in our DNA, it’s how we began,” said Amiel Gladstone, Director of Theatre Arts at Banff Centre.
The Slaight New Play Actor Training program launched this year to provide Canadian actors unique guidance during the process of premiering or workshopping a new play. Using two pieces already in development through Banff Centre’s Playwrights Lab and Slaight Theatre Workshop Kohkom’s Babushka by Joleen Ballendine and Lianna Makuch, and DUCKS by Ellen Close—actors worked with directors and faculty to not only build their performance skills but also learn how to successfully
contribute to the play creation process. These plays told Alberta stories but involved actors from coast to coast, giving many of them their first taste of mountain life.
This is one of several programs in Theatre Arts that demonstrates the development of a performance at Banff Centre, from an idea to the full production. The Final Tuning residency is another example, which prepared two dance pieces for their official premieres: Exile by Meghann Michalsky of Project InTandem and Late Bloomer by Hélène Simoneau Danse. These two Canadian choreographers and performers now have the rehearsal and performance experience to take their pieces on the road. In the future, the same opportunity might arise for one of the three works developed in the 2024 Dance Artists in Residence program, which featured a wide variety of genres: from modern, to an ensemble of Deaf dancers, to Norwegian clown performance.
Theatre and Dance are generously supported by The Slaight Family Foundation, Maclab Enterprises Endowment, and Arnold Spohr Distinguished Guest Artist for Dance Endowment.
Opera and Music
The most unexpected and life-changing sonic adventure of my life. Profound, extraordinary, magical.
Paolo Peruzzi Jazz and Sonic Arts participant
Interplay The Handmaid’s Tale workshop.
Opposite
The Theatre Arts and Music departments joined forces this year for Interplay, a celebration of opera and chamber music and a platform for early career and established vocalists, instrumentalists, and creatives to collaborate on new works and celebrated masterpieces. The program contained an exciting mix of faculty-guided programs and public concerts and workshops. From the fan-favourite Opera Pubs, to a series of chamber music concerts, to the public workshops of two new Canadian operas in development—Indians on Vacation and The Handmaid’s Tale —Interplay was a pillar of programming in the 2024 Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival. Bow Valley audiences were thrilled to have a number of opportunities to engage with fresh perspectives on classical art forms.
More Music programs came alive during the summer, like Art of Piano (a popular Music program returning after years on pause) and the new Jazz and Sonic Arts. In the former, world-renowned pianists HungKuan Chen, Marc-André Hamelin and Joanna MacGregor came to Banff Centre as faculty to conduct public masterclasses and perform solo concerts. In the latter, participants pushed jazz and sound art to new frontiers through improvisation, experimentation, and technology, and showcased the end results in a thrilling series of concerts featuring faculty saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, trumpeter Takuya Kuroda, vocalist Ganavya, and harpist Charles Overton.
And when the weather turned colder, the music heated up—the Banff Musicians in Residence
Top: Sam Fournier (bass), Hiromu Seifert (drums), Harrison Argatoff (tenor saxophone, composer), Myrsini Bekakou (violin), Paolo Peruzzi (vibraphone). Jazz and Sonic Arts participants concert.
Right: Dakota Perez, Art of Piano participant concert.
Photos by Rita Taylor.
program took over the outdoor music huts and studios in our Music and Sound Building in January 2025. With the guidance of faculty Kronos Quartet—who also performed two public concerts with special guests Nicole Lizée and the Hardanger Project—as well as rapper Shad, participants took full advantage of the development opportunity. Audiences got to witness the results through several free participant concerts as well as three unique Open Studios
Music and Opera are made possible through the David Spencer Endowment Encouragement Fund, Yolande Freeze Master Artists in Music Fund, Maria Francisca Josepha Brouwer Scholarship Fund, Bruce McKinnon Memorial Endowment, Helen Graham, Heather Edwards, and Artemisia Foundation.
I have always looked forward to doing a program at Banff Centre and this one came at the perfect time. I found a community and had invaluable artistic and professional growth. I left with a better sense of the world, what I wanted to achieve, and who I want to be. As I now move onto a new chapter in my life, I am grateful for my time in Banff and feel prepared to go onward with confidence and an appreciation for the present.
Dakota Perez Art of Piano participant
Indigenous Leadership
In 2023, Banff Centre celebrated 50 years of Indigenous Leadership and the remarkable impact these professional development programs have had on leaders to run effective organizations and communities and strengthen sustainable economies. In 2024–25, the next 50 years of Indigenous Leadership began, looking at the next phase of skills and knowledge that will have the biggest transformation.
Banff Centre’s Indigenous Leadership programs blend the richness of traditional cultural practices and values, while teaching the core competencies required for success in today’s business world. Under the leadership of Director Simon Ross, Indigenous Leadership held 17 on-campus
programs this year, serving 440 participants. These core programs, contributing to the Certificate of Indigenous Leadership, Governance, and Management Excellence, include the popular Calling Our Spirits Home: Indigenous Women in Leadership, Braiding Strands: Related World Strategic Planning , and Wise Practices in Indigenous Leadership
This year, Ross also initiated a new program in response to the recent federal funding announcement through Bill C-92, which empowers Indigenous communities to regain jurisdiction over child welfare services: Dreaming Forward: Exploring Pathways to Child Welfare Jurisdiction. The program began with a thought leaders gathering in May 2024, bringing together social
workers, lawyers, Elders, federal and provincial agency workers, on-reserve band councilors, and off-reserve community leaders. Subsequent program design periods took place throughout the year, and the program was officially launched in March 2025.
