Taleeb Noormohamed, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, announces multi-year funding for two Calgary cultural infrastructure projects.
CALGARY, AB, Jan. 10, 2025 /CNW/ - Celebrating Canada's rich cultural heritage requires vibrant, inclusive spaces that inspire, educate and connect communities through arts, science and history.
Today, Taleeb Noormohamed, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced a $3-million investment in Calgary's cultural infrastructure. He made the announcement on behalf of the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The Glenbow Museum will receive $2.5 million over three years, for its Glenbow Reimagined renovation project. This investment will help transform the space into a fully accessible and dynamic institution, ensuring a wider array of its 250,000 artefacts and works of art can be shared with visitors. The project includes 34 new exhibition and gallery spaces with flexible, modular elements to accommodate various collections and enhance visitor engagement. It also includes a redesigned and upgraded collections storage centre, making behind-the-scenes areas more accessible to the public while integrating advanced equipment for improved display and interaction.
The TELUS Spark Science Centre will receive $500,000 over the next two years to purchase specialized equipment that will enhance the visitor experience at the Centre's newly renovated galleries. This investment will allow the Centre to acquire advanced audiovisual equipment, including high-resolution projectors and audio systems, to provide an immersive and interactive experience across the facility. This funding will also support accessibility upgrades to ensure inclusivity for all visitors, regardless physical ability.
Quotes
"The funding announced today underscores our government's commitment to culture. We are proud to invest in cultural infrastructure that preserves and celebrates our country's heritage while creating spaces that inspire and engage Canadians of all backgrounds. These funds are helping build an inclusive and accessible future, enriching the cultural fabric of our country."
— The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage
"Our cultural spaces are cornerstones of community identity, places to share experiences, and catalysts for connection. These investments highlight our government's dedication to ensuring Canadians have access to world-class cultural and educational experiences in their communities."
— Taleeb Noormohamed, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage
"Glenbow and its community are ecstatic to steward this crucial investment from the Government of Canada. This funding will ensure the delivery of a new visible storage centre, showcasing the largest public visual arts collection in Western Canada. It will additionally contribute to dozens of new exhibitions inspired by our collection of 250,000 artworks and cultural belongings from around the world. These stories, brought to life through the support of Canadian Heritage, will engage and inspire communities across Alberta."
— Nicholas Bell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Glenbow Museum
"TELUS Spark is thrilled to receive this transformative investment from the Government of Canada, advancing the reimagination of our spaces to be welcoming to all. Through the 'Keep Calgary Curious' campaign, this funding allows us to create inclusive, immersive environments where curiosity and discovery thrive. With Canada facing urgent challenges in STEAM education, this funding empowers us to shape the next generation of innovators across Alberta and beyond."
— Roderick Tate, President and Chief Executive Officer, TELUS Spark Science Centre
Quick Facts
The Glenbow Museum showcases Western Canada through art, cultural history, military history and Indigenous studies. The Museum welcomed more than 148,000 visitors every year before closing its main public campus in 2021 for renovations. The facility is being transformed through the Glenbow Reimagined project to create a renewed and philosophically reinvigorated cultural institution. The museum will re-open in 2026.
Due to space constraints, only three percent of the Glenbow Museum's collections were on display at any given time.
Attracting more than 400,000 visitors a year, the TELUS Spark Science Centre has engaged audiences through science and engineering since 2011. Inspiring youth with its educational programs, the Centre combines innovative exhibits, interactive workshops and state-of-the-art facilities to create learning experiences for visitors of all ages. TELUS Spark aims to offer unique learning opportunities that connect science to everyday life while also sharing the stories of contemporary Calgary.
The Canada Cultural Spaces Fund supports improvements to the physical conditions for arts, heritage, culture and creative innovation. The fund supports renovation and construction projects, the acquisition of specialized equipment and feasibility studies related to cultural spaces.
Associated Links
SOURCE Canadian Heritage
For more information (media only), please contact: Charles Thibault-Béland, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canadian Heritage, 819-994-9101, 1-866-569-6155, [email protected]
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