• Location Various Venues 
• Price Prices Vary

May is jam-packed with visual arts for you to enjoy. Take advantage of the warmer weather to visit new or ongoing exhibitions at your favourite gallery, or to discover somewhere you haven’t been to yet. You’re bound for a treat either way!

SHED

April 27 – May 14, 2022
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. SE)
Free to explore

SHED / knowing each other as different and the same is a series of choreographed portraits by Pam Tzeng that examines and explores the experience of navigating existence as a body of culture living in Canada.
thenewgallery.org

View Loser

April 29 – July 2, 2022
The Bows (2001B 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

In View Loser, artists Amanda Boulos and Shannon Garden-Smith focus on built structure, initiating an intersectional conversation between the displacements that surround Palestinian land politics and housing justice. This conversation came together over several years of collaborative practice built on the artists’ shared themes of lack and loss.
thebows.org

Birds of a Feather

May 3 – May 28, 2022
Framed on Fifth (1207 5th Ave. NW)
Free to explore

The exhibition Birds of a Feather is chock full of whimsy and vibrancy with paintings by Pam Weber and Angie Rees. This imaginative duo creates wonderfully angst-free worlds, playful, colourful, and no, not only birds.
framedonfifth.com

Authentically Indigenous Craft Market

May 5, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Kerby Centre (1133 7th Ave. SW)
$5 – $8

Come for a shopping experience like no other! Featuring two days of over 50 different local Indigenous artists and craft makers, you can find handmade goods, crafts, art, beadwork, jewelry, and more at this local, grassroots market.
authenticallyindig.com

I Am Not Lost

May 5, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary (610 10th Ave. SW)
Free to attend, registration required

Tara Vahab’s upcoming event exhibits her most recent artworks, including the sculpture Inside the Heart and the mixed-medium painting series Unknown Places and a talk on art and wellness.
eventbrite.ca

Mother’s Day Market

May 6 & 7, 2022, 10:00am – 8:00pm
Southcentre Mall (100 Anderson Rd. SE)
Free to explore

Visit Southcentre Mall for a special shop local Mother’s Day Market presented in partnership with Collab YYC. Find the perfect local and hand-crafted gift for mom featuring 19 unique local vendors.
southcentremall.com

Spring Art Show and Sale

May 6 & 7, 2022
Uplands Recreation Centre (20 Hawkside Rd. NW)
Free to explore

Alberta Escape Artists invite you to their Spring Sale and Show to browse and buy art from local artists Janet Armstrong, Martin Cochrane, Linda Fundytus, and many more. All the while, enjoy live music and win fabulous door prizes.
facebook.com

Spring Market

May 7, 2022
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission

Etsy Calgary has partnered with Contemporary Calgary to bring you the perfect Mother’s Day weekend. Shop a great selection of local handmade and vintage sellers and explore Contemporary Calgary’s exhibits simultaneously. They’ll also have food trucks, workshops, and more! Get your tickets at the door.
facebook.com

See me. Hear me.

Opens May 7, 2022
Sparrow Artspace (36 4th St. NE)
Free to attend, registration recommended

Sparrow Artspace May residency, See me. Hear me., is a creative collaboration of artists sharing work relating to the theme of empathy. Through the gallery, workshops, and events, local artists and facilitators have the opportunity to show their work while bringing awareness to the healing power of the arts.
randwstudios.com

Memory Reels

May 12 – 14, 2022
Highbanks Society (317 19th St. NW)
Free to explore

The vintage Viewmaster toy inspires Stacey Walyuchow’s new series of work. This item became the perfect vessel by which Stacey’s subjects were to view their memories — in colourful, still, 3D pictures.
eventbrite.ca

Market Collective

May 13 – 15, 2022
BMO Centre Hall B + C, Stampede Park (20 Roundup Way SE)
$6

Visitors to this year’s family-friendly event can anticipate a weekend of live music, interactive workshops, galleries, food and beverage, the MC Skatepark, over 160 local vendors, and so much more. Kids 12 and under are admitted free.
marketcollective.ca

Artisan & Vintage Market

May 14, 2022
Balzac Community Hall (10075 Township Rd. 262, Balzac)
Free to explore