Indigenous Leadership is supported by the Suncor Energy Foundation as the founding supporter in addition to several generous corporations, foundations, and individuals. With additional support through the Government of Alberta for the Peter Lougheed Leadership Initiative, Banff Centre continues to design, build, and launch new Indigenous Leadership programs.
Above: Calling Our Spirits Home: Indigenous Women in Leadership participants 2024. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Right: Dreaming Forward Miikaans teachings video with Simon Ross and Elder John Rice. Still by Banff Centre.
It is these leaders who will lift Indigenous rights to self-determination by looking after our future—our children and our families—and providing these leaders with the knowledge of how to do it in a good way with good fiscal responsibility.
Simon Ross Director, Indigenous Leadership
Shell Canada Limited
Banff Centre’s Indigenous Leadership programs create an intergenerational legacy of community stewards and caretakers. Supporters like Shell Canada make possible the revitalization of traditional cultural practices and values, while providing aspiring Indigenous leaders with core competencies for success in the modern governance and business world.
Shell Canada’s commitment to support Banff Centre’s Indigenous Leadership programs reaches back decades, beginning in 1998. Since then, Shell Canada has invested $2.5 million into Banff Centre programs over
27 years including significant scholarship support to Indigenous community members seeking to build their leadership capacity. This support has resulted in more economically sustainable communities, effective mentorship of the next generation of leaders, and more effective relations with industry. Currently, Shell Canada specifically provides funding for faculty, scholarships, and program costs for Calling Our Spirits Home: Indigenous Women in Leadership and Truth and Reconciliation through Right Relations
Banff Centre is grateful for the investment in supporting the growth and empowerment
of Indigenous leaders, ensuring they have the tools and knowledge to drive positive change within their communities, while preserving cultural heritage and fostering a deeper understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing.
Banff Centre’s contributions to Canada’s cultural, artistic, and leadership landscape make it an indispensable institution, and we are proud to support their work.
Shauna Durelle
National Social Investment Advisor, Shell Canada
Cultural Leadership & Convening and Summits
A
renewed vision for Leadership at Banff
Centre
This was a year of activity to reimagine the Cultural Leadership program at Banff Centre, and it began by looking at another impressive example of leadership training: our Indigenous Leadership program.
With the support of an arts policy consultant to help facilitate the Cultural Leadership program design, Banff Centre started by engaging with our Indigenous
INDIGENOUS
LEADERSHIP PROGRAM WHEEL
faculty first. This was intended to ground this new program in the right relations engagement and leadership principles. The result was the pilot of Cultural Leadership: Foundations in January 2025, delivered to a group of invited Alberta-based leaders of small- to mid-sized organizations. The pilot included sessions on leadership styles, systems thinking, government and advocacy, funding, evaluation, health and wellness, and women in leadership. The goal of the revised Cultural Leadership program is to strike a balance between organizational development and the growth of one’s personal leadership practice.
Another pillar of the Leadership department at Banff Centre also grew this year: Convening and Summits. This area is designed to serve as research and development support for our core
Arts and Leadership programs; learning outcomes from these gatherings of thought leaders and stakeholders will inform the evolution of our public programs, ensuring they continue to meet the needs of the moment.
In its first year of operation, the Convening and Summits department held three key events: a Cultural Leadership forum (March 2024), the Canadian Arts Summit (also March 2024), co-hosted with Business for the Arts, and the Banff Centre Giving Summit (May 2024).
Looking forward, Convening and Summits will create gatherings to not only further Banff Centre programming, but to inspire our global partners in creative thinking and to better the experiences of our participants and public audiences.
Thanks for the support by the Government of Alberta and Alberta Advanced Education for the Peter Lougheed Leadership Initiative, Banff Centre continues to design, build, and launch Cultural Leadership Programs.
Above: 2024 Canadian Arts Summit, (left to right): Chima Nkemdirim, Chair, Calgary Arts Development, and Anita Gaffney, Executive Director, Stratford Festival.
Opposite top: 2024 Canadian Arts Summit, (left to right): CAS Steering Committee Members Robert Foster, Jean-François Bélisle, Anne Chafe, Alisa Palmer, Aubrey Reeves, Mark Wold, Maya Choldin, John G. Hampton, Sarah Garton Stanley, Paul Laroque, Monica Esteves.
Photos by Philip Maglieri.
Ian and Judy Griffin
When Ian Griffin and his wife Judy moved to Calgary 45 years ago from Vancouver, they stopped by Banff Centre while out skiing. Little did Ian know that not only would he fall in love with Banff Centre, but he would still be actively involved in Banff Centre life in 2025.
I was instantly blown away by the majesty of the place and what it stood for... arts, creativity, and innovation. I had to be involved.
