Banff Centre history starts in 1933 with a single course in drama. The University of Alberta’s Department of Extension founded it that year with a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, and nobody could have guessed how far one class would travel.
That class went so well that more arts programs followed, and in 1935 the school became The Banff School of Fine Arts. The photo above is a group from August 1937, held by the University of Alberta Archives. It’s a good look at the school only four years after the 1933 start. The Banff Centre’s own history page lays out the full timeline. Banff also has the Banff Park Museum, a log building that has held natural history displays since 1903.
Conferences arrived in 1953 and management programs in 1954. In 1970 the school was renamed The Banff Centre for Continuing Education, a nod to its wider role and to its move toward what the Centre calls a centre of experiment and innovation. In 1978 Alberta legislation gave it full autonomy as a non-degree granting institution under an appointed board.
Today it goes by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and its programs cover dance, music, opera, theatre, visual and literary arts. It also hosts a Mountain Film Festival, and the Banff Mountain Film Festival began with climbers in a basement, which makes a fun pairing with a drama class.
Alberta stage and screen history keeps crossing paths here. 1953 was also the year Hollywood packed up for Banff and Jasper. Closer to home, Joyce Doolittle helped build Calgary drama from the ground up, and W.O. Mitchell made High River a literary address for another Alberta arts story.
Open the Banff Centre history page, scan the dates, and pick the one year that surprises you most.
Quick answers
Banff Centre was founded in 1933 by the University of Alberta Department of Extension, with a grant from the Carnegie Foundation. It began with a single course in drama in Banff, Alberta, and added more arts programs as that course succeeded.
The school became The Banff School of Fine Arts in 1935, two years after its 1933 start. Conferences followed in 1953 and management programs in 1954, before it was renamed The Banff Centre for Continuing Education in 1970.
In 1978, Alberta government legislation granted The Banff Centre full autonomy as a non-degree granting educational institution. It operates under the governance of an appointed board and is now called Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Sources: Banff Centre history, University of Alberta Archives photo via Wikimedia Commons
