• Location Various Venues 
• Price Prices Vary

Step into a world of creativity and imagination this March in Calgary! Our roundup of art exhibitions showcases some of the city’s finest artists and offers a unique opportunity to experience their work.

Pivot

Runs until April 1, 2023
Framed on Fifth (1207 5th Ave. NW)
Free to explore

Melanie Morstad exhibits a new body of work that pivots, seeking inspiration through a renewed lens that links nature with the figure. The exhibition’s run also features a reception and painting demo.
framedonfifth.com

Wonderspaces

March 1 – 31, 2023
TELUS Spark Science Centre (220 St. George’s Dr. NE)
Prices vary

Telus Spark’s Wonderspaces is an awe-inspiring and thought-provoking meld of art and science, drawing the guest in and distorting reality — giving new light and perspective on the mundane.
sparkscience.ca

Encoded Forms

March 2 – 31, 2023
Sparrow Artspace (36 4th St. NE)
Free to explore

Joël Prevost is a sculptor of the human form while Darcy Johnson is an abstract artist interested in the human mind. For this exhibition, they present drawings and sculptures that respond to each other’s artwork.
sparrowartspace.com

The Desert Turned to Glass

March 2 – May 7, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission

Contemporary Calgary presents Charles Stankievech’s The Desert Turned to Glass, a transmedia installation that inhabits both the projection room of the planetarium’s dome and the subterranean space below.
contemporarycalgary.com

AUArts Gallery Crawl

March 10, 2023, 5:30 – 10pm
Alberta University of the Arts (1407 14th Ave. NW)
Free to explore

AUArts Gallery Crawl is a chance for students to showcase their work to the internal AUArts community and the Calgary community at large. Head over to check out their work!
auarts.ca

Retrospect

March 14 – 17, 2023
cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub (381 2nd Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Photographer Sean Dennie takes you behind the mask through imaginative and revealing artist portraits captured during the 20-year history of the Festival of Animated Objects from 2002-2019.
puppetfestival.ca

Active Mythologies

March 14 – 17, 2023
cSPACE King Edward (1721 29th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Active Mythologies: Masks and Personal Narratives looks to celebrate the active capabilities of mask artworks and their abilities to tell a story in relation to the artist’s traditional roots and personal mythologies.
puppetfestival.ca

End of Winter Artisan Market

March 18, 2023, 11am – 4pm
Bowness Community Association (7904 43rd Ave. NW)
Free to explore

Join Tangled Tree Markets for their spring market! Find artisan goods like hand-dyed clothes, pottery, jewelry, knits, crochet and fibre arts plus vintage furniture, home decor and much more.
tangledtreemarkets.ca

Jean McEwen

March 18 – April 12, 2023
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Celebrating the centennial of his birth, Jean McEwen is a renowned Canadian Quebecois artist know for his ground-breaking work during the action expression movement of the ’50s-’60s and beyond.
wallacegalleries.com

Snap Shots: Pages from the Past

March 18 – April 12, 2023
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Wallace Galleries presents works on paper by Ted Godwin, Kenneth Lochhead and Harold Town. Snap back in time with some historic modern works of artists from the Regina Five and Painters Eleven
wallacegalleries.com

It Looks Nice from a Distance

March 25 – May 6, 2023
TRUCK Contemporary Art (2009 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Taking the form of a 12-channel video installation incorporating text, sound, video and sculpture, Anahita Norouzi’s multi-media installation explores the themes of otherness and displacement.
truck.ca

Last Chance + Ongoing Exhibitions

The Beyond Within

Until March 11, 2023
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta University of the Arts (1407 14th Ave. NW)
Free to explore

Toronto-based artist Annie MacDonell explores feminist conceptions of everyday as a basis for political engagement. A series of video installations and photographic works, this exhibition proposes personal and political reorientation strategies.
auarts.ca

Forward Together

Until March 17, 2023
The Bows (2001b 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Forward Together is a group exhibition curated by Stephanie One Spot, Letecia Ochoa, Kayla Gale & AJ Kluck that showcases Indigenous artists and their expression of sovereignty and self-determination, contemplating the question: How do we as Indigenous peoples decide and imagine and create our future?
thebows.org

One By One

Until March 26, 2023
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144th St. West, Millarville)
By donation