Ian Griffin Donor, Leadership
As a board member for multiple organizations, and with two decades on the Banff Centre Foundation Board of Governors, Ian noticed a trend across sectors: community members were more than willing to volunteer their time, but apart from a very generous group, it was a different story when it came to philanthropic giving. He felt the key next step was simply to start talking about philanthropy in a clear, concentrated way. Banff Centre was immediately an ideal place for such a gathering.
In 2024, Banff Centre hosted the inaugural Banff Centre Giving Summit (May 29-31, 2024) thanks to the generous support of Ian and Judy Griffin. The Giving Summit convened a small, sold-out cohort of 80 delegates for three days of panels, presentations, and deep discussions with 24 international speakers on the future of giving, and specifically, the possibilities of moonshot
philanthropy to solve some of Canada’s greatest challenges. The outcome was productive and mobilizing, and displayed the need for a continued conversation: the next Giving Summit is currently planned for Banff Centre’s 2026–27 season.
Banff Centre became a life-changing experience for Judy and me, and we truly feel like part of its community. It is one of the true, foundational fibres of the cultural fabric of all of Canada.
Ian Griffin
Banff Centre is incredibly thankful to Ian and Judy for making the Banff Centre Giving Summit a reality as well as their support over so many years. Individuals like them are integral to fulfilling Banff Centre’s mission of fostering thought leadership to lead to a creative, innovative future.
Photo by Carys Richards.
Year-at-a-Glance
2024 – 2025
April 2024
Cassils: Movement
Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour
Colin James Blues Trio
Natural Drawing Basics # 1 Bow Valley Edition
Intermediate Negotiation Skills Training
Reel Time: Perfect Days
May 2024
Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) – Spring 2024
Indigenous Arts Thematic: Story Sharing Residency
Losing Blue: Canada-Wide Film Release
Beers for Queers
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Rita McKeough
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Allyson Mitchell and Deirdre Logue
Indigenous Leadership
Thought Leaders Gathering
June 2024
Braiding Strands: Related World Strategic Planning
Banff Playwrights Lab
Literary Arts Thematic Residency: Form and Constraint
Intermediate Inherent Right to Indigenous Governance
Slaight Theatre Workshop
Valley Winds Music Association concert
Natural Drawing Beyond # 1 Bow Valley Edition
Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series: Jackson 2bears
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Allyson Mitchell and Deirdre Logue
Professional Training: Audio Engineer
Professional Training: Piano Technician
Professional Training: Wardrobe
14th BISQC Laureate Residency: Balourdet Quartet
Truth and Reconciliation Through Right Relations
Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival
Ron James
Intermediate Indigenous Evaluation Frameworks
Chamber Music and Opera: Interplay
National Indigenous History Month
Opera Pub
Literary Journalism: Memoir
Live at Maclab: Irish Mythen
Interplay: The Handmaid’s Tale Workshop
Intermediate Leading Teams: Governance for Indigenous Councils and Boards
National Indigenous Peoples Day Concert featuring Jah’kota
Visual Arts Thematic Residency: Get LIT! Language, Image, Text
Amp Sessions: Mari Rosehill
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: August Klintberg
Opera Pub
Interplay: Indians on Vacation Workshop
In 2024-25, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity surged in activity, both on campus and in our community. There was hardly a day without a program, lecture, concert, performance, or screening.
See upcoming events and programs at banffcentre.ca
July 2024
Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI): Art, Writing, Practice
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Joi T. Arcand
Art of Piano
Indigenous World Dance Residency
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Whess Harman
Amp Sessions: Nurdjana
Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI) Symposia: Art, Writing, Practice
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Michael Turner
Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series: Cheryl L’Hirondelle
Banff Centre Celebrates
Amp Sessions: Todd Clarkson
Indigenous World Dance Residency Performance
Summer Writers Residency
National Youth Orchestra of Canada
IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild
August 2024
William Shakespeare’s As You Like It : A Radical Retelling by Cliff Cardinal
Gather Listen Hear
Jazz & Sonic Arts: Gather Listen Hear
Classical Indigenous Music Residency
Amp Sessions: Liam Cowan Lou Sheppard: Dawn Chorus, Evensong (Bow River Valley)
Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) – Summer 2024
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Lori Blondeau
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Elisabeth Belliveau
Gather Listen Hear: Indigenous Classical Music Concert
Graphic Score-Making Workshop with Lou Sheppard
Jazz & Sonic Arts Concert
Resounding Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly Garden
Ayum-ee-aawach Oomama-mowan: Speaking to Their Mother
Background Music by Raven Chacon
Evensong (Breathing as One) with Pamela Hart and Lou Sheppard
Listening Devices
Banff International String Quartet Festival
Photos left to right: Jah’kota; Beers for Queers; Nurdjana, photo by Abigaile Edwards; Background Music by Raven Chacon performance; Dawn Chorus, Evensong
(Bow River Valley) performance by Lou Sheppard, video still by
Banff Centre.
Photos by
Rita Taylor unless otherwise stated.
