The culture of Alberta refers to the art, customs, and traditions of the people of Alberta. Alberta entered into Confederation in 1905, placing it in a tie with Saskatchewan as the country's second youngest province. Despite its short history, the province possesses a rich culture. The vastness of the land and variation of geography — which includes mountains, foothills, grassland, parkland, forest, and rockland — have served as important sources of creative inspiration across all art forms. Alberta's primary industries of farming, ranching, and petroleum also play a major part in the province's culture and identity.
Arts
Architecture
Few structures in Alberta predate the province's founding in 1905. During the province's early years, many significant projects were designed by eastern firms including those of Ross and MacDonald, E. and W. S. Maxwell, Edward Colonna, John M. Lyle, Brown and Vallance, Burke Horwood and White, and Percy Erskine Nobbs.
For much of the 20th century, the Alberta landscape was dotted with wooden, gable-roofed grain elevators. Authors have referred to prairie elevators as "prairie sentinels" or "prairie cathedrals." These structures existed in most towns and hamlets and became symbols of the Canadian prairies. Alberta's first grain elevator was erected in Strathcona in 1895 by the Brackman-Ker Milling Co. Elevators, which had painted on their sides the names of towns, served as landmarks for rail and car travelers, as well as for BCATP pilots during World War II. In his 1923 book Vers une architecture, French architect Le Corbusier featured a photograph of the concrete Dominion Government Elevator in Calgary, which was demolished in 2011. By 1951 there were 1,651 elevators in the province. However, in the 1960s the traditional grain transportation system began to disappear, and by 2005 only 156 wooden elevators remained. Several, such as those at Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley, Scandia and St. Albert have been designated historical sites.
Alberta is home to six grand hotels built by railway companies; some of these are built in the château style, a uniquely Canadian aesthetic. The hotels are the Palliser Hotel, Hotel Macdonald, Banff Springs Hotel, Château Lake Louise, Jasper Park Lodge, and Prince of Wales Hotel. All six remain prominent tourist destinations. Alberta was also home to one of only two buildings in Canada designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: the Banff National Park Pavilion (built 1913–14). The building was, however, destroyed by flood in 1938. In recent years the Town of Banff has made several proposals to reconstruct the building, albeit in a new location, however, none have come to fruition.
Following World War II, Albertan architects embraced the International Style. The firm of Rule Wynn and Rule was founded in Edmonton in 1938 by three University of Alberta graduates, and in 1945 opened a second office in Calgary. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s RWR dominated the province's architectural scene, producing numerous notable commercial and residential structures. In the late 1960s a new generation emerged and sought to develop a uniquely Albertan style of architecture that responded to the province's landscape and culture. These individuals included Douglas Cardinal (1934–), Peter Hemingway (1929–1995), Gordon Atkins (1937–), Jack Long (1925–2001), Donald G. Bittorf (1926–2008), and William E. Boucock. Of this group, Douglas Cardinal became the most famous, going on to gain worldwide recognition for his work.
Perhaps the two most recognizable buildings in Calgary's skyline are the Calgary Tower (William G. Milne, 1968) and the Olympic Saddledome (Graham McCourt, 1983). Edmonton's most recognizable buildings are arguably the Alberta Legislature Building (Allan Merrick Jeffers and Richard Blakey, 1907) and Muttart Conservatory (Peter Hemingway, 1976).
Dance Alberta is home to Canada's third largest ballet company, the Alberta Ballet Company. The company was founded in 1958 by Ruth Carse (1916–1999) as Dance Interlude. Carse had been a ballerina with the Canadian Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, and Radio City Music Hall before injury forced her into retirement in 1954. In 1960 it changed its name to the Edmonton Ballet Company, and in 1966 to the Alberta Ballet Company. Since Carse's retirement in 1975, subsequent directors have included Jeremy Leslie-Spinks, Brydon Paige, Ali Pourfarrokh, Mikko Nissinen, and Jean Grand-Maître. In 1990 the company merged with the Calgary City Ballet and relocated to Calgary. It is currently based in St. Mary's Parish Hall.