Ceramic artist Juliana Rempel explores the bold lines and colour of the prairies, allowing objects to emerge from the shadows, posed and poised. The exhibition’s feature installation illustrates how our environment can be deconstructed into pieces accumulated over time.
leightoncentre.org

The Place I Am

Until March 26, 2023
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144th St. West, Millarville)
By donation

The Place I Am explores nature’s healing capabilities as a coping mechanism. Over the past couple of years, the members of the Clematis Collective have found solace and connection in nature. They have found that nature allows space for humans to process experiences and find connections.
leightoncentre.org

In Full Bloom

Until March 30, 2023
ATB Branch for Arts + Culture (102 8th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

In Full Bloom is a celebration of artwork by and about women. This exhibition, curated by Miriam Fabijan, features the artworks of 14 amazing women from Calgary. The exhibition reception will be held on Wednesday, March 8 — International Women’s Day.
drive.google.com

David Garneau: Métissage

Until April 22, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free to explore

Edmonton-born artist David Garneau documents his Métis heritage and his struggle to shape a contemporary Indigenous identity. With imagination, wit and some ambivalence, this exhibition of more than 50 artworks celebrates historical and contemporary Métis lived experiences.
nickle.ucalgary.ca

The Birth of Portraiture

Until April 22, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free to explore

This exhibition explores the life of Alexander the Great and his successors through their portraits on ancient coins. Tiny masterpieces of Hellenistic art, these coins record likenesses and suggest the distinct personalities of their subjects.
nickle.ucalgary.ca

After Holbein – Turkish Carpets and the Tudors

Until April 22, 2023
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free to explore

Hans Holbein the Younger, a 16th-century artist, famously painted portraits of Henry VIII and other nobles and frequently included richly patterned Turkish carpets. Curator Michele Hardy offers a selection of these carpets and explores how they signalled power and wealth.
nickle.ucalgary.ca

Astral Dance

Until April 9, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission

Astral Dance is the first solo exhibition of works by Chitra Ganesh in Canada, and a significant survey of her practice. Ganesh delivers fantastic, dreamlike worlds where the past, present and future are merged into new, speculative propositions.
contemporarycalgary.com

A Time for Stories

Until April 14, 2023
Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (425 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

As part of a rotating exhibition of artworks that feature connections to the land, this exhibition features 2D, 3D and sound artworks by Shirley Hill, Amy Hill and Sonny-Ray Day Rider.
calgary.ca

Human Capital

Until April 16, 2023
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission

Human Capital presents work that offers insight into the impact of Canada’s immigration policies and history: how it treats humans as capital, and the role it plays in shaping the complex and contested formation of a Canadian identity.
contemporarycalgary.com

Retainers of Anarchy

Until April 16, 2023
Glenbow at The Edison (2nd Floor, 150 9th Ave. SW)
Free to explore, tickets required

Experience the mesmerizing 25-metre hand-drawn animation from artist Howie Tsui. The exhibition showcases Tsui’s talent at bringing together martial arts characters and techniques with social and political realities of present-day Hong Kong.
glenbow.org

The Visitors

Until April 30, 2023
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Ragnar Kjartansson creates performances exploring the intertwining of pathos, humour and collective emotion. The Visitors is a large installation consisting of nine audio and video channels documenting a single-take musical performance.
eskerfoundation.com

Interiors

Until April 30, 2023
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Margaux Williamson is a painter who also writes and makes videos. Within her multifaceted practice, Williamson’s painting has evolved through long rhythms; her bodies of work have been produced over the years.
eskerfoundation.com

We Were Here: Stories from Early Chinatown

Until April 30, 2023
Gasoline Alley Museum, Heritage Park (1900 Heritage Dr. SW)
$4.95 – 9.95

Bring your family and learn about Chinese history on the prairies through art and imagination, discover fictional stories written by members of the Chinese community and explore two iterations of Chinatown in Calgary.
heritagepark.ca

11,104 Days: From Artists to Zenith

Ongoing
Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art (730 11th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

In honour of its 30th anniversary, 11,104 Days: From Artists to Zenith displays each of Newzones’ represented artists, including spectacular new work created by gallery artists in celebration of this milestone.
newzones.com

Music & Wellness

Ongoing
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission

Check out National Music Centre’s new permanent Music & Wellness exhibition, which taps into the power of music on mental and physical health through a series of powerful video interviews that create an immersive sense of personal conversation.
studiobell.ca

Have a visual arts event that’s not listed? Email us at events@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or fill out this form.