Lou Sheppard: Dawn Chorus, Evensong (Bow River Valley)
National Indigenous Peoples Day Concert featuring Jah’kota
Background Music by Raven Chacon
Beers for Queers
Amp Sessions: Nurdjana
September 2024
Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival and World Tour Outdoor Screening
Natural Drawing Basics # 2
Indigenous and Mountain Culture Outdoor Screening
Intermediate Wise Practices in Indigenous Leadership
Slaight New Play Actor Training
Photos top to bottom: Hide Tanning and Parfleche Residency; Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival Snow Show audience; Ellie Stalcup, Hut 28, BMiR Winter 2025;
Residency EXILE rehearsal; Michelle Thrush, photo by Abigaile Edwards. Photos by Rita Taylor unless otherwise stated.
December 2024
Intermediate Indigenous Evaluation Frameworks
Dance Artists in Residence 2024
Reel Time: Sing Sing
January 2025
Natural Drawing Basics # 3
Bow Valley Edition
14th BISQC Laureate Recording
Residency: Isidore String Quartet
Calling Our Spirits Home:
Indigenous Women in Leadership
Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series: Valerie St. Pierre Smith
Early Career Writers of Fiction
Hide Tanning and Parfleche Residency
October 2024
Live at Maclab: Pharis and Jason Romero
Intermediate Wise Practices in Indigenous Leadership
Reel Time: Crossing Mountain Writers Intensive
November 2024
Natural Drawing Beyond # 2
Visual Arts Thematic Residency: The System and Other Universes
Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival – Online
Adventure Filmmakers Workshop
Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival
Rainbow Guardians: A Two-Spirit Indigenous Showcase
Banff Musicians in Residence (BMiR)
– Winter 2025
Kronos Quartet: Featuring Music by Nicole Lizée
Winter Writers Residency
February 2025
Deafy
Dance Residency: Final Tuning
Reel Time: Small Things Like These
Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR)
– Early Career 2025
Facing Photographs
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Althea Thauberger
Calling Our Spirits Home: Indigenous Women in Leadership
March 2025
Intermediate Negotiation Skills Training
Reel Time: All We Imagine as Light
Ballet Edmonton: MOMENTUM Tour
Community Screening: Champions of the Golden Valley
Community Holiday Concerts
Jens Lindemann Holiday Concert
Jim Cuddy
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Shary Boyle
Cloudgate Dance Theatre: 13 TONGUES
Hawksley Workman
Intermediate Project Management for Indigenous Organizations
Literary Journalism
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Howie Tsui
Reel Time: Wicked Little Letters
Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series: Adrian Stimson
The Barra MacNeils
Intermediate Indigenous Business and Economic Development
An Evening With Naomi Klein
Kronos Quartet: Featuring the Hardanger Project
Avalanche Awareness Night
Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series: Michelle Thrush
Mahabharata: The Journey Begins
Write Over Here:
Indigenous Screenwriting Residency
Community Screening: Mongolia, Valley of the Bears
Visual Arts Open Lecture Series: Sean Lee
Literary Journalism: Environmental Writing
Wonderful Joe
Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography 2025 Artist Talk: Karen Zalamea
Dreaming Forward:
Exploring Pathways to Child Welfare Jurisdiction
Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series: Cease Wyss
Melody McArthur
In addition to these timely events, several projects run all year long at Banff Centre.
Leighton Artist Studios programs welcome artists to campus on a continuous basis, activating the studios, including the Painter House, in all seasons.
Banff on Demand also provides online access to a roster of mountain films from past Banff Centre Mountain Film Festivals throughout the year. In 2024–25, Banff on Demand reached over 5,400 viewers.
Banff Musicians in Residence (BMiR) – Winter 2025 Open Studio
Dance Residency: Final Tuning
Hide Tanning and Parfleche Residency
Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival
Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series: Michelle Thrush
Hospitality & Mission-Aligned Conferences
This year, Banff Centre hosted over 275 conferences and groups, activating all corners of campus, from the Kinnear Centre for Creativity and Innovation, to our onsite hotels Lloyd Hall and Professional Development Centre, to our restaurants, Vistas Dining Room and Maclab Bistro. Conference guests can also live like a Banffite and take a lap in the pool or a crack at the climbing wall at Sally Borden Fitness and Recreation.
Not only do conferences help finance our leadership and arts programs, we have the honour of hosting several missionaligned conferences every year. These gatherings work to advance a goal or value we hold at Banff Centre, and assist in creating our vision of a kind, creative, innovative future.
Examples of these conferences from this year include:
Take Me Outside
May 5–14, 2024
The Outdoor Learning Conference returned to Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for its second year in 2024 and doubled in size! This year, it brought together over 500 attendees and 147 presenters from across North America. Topics covered included Indigenous Learning, Climate and the Environment, and Health and Wellbeing.
Alberta Teachers Association
August 10–16, 2024
The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) Summer Conference provides training and development for those who would like to grow in their local roles and support Association leadership. In 2024, 341 teachers from around Alberta attended programs in bargaining, professional development, and local political engagement.
Future of Energy Global Summit
September 22–24, 2024
This conference brings together energy producers, industrial energy consumers, clean tech innovators, government bodies, First Nations, non-profits, and other key stakeholders to ignite transformative solutions for the energy sector. The 2024 conference featured keynote speakers Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta, and the Honourable Gordon Campbell, President of Hawksmuir International Partners Limited and recipient of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia.
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
October 15–17, 2024
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of the residential school experience are honoured and kept safe for future generations. This retreat consisted
of residential school survivors, as well as support workers, to serve the work of collecting their statements, documents, and other materials to educate other Canadians as part of the fulfillment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).
