AUArts Calgary turned 100 in 2026. Alberta University of the Arts began in 1926 as the Art Department at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art, and its own timeline has the dates to prove it.
That institute is now SAIT. The art side kept growing until it needed its own door, and the AUArts history page marks the big moments. In 1958 the Alberta College of Art Gallery opened, later renamed the Illingworth Kerr Gallery to honour a former head of the school. Edmonton’s Art Gallery of Alberta has an older start, in 1924.
In 1973 the college moved into a purpose-built building next to the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. The photo above shows the college building in Calgary. Twelve years later, in 1985, it formally separated from SAIT and became a self-governing, publicly funded art and design college. A famous student arrived long before that, and Joni Mitchell enrolled in 1963, which is a story worth a few minutes.
The credentials stacked up fast after that. In 1995 the college gained degree accreditation to award Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and became Alberta College of Art + Design. The Bachelor of Design came in 2000, and a Master of Fine Arts in Craft Media in 2015.
The Alberta government announced university status on March 1, 2018. The new name, Alberta University of the Arts, arrived on February 1, 2019. On February 2, 2026, the university celebrated 100 years of art, craft and design and launched its Bachelor of Creative Industries program.
AUArts calls itself the only dedicated art, craft and design university in Alberta and the Prairies, and one of four in Canada. If you enjoy buildings that changed jobs, Calgary buildings never forget their old names. And for another landmark with a striking design, the Central Library’s cedar arch is another Calgary landmark worth a read.
Pick one year from that timeline and look up what else Calgary was doing then.
Quick answers
Alberta University of the Arts traces its formal beginnings to 1926, when it started as the Art Department at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary. That institute is now known as the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, or SAIT.
The Alberta government announced university status on March 1, 2018. The institution received its new name and visual identity as Alberta University of the Arts on February 1, 2019, after operating as Alberta College of Art + Design.
AUArts says it is the only dedicated art, craft and design university in Alberta and the Prairies, and one of four in Canada. It offers undergraduate degrees in fine arts, design and creative industries, plus a Master of Fine Arts.
Sources: AUArts history and mission, AUArts at a glance, Thivierr photo via Wikimedia Commons
