For those who missed Through the Lens at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies earlier this year, there’s a new opportunity to see the student-created photographs when the exhibition opens this week at the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre.
This is the first time in about seven years Through the Lens, an annual outreach project organized by the Whyte Museum to introduce Bow Valley students to photography, has come to Canmore and as of Wednesday (April 24), it’s here for an extended stay.
Craig Richards, the Whyte’s curator of photography, said sharing the exhibition with the Canmore Museum is a natural fit, given the exhibition’s broad base of students.
The 2012-13 Through the Lens – the 16th year of the program – featured 22 high school students from Banff, Canmore and Morley.
The show at the Canmore Museum will feature about 40 of the 66 photographs featured during the exhibition held earlier this year at the Whyte.
Richards said he and Canmore Museum director Debbie Carrico plan to feature a large number of photographs by Canmore students, but without excluding Banff and Morley participants, as that is an integral part of the story and experience.
“One of the strengths about Through the Lens,” Richards said Monday (April 22), “is it doesn’t matter whether you are from Banff, Canmore or Morley. Ultimately, the students photograph things that are special to them and what is special? Family, friends and pets, and when you start to see the relationship between the three communities, it’s really great.”
Carrico, who initially approached Richards and the Whyte Museum about hosting the exhibition, said she wanted to bring the work to the eastern end of the valley as a way to build community.
She also saw it as a perfect opener to engage Canmore high school students in the museum and learn more about what they would like to see in their hometown museum.
“I’m really excited about it. I think it is a great community builder because of the Canmore students,” Carrico said, adding hosting the show also helps strengthen the relationship between the two Bow Valley museums.
“This is sharing. We’re smaller, but we share the Bow Valley. We share common interests, history and art,” she said.
“A new door is opening and I’m really excited about it,” Carrico said, adding she also hopes to build a stronger relationship with the high school, while offering students opportunities to display their artwork or perform music.
Through the Lens will be featured at the Canmore Museum throughout summer.
The Canmore Museum will also sell copies of the book Through the Lens: Encouraging Creativity in Youth, published to celebrate the first 15 years of the program.