BECCS Leadership Summit
October 16–18, 2024
Co-hosted by Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) and Alberta Innovates, this close-knit event brought together over 100 leaders and decision-makers to discuss how to address barriers and accelerate the adoption of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology in Canada.
Welcome (Back!) Executive Chef Sébastian Tessier CCC
There’s a familiar face in our kitchens! In 2024, Banff Centre welcomed our former Executive Chef Sébastien Tessier back into the role. A beloved member of the family from 2010 to 2022, we were thrilled to have Chef Sébastien join us again after gaining valuable experience at Lake Louise Ski Resort and Panorama Mountain Resort.
Chef Sébastien brings over 20 years of experience in hospitality and food and beverage leadership to Banff Centre with a passion for sustainable practices, fruitful relationships with local vendors, and celebrating the diversity of the Bow Valley through cuisine. With his support, our Food and Beverage teams implemented several waste-saving policies and revitalized our menu with new locally sourced products, all while delivering delicious meals at Vistas Dining Room and Maclab Bistro!
Banff Centre Campus.
Photo by Chris Amat.
Below: Conferences at Banff Centre.
Photo by Jessica Whittman.
Photo by Rita Taylor.
Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival
After a five-year hiatus, this season brought back the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival: three months of events across all of Banff Centre’s arts programs. From readings to concerts to visual art, the 2024 Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival produced over 70 events between June 1 and September 7, over half of which were free to attend, reaching over 9,200 audience members.
The 2024 Festival highlighted each arts discipline on its own. Several projects also highlighted collaborations between them: Interplay involved both Music and Theatre Arts to merge performers in opera and chamber music, and the collection of performances and art pieces in Gather Listen Hear brought together Visual Arts,
Indigenous Arts, and Music. Within a festival context, we celebrated the blurred boundaries between our departments and increased collaboration between them. Artists and audiences both win by experiencing new partnerships and outlets for creation.
Presentations of important artists not connected to a program were also key to the festival’s appeal to local audiences, and to Banff Centre’s mission of bringing the best in international and national creators to the Bow Valley. Comedian Ron James and musician Irish Mythen kicked off the festival in June, and playwright and performer Cliff Cardinal made a splash with his radical retelling of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It
as part of Gather Listen Hear, August 21 – 23, 2024.
Collection of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Purchased with the support of the York Wilson Endowment Award, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts | Accession Number: P08 0001 S
Above: Irish Mythen Live at Maclab.
Photos by Rita Taylor.
Classical pianist Hunter Noack’s IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild turned the Shaw Amphitheatre into a concert hall by placing a grand piano on our outdoor stage, and handing out headphones to the audience. Free to roam the campus grounds, recline on the grass in the sun, or even join Noack on the stage, audiences were stunned by the power of the performance and the majesty of our surroundings: a perfect encapsulation of the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival.
Left: Cheryl L’Hirondelle with support from Tarah Hogue activating Ayum-eeaawach Oomama-mowan: Speaking to Their Mother, 1991, by Rebecca Belmore. Gathering, Two Jack Lake, Alberta, 2024. Presented by the Walter Phillips Gallery
Banff International String Quartet Festival
Banff Centre was buzzing over a weekend in late summer (August 30 to September 1, 2024), and the reason was the Banff International String Quartet Festival (BISQFest). Eight sold-out concerts and events took place over the three-day festival, the sixth edition of the event that now takes place in non-competition years. Selling over 2,100 tickets, music fans took in the rare opportunity to be immersed in intimate classical concerts from world-renowned names in the stunning Canadian Rockies.
Celebrating the 2024 BISQFest were competition alumni alongside special guests (65 artists in total) exploring repertoire from across the centuries.
Highlights included reigning Banff International String Quartet Competition winners, the Isidore String Quartet and 2019 winners, the Viano Quartet, renowned violinist James Ehnes and the Ehnes Quartet, founder and artistic director of the Kronos Quartet David Harrington, jazz pianist and composer Andy Milne, and classical music critic and author Jeremy Eichler.
Performances like these filled the Rolston Recital Hall and the Jenny Belzberg Theatre—but performances weren’t confined only to campus. Young families at Saturday morning storytime at Banff Public Library enjoyed a performance from two BISQFest violinists in between their picture books, too.
BISQFest is generously supported by an Anonymous supporter, the Jenny Belzberg Future Fund, and the Sir Jack Lyons Charitable Trust.
Banff Centre has a reputation for enthusiastic audiences whose passion for live music inspires the artists on the stage. This year was no different. I can’t wait for them to be back at the Banff International String Quartet Competition from August 25–31, 2025!
Barry Shiffman Director, BISQC
Isidore String Quartet with Andy Milne (pianist) at the Banff International String Quartet Festival 2024. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival
The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival once again brought Banff to the world, and brought the world to Banff! From October 26 to November 3, 2024, the annual festival hosted 90 films, 80 events, guest speakers, and book events—all welcoming 16,000 people to Banff over the course of nine epic days in the Rocky Mountains.
