Permanent Collections [Art]
The MAG’s mandate is to research, collect, preserve and exhibit the artistic activity of the people of Central Alberta and Canada. We endeavor to acquire the best works of art that represent the artists and the artistic movements that have had an impact on Central Alberta and the rest of Canada.
FIRST NATIONS ART
In December 1983, just prior to her death, Dr. Kathleen Anderson Swallow donated her collection of First Peoples artworks to the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery. This gift included a substantial number of works by Inuit artists. She provided the Waskasoo Museum Foundation with a bequest to purchase and add to the collection. Her friend Doris Watt contributed to the bequest and several donors over the years have donated additional artwork to the First Peoples art collection. Our First Nations art collection includes some very important works by Inuit artists, John TikTak, Kenojuak Ashevak, as well as works by, Fred MacDonald and Bruno Canadien.
ART OF CENTRAL ALBERTA AND BEYOND
The MAG strives to acknowledge and pursue a broader educational purpose by building a collection that is more than a gathering of artworks, but one that provides a wide view of the past and unfolding movements in all visual work, including works of art by international artists. Some of the artists whose work is included in our collection are: David More and Pat Matheson
It is the mandate and mission of the MAG to share the creative energy that comes from learning alongside artists and artisans with the purpose to provide an ever deeper understanding and enjoyment of art.
Collection Items:
- "The Future, Past and Present of Big Bear, 1885"
Frederick R. MacDonald, BFA, MA Acrylic on Masonite, 1997 This painting deals with the future that Big Bear saw as inevitable. Big Bear was a leader of one of the largest groups of Plains Cree at the time of first contact with the new government of...
- Autumn Tangle
David More, Oil on Canvas, Gift of David More; Normandeau Cultural & Natural History Society; Friends of Morris Flewwelling - Skater's Bench
Jeff Howley, Found objects, Gift of anonymous Donors