Just across the highway from the Balzac Costco, you’ll find a pop-up market with 40+ artisans and booths including hand-crafted original goods and awesome finds for your home and garden.
tangledtreemarkets.wixsite.com

Le Shi Solo Exhibition

May 14, 2022
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Take a vacation to Eastern Canada through the depiction of marshes, forests, and wetlands in a new series of acrylic paintings by artist Le Shi inspired by national and provincial parks in Ontario. Travel through seasons and experience symphonies of colour!
wallacegalleries.com

Spring Pottery Sale

May 14, 2022
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Mount Pleasant Potters’ Guild is a group of talented local artists with a passion for mucking about in clay. Delicate, fine, brutal, whimsical, and everything in between describes the range of wares you’ll find at this awesome pottery sale.
calgarypottery.com

Ongoing Exhibitions

Tower Migration

Until May 6, 2022
Studio Vazquez-Mackay (100, 441 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore, appointment required

This series of artworks originated in Mark Vazquez-Mackay’s interest in the biblical story of the Tower of Babel and parallel cautionary tales, and his curiosity about the motivations behind human migration ultimately led to the focal question: what circumstances are people moving away from?
studiovazquez-mackay.com

Cradle to Gravy

Until May 7, 2022
Norberg Hall (333b 36th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Norberg Hall presents Cradle to Gravy, a not-quite retrospective of the not-quite-done-yet beloved senior artist, John Will. The work in this exhibition spans 25+ years and serves as a glimpse into the mind of this Canadian art legend and an excerpt from his expansive career.
norberghall.com

up front w/ Billy McCarroll

Until May 7, 2022
Norberg Hall (333b 36th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Norberg Hall is pleased to introduce a new work by senior Lethbridge-based artist Billy McCarroll.  Known for his procedural, mixed-media paintings, McCarroll continues to draw upon art historical and texted related references. This new series is an extension of McCarroll’s impressive 50+ year investigation into abstraction.
norberghall.com

Uninvited

Until May 8, 2022
The Edison (150 9th Ave. SW)
Free to explore, tickets required

The first exhibition in Glenbow’s new satellite location is a landmark exhibition of more than 200 works of art by a generation of extraordinary women painters, photographers, sculptors, architects, and filmmakers from the early 20th century. These pioneers opened new frontiers for women artists in Canada.
glenbow.org

Easter Group Show

Until May 11, 2022
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

The arrival of spring means new growth and more time spent outdoors. This group exhibition focuses on everything the beautiful countryside offers including warm weather, flowers, hiking, beaches, and mountain air.
wallacegalleries.com

Zones / Indicators

Until May 13, 2022
Alberta Printmakers Main Gallery (4025 4th St. SE)
Free to explore

Alberta Printmakers is pleased to present Zones / Indicators, a contemporary printmaking exhibition by Elizabeth Claire Rose. Rose creates work that connects geographically disconnected landscapes focusing on their shared ecologies: how each site is connected through climatic shifts, soil qualities, and habitat range.
albertaprintmakers.com

Falling with Uncertain Grace

Until May 21, 2022
ASA Gallery, Crossroads Art Centre (222, 1235 26th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

This exhibition by Yvonne DuBourdieu looks at the dichotomy between strength and weakness within ourselves and the unease that manifests when our vulnerabilities are laid bare through heightened uncertainty.
albertasocietyofartists.com

All is Water

Until May 21, 2022
ASA Gallery, Crossroads Art Centre (222, 1235 26th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

A collaboration between Danny Luong, Hesam Rezaei, and Twinkle Banerjee, this photographic exhibition aims to juxtapose the universality of water against the backdrop of their ethnic backgrounds and identities.
albertasocietyofartists.com

Our Alberta Wilderness

Until May 22, 2022
Art at the Landing (A122, 1600 90th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

How do we respond in times of uncertainty in a social and political moment where opinions are often divisive? In this exhibition, we see artists follow distinct paths toward subtle forms of resistance while exploring areas of connection that feel in opposition.
artatthelanding.weebly.com

Rerouting

Until May 22, 2022
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission

Rerouting stems from the Collider: In-Residence Artist Residency, an online program inviting 12 artists from around the world to consider new modes of practice in response to their experiences within a global pandemic.
contemporarycalgary.com