This year, we celebrated a 13% rise in festival attendance, selling out 16 events and packing crowds at new fan-favourites like the Rab Stage of talks, panels, and presentations and Happy Hours on the Jenny Belzberg Theatre patio.
Programming highlights included pioneering mountain climber Dawa Yangzum Sherpa—the first Asian woman, and one of just over 100 women worldwide, to earn an International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations guide certification—plus another climbing legend, Beth Rodden, with her new memoir A Light Through the Cracks
Cody Lefthand’s film Stories
We Have Earned: The Stoney Nakoda Film Project explored the exploitation of the Stoney Nakoda people’s culture and customs for entertainment purposes. And the big winner of the festival, walking away with both the Grand Prize and the Audience Choice Award, was Champions of the Golden Valley directed by Ben Sturgulewski.
The live in-person festival remains an important, vibrant gathering for the mountain community, but it’s also reaching those unable to come to campus. From November 6–13, the online festival reached over 4,200 more viewers at home.
Once the in-person and online festivals are completed—it’s time to hit the road! The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour reached 44 countries with over 1,100 screenings this year.
We’re celebrating 50 years in 2025!
From November 1 – 9, Banff Centre will host a festival that’s bigger and better than ever. Join us!
Above: Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival audience.
Right: Festival Marketplace.
Photos by Rita Taylor.
Banff Centre Presents
Banff Centre is home to performance venues like the Jenny Belzberg Theatre, the Margaret Greenham Theatre, the Rolston Recital Hall, and the Shaw Amphitheatre. Throughout every season, these venues come alive to showcase participants and faculty in our arts programs. While they’re not in use for programs, they serve another important function—to bring local, national, and international performances to Banff through our presenting arm, Banff Centre Presents.
This year, the summertime series Amp Sessions highlighted Banff musicians. Alberta icon Ronnie Burkett sold out three performances of his latest production, Wonderful Joe
The acclaimed Canadian theatre company Why Not Theatre invited Bow Valley and Southern Alberta audiences into a special open rehearsal of their stage production of the South Asian epic in Mahabharata: The Journey Begins. Preceded by a special community meal in Vistas Dining Room, Banff Centre saw significant attendance from Alberta’s South Asian community who joined for this celebration of Indian culture. Attendees heard from co-creators Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes about the creation of the work and its upcoming tour to Perth, Australia, Toronto, Ottawa, and New York City.
The world dance phenomenon Cloud Gate Dance Company of Taiwan, named “one of the finest dance companies in the world” by The Globe and Mail, arrived in Banff with their performance 13 TONGUES. Through a kaleidoscope of precise movement and colour, this performance evoked the bustling streets of Taipei’s historic Bangka district right here in the mountains.
Many of these names might be new to our community—but we’re also bringing back old favourites and starting new traditions. This year, Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and trumpeter Jens Lindemann packed the house yet again, as did The Barra MacNeils with their holiday show An East Coast Christmas.
Above: Mahabharata rehearsal.
Photo by Rita Taylor.
Far left: Cloudgate Dance Theatre of Taiwan 13 TONGUES
Photo by LEE Chia-yeh. Joe and Mister in Wonderful Joe by Ronnie Burkett. Photo by Ian Jackson.
Banff Centre Celebrates
Prior to the pandemic, Banff Centre was known for its annual summer fundraiser, the Midsummer Ball. After a five-year hiatus, it was time to celebrate again in 2024.
Banff Centre Celebrates, held on July 20, 2024, was an evening of music, cabaret, conversation, and connection with over 150 of Banff Centre’s closest supporters. Guests from our Bow Valley community, Banff Centre Board and Foundation members, government, business leaders, and many others connected over a pre-show reception and dinner from Banff Centre’s culinary arts team and took in performances from two legendary New York City figures.
First, the inimitable Patti LuPone performed her revue Songs From A Hat in the Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre, alongside her music director and pianist, Joseph Thalken. LuPone—a threetime Tony Award-winner, viral sensation, matriarch of musical theatre, and Marvel Universe star (in 2024’s Agatha All Along)—had her audience enthralled with every song title pulled from her titular top hat, from originals to her best-known show tunes.
The party continued with a piano bar-inspired afterparty radiating with late-night, post-show energy. Pianist and performer Brandon James Gwinn held court with songs and stories, while Alberta’s own musical theatre stars joined in: Vance Avery, Samantha Currie, Dallas HayesSparks, Fionn Laird, Katelyn Morishita, and Tenaj Williams.
Not only did Banff Centre Celebrates raise important funds for Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s programs, but it was also a chance to celebrate world-class artists and peers. The event will return in July 2025 for a special presentation of Banff (The Beautiful) Celebrates Oscar Peterson at 100
We are so grateful to the generosity and commitment of Banff Centre Celebrates’ supporters who play a crucial role in our ability to continue fostering arts, leadership, creativity, and community. We look forward to celebrating many more milestones together on the path to 100 years in 2033.
Banff Centre Celebrates was generously supported by Lead Sponsor Parkland Corporation, Premium Table Supporters Gavin Berger and Craig Berggren, RBC Foundation, and RBC, along with many individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Above: Patti LuPone.
Photo by Douglas Friedman.
