Lougheed House takes an artistic look at Calgary in ‘Mapping History’ exhibit

Lougheed House is putting obscure Calgary history on display this month. The exhibit showcases maps from 14 local artists.

Lougheed House is showcasing the work of 14 local artists through an exhibit called Mapping History: The Calgary Atlas Project.

Curators say each map is literally a work of art, and the artists represent a diverse background.

“We have a Chinatown map, we have a Black history map, we have a labour history map, we have one about movies, one about architecture and one about transportation,” said Meaghan Aylward, programs and education specialist.

“One about the first Indigenous Stampede, Stampede wrestling, queer history and writers of the early 20th century in that romantic era.”

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The exhibit opened on April 2, and is located in the basement of the Lougheed House.

Aylward says some visitors arrive expecting to see traditional maps, but soon come to enjoy the artistic freedom of the creators.

“They come in and they’re absolutely enthusiastic about wanting to see this map and that map,” Aylward said.

“They learn something new, and then they’ll purchase one from the gift shop — which we always appreciate. Other [visitors] come in and they’re like, ‘I heard something vaguely on this website’ or ‘through a friend’ – and then they’re just amazed at all the different histories that are exhibited here that they can then learn about their city, or somewhere they’ve just moved to.”

Fiona McTaggart, senior specialist, brand and communications at Lougheed House, says the maps are a way to explore the city in a new way.

She says the artists have uncovered numerous stories that they reveal through their maps.

“It’s like bringing forward different stories that particular communities have always known, but some of us might not have known about before,” she said.

“It’s like this like beautiful mix between cartography and art. Some of the maps, when you look at them, seem closer to a traditional map – where you can see the streets and the numbers and stuff like that – and others look a lot more what you would associate with an artwork, and it might take a little bit closer examination to see how it fits in as a map.”

McTaggart says the exhibit is in partnership with Calgary Institute for the Humanities, which seeks to recover crucial stories about the city’s past and present, highlighting its character and diversity.

“For me, using a paper map is very nostalgic,” McTaggart said. “But then, it’s really cool to be using it to follow a very particular story about Calgary, because all of the maps are different ways of learning about Calgary.

“These are really interesting deep dives into things that you might not have thought about.”

Lougheed House is also hosting nine different programs where visitors can meet and hear from the artists.

“We have a couple of different artists talks and historian talks,” McTaggart said.

“In particular, we had we have one with Adrian Stimson — so you can learn more about the bison robe – and we have one with the folks that put together all of the history for the 40 buildings in the Calgary architecture map.

“It really doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself a history buff or someone who’s just very specifically interested, we probably have a map for you.”

Mapping History: The Calgary Atlas Project runs until May 17.