Art exhibition at Fort Calgary attempts to capture area’s ‘fuller story’

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Paintings by more than 150 artists adorn the walls of Fort Calgary in an exhibition meant to preserve the relic’s relevance.

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The exhibition, the result of a collaboration between Fort Calgary and local group Artspot, expands on various themes, including Indigenous perspectives and species native to the area.

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The event, held on Saturday, is the brainchild of the site’s president Jennifer Thompson, who joined the organization in February after more than a decade-long stint at the City of Calgary, where she oversaw initiatives around arts and culture.

The idea of using art to broaden Fort Calgary’s representation was recently sparked as Thompson revisited spaces on the historic site and realized its imagery “narrowly” revolved around colonialism, leaving behind other stories.

“People in school have learned for years and years and years (about) colonial history,” said Thompson, a dancer who hails from a family of artists. “And nowadays, in my experience, I think our community is ready for the full picture.”

Fort Calgary, a base for the North-West Mounted Police, was built in 1875 to quell the flow of the illicit whiskey trade along the Bow River.

The outpost was also instrumental in preparing the area for colonial settlement and forging relationships with the Blackfoot community, culminating in the signing of Treaty 7 in 1877, which stipulated the surrender of surrounding Indigenous territories to the newly formed Canadian government.

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According to Fort Calgary’s official website, Indigenous signatories were against surrendering their land and instead sought to share it with Canada. But once signed, the NWMP began surveilling Indigenous people and displaced them from where they had lived for generations.

The site underwent several transformations over the years, its ownership shuffled between various organizations, including the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. But NWMP’s stamp on the area persisted, which led the City of Calgary to repurpose the space and turn it into a historic site in the 1970s.

Thompson cautioned that including different narratives doesn’t mean neglecting the history of NWMP, which helped “evolve our city into a certain way.” But such occasions present an opportunity also to highlight the legacy of the Blackfoot community, whose members have gathered in the area for thousands of years.

Running with her idea, Thompson contacted Emma Justine, founder of Artspot, a local arts group created in Justine’s house in 2008 which has grown to host workshops featuring over 150 artists.

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“It’s a female-led organization, which I also think is really great and important,” said Thompson. Justine added that the group was also chosen for the speed at which it was able to gather artists and have them produce paintings.

Soon, the group began accepting applications from interested candidates and selected 150 artists, from youth to established painters.

That includes Abbey Dickinson, who started oil painting over two decades ago but has honed her craft over the past several years.

She has prepared a self-portrait of her biking along the path that runs along Fort Calgary. In the painting, she inserts several species, including Alberta Hare and magpie that are seen today and bisons which once roamed the area, as a tribute to the intermingling of the forces of time.

She said the exhibition’s timing was fortuitous since she had decided to paint bicycle portraits. However, the opportunity was special, as it was a “great way to communicate different perspectives and emotions and ideas and really make an impact.”

Justine added that she also hired an Indigenous adviser who guided non-Indigenous artists in producing art that included Indigenous perspectives.

These efforts align with Thompson’s goal of telling a fuller story of the site.

“I don’t think it’s met its full potential yet, and I think I want to see the full story told from an indigenous perspective,” she said.

“I want to help bring that to the forefront.”

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