The Further Apart Things Seem

Until May 22, 2022
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission

How do we respond in times of uncertainty in a social and political moment where opinions are often divisive? In this exhibition, we see artists follow distinct paths toward subtle forms of resistance while exploring areas of connection that feel in opposition.
contemporarycalgary.com

Money Zoo: Fantastic Beasts in the History of Money

Until May 27, 2022
Nickle Galleries, Taylor Family Digital Library, University of Calgary (410 University Ct. NW)
Free to explore

This exhibition highlights animals depicted on currencies and the historical use of animals as money to raise awareness of our complex bond and dependence on these fantastic creatures and their place in the modern world.
nickle.ucalgary.ca

20th Annual Juried Members Exhibition

Until June 5, 2022
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144 St. West, Foothills)
By donation

The Juried Members Exhibition is an annual curated exhibition, with every Leighton Art Centre artist member eligible to submit up to three of their best recent pieces for consideration. With 64 pieces by 38 artists selected from over 300 submissions, this 20th annual celebration of the centre’s member artists is a fresh and exciting visual treat.
leightoncentre.org

a rolled chord of sunlight unfurled

Until June 5, 2022
Esker Foundation (1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to Explore

The range of the sun’s luminescence is one of the most beautiful things about Mohkínsstsisi. Out of reverence for the sun’s refraction on our plot of rock comes a new body of work by artist Ashley Bedet dedicated to investigating and honouring the different intensities of our sun’s rays.
eskerfoundation.com

Daylight Cut-Outs

Until June 12, 2022
VivianeArt (1018 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

VIVIANEART presents Daylight Cut-Outs, a solo exhibition of large-scale paintings and photo collages by Canadian artist Julie Beugin. Her colourful abstract paintings begin with her camera as she explores the city using her camera, capturing moments of light. These photos inspire Beugin’s collages, which ultimately inspire her paintings.
vivianeart.com

YYC Bread Stories

Until June 26, 2022
Lougheed House (707 13 Ave. SW)
$4 – $8.50

YYC Bread Stories shows our city’s connection to bread, historically and today, and contains artifacts of bread making from early Calgary and mementos from Calgary families who have a strong connection to their culture’s bread.
lougheedhouse.com

otipemisiwak

Until June 26, 2022
Fort Calgary (750 9th Ave. SE)
With admission

Otipemisiwak, which translates from Cree to “people who live by their own rules,” showcases recent works by Daphne Boyer. Her practice combines plant material, high-resolution digital tools, and traditional handwork to create art celebrating her Métis heritage.
fortcalgary.com

Naked Excess

Until June 26, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Michelle Bui’s photographic images meet at the intersection between still life and commercial photography. Bui intuitively arranges objects, photographing them against colourful backdrops.
eskerfoundation.com

Fast Moving Sun

Until June 26, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Veronika Pausova draws on figurative imagery to tell short stories that mine the territory between animation and stasis. The implied movement of these recurrent motifs serve as a cast of recurrent characters and as a proxy for the viewer to feel the anxious energy.
eskerfoundation.com

Letters for Occasions

Until June 26, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore

Farah Al Qasimi’s exhibition brings together new and recent photographs that consider the story of her family’s migration between the UAE and the US, the global circulation of pop culture, and the reflection of the idiosyncrasies of personal style and aesthetics.
eskerfoundation.com

The Boxed Stories Gallery

Until June 30, 2022
Loft 112 (535 8th Ave. SE)
$5

A truly unique experience for artists and viewers alike! Housed within a vintage card catalogue, visitors are encouraged to discover varied artworks as they open each drawer.
loft112.org

hypertext / chances are bigger in the sun

Until July 23, 2022
The Bows (2001B, 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore

Lotte Van den Audenaeren makes works that illuminate the material dimensions of time as it takes shape in patches of natural sunlight, transient sounds, swathes of fluorescent fabric, or decaying natural objects. Check out her work on the The Bows Billboard!
thebows.org

Reflections: 10 Years Capturing Calgary’s Alt Music Scene

Until September 11, 2022
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission

Music photographer Zoltan Varadi was inspired by the nice surprises he discovered as he began cleaning and scanning his old negatives during a year of pandemic lockdowns.
studiobell.ca

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