The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is looking into the future by going back to its beginning.
Museum director Vincent Varga said recently the Whyte Museum looked to its mission statement and the goals and ideals founders Peter and Catharine Whyte had for the museum as it developed its 2014-17 Strategic Plan.
“If you go into Peter and Catharine’s home, we recognized they travelled a lot not only physically, but intellectually. If you look at their library, they were true cosmopolitans. They were educated in Boston; Catharine was from back there. They travelled the world and invited artists and others to their home here in Banff,” said Varga.
“Not only were they using Banff as a wonderful touchstone as a place to be home and to be from, but they also knew where they lived in the world. I think that is one of the characteristics I’d love to be able to enhance in a program.”
Varga said that approach would allow the museum to look inwardly at its collection and at the same time, provide the opportunity to look outwardly into the larger world, especially to other mountainous regions.
“The mountains, how do they represent that? And how do we examine that in a larger societal kind of sense? There’s the saying, everyone has had their own mountain to climb, and there’s ways we can examine this as a whole,” he said.
Along with examining how the museum better fits into Banff’s economic and societal fabric and in the greater world beyond the Rockies, Varga said the museum has to continue to be a gathering place for the community, another of the Whytes’ founding principles.
The focus, he said, is on three pillars: ensuring the museum’s collection and archives are more evident, keeping the museum relevant to the community, and ensuring the museum remains financially responsibility and sustainable.
“It’s about reaching out to our community and being much more visible with not only what we do, but listening to what is actually happening in this place. Its about underscoring, not just the history of Banff, but being a living museum that is going to be participating in the larger discussions that take place in town,” he said.
The museum is also looking to better share the lives of Peter and Catharine and to that end, the Swiss Guides Room, located in the basement and frequently used for exhibitions, will be rededicated as a founders gallery, a place where the museum can share the stories, art and the artifacts connected to the Whytes.
“In essence, it’s to personalize our visitors’ experience, to introduce them to how this institution came into being and celebrate that so it can be that touchstone,” Varga said.
“(Visitors) were really fascinated to learn more about Peter and Catharine and their single most important question was where is their art and similarly other visitors to the Bow Valley. They said you’re doing a great job telling the story of this place, but who are Peter and Catharine? This kept coming up and I thought OK, I had better listen to that one.”
The Whyte Museum plans to expand the Gateway to the Rockies exhibition, adding new stories and working with members of the Stoney Nakoda First Nations to better include their stories and presence in what the museum does.
“We’re starting to work more closely with the Stoney people in order to rejuvenate our relationship. Peter and Catharine had a long-standing and deep relationship with the Stoney so we’re looking to rekindle that,” Varga said.
“We’re looking towards something that has something to do with the youth and education and trying to recognize that wonderful friendship between our founders and the Stoney and recognizing what can we do as a museum today.
“There’s a desire and a want to work with the youth of the community. There’s general agreement around those principles.”
Along with presenting its regular exhibitions, the main gallery will be also be used to provide new opportunities for local artists and craftspeople, such as The Bow Biennial, a large group show featuring Bow Valley artists.
The Rummel Room, meanwhile, will be used to exhibit aspects of the collection, Varga said.
“The whole space, right from the Rummel Room down into the basement, will be dedicated to looking at the collection, the lives of Peter and Catharine, the things that are near and dear to this community’s heart,” he said.
As Banff and its community is changing, so too must the museum, Varga said.
“I fully support the idea of enhancing and encouraging the heritage component, the art, the cultural component of what Banff is about while we’re living in this stunning environment. The museum is a place that documents that interaction between nature and culture and we are that historical memory of this place,” he said. “We can add a lot to people’s experience when they find us.”