Top left: Brandon James Gwinn and Tenaj Williams performing at the Banff Centre Celebrates After Party. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Top right: Michael McMillan, Jennifer McMillan, Bob Espey, Derek Fast, and Mary Jane Espey at Banff Centre Celebrates.
Middle right: Linda Black, Chris Lorway, Doug Black, Peter Tertzakian, and Janet Tertzakian at Banff Centre Celebrates.
Photos by Rita Taylor.
Banff Centre Governance
I would like to thank our Board of Governors for their hard work and dedication to the next chapter of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Their support and belief in our mission is deeply felt and appreciated. It will have a tangible impact on the individuals we reach around the world for years to come.
Chris Lorway
In October 2023, the Government of Alberta dissolved Banff Centre’s former Board of Governors, and appointed Paul Baay as temporary administrator.
In April 2024, the province officially appointed Paul Baay as Chair of Banff Centre’s Board of Governors, where he was joined by five additional publicly appointed governors, including Brinna Brinkerhoff, Lori Paine, Pinder Sandhu, Naomi Schmold, and Myron Tétreault.
The following June, Ron Hallman, President and CEO of Parks Canada, officially resumed his role on the Banff Centre Board of Governors.
Throughout the coming months, Banff Centre’s Board of Governors will continue to grow as it expands to include members of our arts, leadership, education, and Bow Valley communities.
Working alongside the leadership of Banff Centre, particularly President and CEO Chris Lorway, has been a truly rewarding experience. It has been an honour to serve with him and my fellow Board members during such an exciting season. I look forward with great anticipation to all that we will accomplish together as we approach Banff Centre’s 100th anniversary in 2033.
Paul Baay
Banff Centre Board of Governors
Paul Baay (Chair)
Chris Lorway (President & CEO)
Brinna Brinkerhoff
Ron Hallman
Lori Paine
Pinder Sandhu
Naomi Schmold
Myron Tétreault
The Banff Centre Foundation
Jill J. Price (Chair)
Leslie Belzberg
Gavin R. Berger
David Gagnon
Susan P. Kololian
Sandy Martin
Michael S.H. McMillan
Aly Khan Musani
Paul Baay, Chair of Banff Centre Board of Governors (ex officio)
Chris Lorway, President & CEO, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (ex officio)
Chris Lorway and Paul Baay. Photo by Rita Taylor.
Revenue & Expenses
The following tables include the composition of Banff Centre’s total revenue and expenses for the year ended March 31, 2025 (in thousands of dollars).
2024–25 Revenue $60,623
Expenses $60,043
Distribution
Activities & Engagement
Admissions Highights
57 Arts and Leadership Programs
1,089
Total Enrolled Participants
Event Highlights
51,000+
Attendees to all events, festivals, performances, and exhibitions Including
14,500+
Attendees at free shows and events
2,000+ Visitors to the Walter Phillips Gallery
275+ Conferences Hosted
14,000+ Attendees
64,750+ Hotel nights booked
469 Employees
Photos: Jah’kota, by Banff Centre; Banff Centre campus, by Biliana Panic.
Supporters
Through their generosity and investment in Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, government, donors, sponsors, and other supporters help inspire artists and leaders to make their unique contribution to society.
Government of Alberta
Alberta Advanced Education
Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Government of Canada
Canadian Heritage / Patrimoine Canadien
Canada Council for the Arts / Conseil des arts du Canada
2024 – 25 Supporters
In recognition of donors and supporters who contributed to Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025. Amounts represent actual funds received and do not include pledge amounts committed that are receivable in future years.
$100,000 – $249,999
Corporate
Parkland Corporation
Shell Canada Limited
Foundation
Calgary Foundation
Fondation DRG
RBC Foundation and RBC
David Spencer Endowment Encouragement Fund
Anonymous (2)
Individual
Ian and Judy Griffin
$50,000 – $99,999
Corporate
Banff and Lake Louise Tourism
Power Corporation of Canada
Rab
Scotiabank
Foundation
The Azrieli Foundation
The Ralph M. Barford Foundation
Individuals
Heather Edwards
Anonymous
Organization / Association
Indigenous Screen Office
$30,000 – $49,999
Corporate
Buff®
CIBC
Kicking Horse Coffee
Lake Louise Ski Resort and Summer Gondola
Oboz
World Expeditions
YETI
Foundation
The Jarislowsky Foundation
Individual
Gavin Berger and Craig Berggren
$20,000 – $29,999
Corporate
Banff Airporter
Banff Lodging Company
Canadian National Railway Company
Eventive
Foundation
The Palmer Family Foundation
Individual
Cassils
Sandra Green
Susie and Vahan Kololian
Jeff and Marilyn McCaig
Jennifer and Mike McMillan
Anonymous (2)
Organization / Association
Future Generations Foundation
$10,000 – $19,999
Corporate
Arc’teryx
Fjällräven Canada
Jarislowsky Fraser Limited
Lodge at Bow Lake
Mawer Investment Management
Nikon
Subaru Calgary
Wild Life
Wild Rose Brewery (Sleeman)
Foundation
Banff Canmore Community Foundation
JSL Family Foundation
The Lecky Foundation
Lemieux Family
Anonymous
Individual
Derek Beaulieu
Dianne Bos
Edna and Richard Cushman
Frances Harley Urtasun and Raul Urtasun
Rodney Konopaki
MacLachlan Ridge Family
Rhonda Neufeld
Susan and David Targett
Anonymous
Organization / Association
11th Hour Racing
Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise
$6,000 – $9,999
Foundation
Virginia Middleberg Fund at Calgary Foundation
SOMAR Family Foundation (Sandy and Larry Martin)
Individual
Christopher R. Head
Brent McLean and Sheila Wappel-McLean
Chrysanne Stathacos
$1,000 – $5,999
Corporate
Anew Climate
ATB Financial
Bird Construction
Burnet Duckworth & Palmer LLP
Core Values Cider Co.
