The Program
Open Spaces: Windows to a View
Since 2009, the Open Spaces program has provided exhibition space to local and regional artists while enlivening the Centre Street LRT platform on Seventh Avenue between Centre Street and First Street SE. Two large display windows on the exterior of the Telus Convention Centre are updated with new exhibits regularly throughout the year.
The current exhibition by artist duo Gaptooth Sweatsuit in the West Window was initiated by The New Gallery and will be featured from December 2025 to March 2026. The New Gallery pitched the project through our Submit Your Public Art Ideas intake, which invites artists, curators and community members to share ideas for public art projects. The temporary exhibition (see details below) is a great fit for the space, which was available for a short-term installation before the launch of a new year-long Open Spaces partnership.
The East Window has been temporarily blocked due to nearby construction, so the recent exhibition in partnership with the Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI), featuring photography by Samuel Obadero, has been extended to March 2026 to give people more time to view the artworks. Learn more about the East Window exhibition here.
Special exhibition with The New Gallery
West Window Space
Oasis
Artist: Gaptooth Sweatsuit
Oasis (It’s all downhill from here) is a still-life sculptural photo. Recontextualizing material possessions, discarded trash and the evidence of human experience. Housed in an alluring holographic vinyl frame, this piece is built for delight and investigation.
This piece is on loan from the Jannsies Collection, Calgary AB.
You’re Late
Artist: Gaptooth Sweatsuit
Life is a big, deep purse cavity, filled with our many gender identities and sexual experiences and sometimes we don’t have the time for our own shit because, really, I JUST NEED TO FIND MY FUCKING KEYS AND GET TO WORK.
Medium: Polar Fleece, PVC Vinyl, Enamel Ink
Size: Width 36″/ Depth 15″/ Height 60″
This project is made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment.
Gaptooth Sweatsuit is the visual art duo of Megan Kirk and Stephen Harper. Gaptooth Sweatsuit primarily works with local businesses, bands and artists to produce high-quality silkscreened products and limited edition print runs. They also maintain individual art practices under Jane Trash and Photomawf.
The New Gallery (TNG) is a non-profit artist-run centre located in Mohkinsstsis, also known as Calgary, in Chinatown. The New Gallery aims to provide opportunities and venues for artists that foster social and political art practices, while engaging and educating audiences through artist-run culture and contemporary art. Currently, The New Gallery programs three exhibition spaces: the main gallery space, Billboard 208 and TNG’s online exhibition platform “Mainframe.” TNG also operates a resource centre above the main space gallery, which includes TNG’s archive, a library and communal working space. thenewgallery.org