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Artist Faye HeavyShield, a sculptor from the Kanai (Blood) Nation, has been commissioned to create a new installation for the Glenbow museum that will cover four storeys in the new vertical gallery.
The piece will be revealed in 2026 when the museum reopens in the newly named JR Shaw Centre for Arts and Culture.
The piece will be suspended below a skylight on the fifth floor and will be visible from the four floors in the new vertical gallery. The vertical gallery will also include an oculus created by acclaimed American artist Maya Lin.
“With Lin’s oculus filtering sunlight from the skylight to the floors below, HeavyShield’s artwork will catch and reflect the natural light, sway gently with air currents in the building, and reflect her vision for the artwork to the viewer,” a press release from Glenbow reads.
“This piece will be at the core of the building, and DNA is at the core of existence,” said HeavyShield, who studied at what is now called Alberta University of the Arts. “My vision is to create large DNA strands made from specially created beads.”
HeavyShield has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout Canada and around the world, including at the National Gallery of Canada. She is known for her site-specific installations and sculptures. She has spent months studying work found in Glenbow’s collections and has been inspired by the beadwork of Treaty 7 artists.
“It’s been about sensing the history in these pieces and the people who made them,” says HeavyShield. “Calgary is a global place, a place for all people to celebrate their own culture. The vision the architects are bringing to the building and what Glenbow is bringing to the future, I feel honoured to be part of that process and that future.”
This commission is the first of many for the reimagined space. On Oct. 15, Glenbow will put out three open calls for other artist submissions.
Glenbow will reopen in 2026. The commissions are part of an ambitious $205-million overhaul of the 312,000-square-foot museum, which was built in 1973.