Dr. Hsing Jou Professional Corporation
Drop Caramel
DUER Canada
Grangers
Happy Yak
Kahtoola
Kumpfy Shoes
Lolë
Mount Norquay
Mountain Life Media
Netherlands Investment Company of Canada Limited
Norseman Outdoor
NRS
Porter O’Brien Agency
Red Bull Media
Rocky Mountain Books
SkiUphill
Stoke Juice
Tecnica Group
Foundation
Allard Foundation
Dancyger (Morris and Ann) Philanthropy Fund at Calgary Foundation
Flair Foundation
Pamela Grigg Charitable Fund at Calgary Foundation
The William and Nona Heaslip Foundation
Hicks Memorial Fund at Calgary Foundation
Peter and Dorothea Macdonnell Fund at Edmonton Community Foundation
Meteoros Fund at Calgary Foundation
The Marcia Nelson & Steve Patten Fund at QUBE Charitable Foundation
Ödön and Yvonne Panek Family Fund —
Ottawa Community Foundation
The Carol Shields Prize Foundation
The Smith Vanstokkom Foundation
The Myron and Catherine Tétreault Foundation
Individual
Ignacio Alvarez Zegarra
Ginger Anders and Joseph Baker
Gail Andrew
Gail Asper and Michael Paterson
Ralph and Elaine Beaulieu
Jenny Belzberg
Mark Bergen and Heidi Allen
Linda Black, K.C. and Doug Black, K.C.
Michael Brown and Julia Buonanno
Andrea Brussa
Paul Chiswell
Gertrude Cohos
Norma and David Cooke
Beverley Diamond
Derek Fast
Alan and Valerie Fielding
Carol and Miles Godlonton
Helen Graham
Thomas Greving and Lance Carlson
Debra Hamilton
Estate of Graham Royle Harris
Todd Hawkwood
Ross and Nancy Hayes
Mark and Nancy Heule
Lisa Higham and Alan Covington
Robert Hilsden
Stephanie Howard
Ernest Howe
Ken Hughes
Jeffrey Jansen
Donald K. Johnson
Jolliffe and Godlonton Families
Valerie and Clarence Kapay
Brian and Roderick
James S. Kinnear
Zelma Kiss and Christopher McAviney
Tim and Alana Kitchen
John and Sheilagh Langille
B.K. Lee*
Ava Lee
Bette and Winston Lord
Chris Lorway
Andrew and Sarah MacNiven
James McMeekin and Barb Walley
Brian Mills and Susan Tyrrell
Geri and Alani Moon
Rob and Patricia Peabody
Brian Petersen
Brian Rogers, K.C. and Gayla Rogers
Lore Ruschiensky and Dennis Weist
Neil Salsbury
Naomi Schmold
Don Seaman
C.A. Siebens
Haema Sivanesan
Tom and Ellen Smee
Clifford Smith
Betty and David Smith
Dan Sparks (Beres+Sparks+Wiegand)
Ryan Stasynec
Steven Swenson and Ann Dalton
Jan Tertzakian
Anonymous (6)
Organization / Association
Alpine Club of Canada
Association of Canadian Mountain Guides
National Arts Centre
University of Calgary
Whyte Museum
Other Supporters and Partners
Aqueduct Foundation
Benefaction Foundation
The Benevity Community Impact Fund
Calgary Foundation
CanadaHelps
CHIMP: Charitable Impact Foundation
Edmonton Community Foundation
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Gift Funds Canada
Ottawa Community Foundation
QUBE Charitable Foundation
United Way of Calgary and Area
United Way of Greater Toronto
In Memory
Harold D. Brown
Herbert M. Fishman
Julia M. Granato
Frank Hennebury
John W. Kieley
Janice Mary Kostash
B.K. Lee
Ian S. Lee
David S. Leighton and Peggy Leighton
Bruce McKinnon
Steve Moore
Verna Quon
Tom Rolston
Rachel Wyatt
Shirley Tooke
Change lives. Inspire creativity.
“This residency at Banff Centre has inspired my work in many ways. The one probably most obvious way is the time that it’s allowed, and I think most artists don’t have that kind of time. I’m a mom of three. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years now, and to have three weeks to practice, even if nothing comes easily—like a song isn’t written from start to finish... To practice and exercise and start flexing the muscle of songwriting on a daily basis for as many hours as I like, that’s really precious. I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again.”
Erin Propp, photo by Rita Taylor.
Erin Propp Banff Musician in Residence 2024
Founded in 1933, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture, and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus—artists, leaders, and thinkers—to unleash their creative potential.