Film During the Golden Age of Hollywood, Alberta was the setting of many films in the Northern genre. Some of these were filmed on location while others were shot in the United States. Examples include Canadian Pacific, Saskatchewan, Northwest Stampede, Blue Canadian Rockies, and The Wild North. Although it takes places in the United States, the 1954 film River of No Return, starring Marilyn Monroe, was filmed in Banff. The 1941 British war film 49th Parallel includes a lengthy sequence shot in Banff National Park. Campbell's Kingdom (1957), starring Dirk Bogarde, is the only feature film to tell a story about the Alberta oil industry.
Alberta has a rapidly burgeoning film industry based largely out of Calgary. During the industry’s nascent years, Alberta's prairie landscape made it a popular location to shoot western films. These include: Days of Heaven (1978), Unforgiven (1992), Legends of the Fall (1994), Open Range (2003), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).
In more recent years, the province has played host to many successful films either filmed or set almost entirely within the province. These include: Superman, Superman II, and Superman III (1983), The Revenant (2015), Ghostbusters (2020), Inception (2010), Cool Runnings (1993), The Bourne Legacy (2012), and others.
Music
Alberta is home to two professional orchestras: the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The CPO was founded in 1955 upon the merger of two existing groups. From 1957 to 1985 the orchestra's home was the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, after which time it moved to the new Jack Singer Concert Hall, where it remains today. The EPO was founded in 1952 upon the merger of two groups. From 1952 to 1997 its home was the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, after which time it moved to the Winspear Centre, where it remains today.
Several prominent classical composers originate from Alberta or have lived there. In 1962, Montreal-born composer Violet Archer (1913–2000) moved to Edmonton after taking a position in the music department at the University of Alberta. Archer remained in Edmonton for the duration of her life and often drew from the Alberta landscape for inspiration. Other Alberta composers include Allan Gordon Bell (1953–) and Allan Gilliland (1965–), both of whom studied under Archer. South African-born composer Malcolm Forsyth lived in Edmonton from 1968 until his death in 2011. Perhaps his best-known composition is Atayoskewin from 1984, which depicts Alberta's northern landscape.
Alberta has long had a vibrant jazz scene. The Edmonton jazz club Yardbird Suite has been in operation since 1984, making it one of the longest-running clubs in the country. It features local, national, and international musicians and has been the site of many live recordings. From 1987 to 2012 Calgary also had a jazz club, the Beat Niq. Perhaps the two most famous jazz musicians from Alberta are saxophonist P. J. Perry (1941–) and pianist Tommy Banks (1936–2018). Perry was born in Red Deer and as a teenager played in his father's band, the Paul Perry Orchestra, at Varsity Hall in Sylvan Lake during the summer months. Banks was born in Calgary and before becoming a senator in 2011 was the host of the television programme The Tommy Banks Show.
The country and western genre plays a significant part in Alberta's music scene. Although born in Victoria, British Columbia, Ian Tyson (1933–) is arguably the province's most famous country musician. In 1963, as part of the duo Ian and Sylvia, Tyson recorded the song "Four Strong Winds", which became one of Canada's most famous songs and whose lyrics explicitly discuss Alberta. Since the late 1960s Tyson has resided on a ranch near Longview, Alberta, and has recorded numerous cowboy-themed albums. Another of Alberta's best-known country and western performers is Corb Lund (1969–) and his band The Hurtin' Albertans. Lund's songs regularly discuss Albertan subjects. Gord Bamford, although born in Australia, grew up and still resides in Alberta.
A number of successful pop musicians and bands have come from Alberta. These include performers Jann Arden (1962–), k.d. Lang (1961–), Joni Mitchell (1943–), Feist (1976–), and bands Loverboy, The Stampeders, Nickelback, The Dudes, and Tegan and Sara.
An important musical institution is the province-wide CKUA Radio Network. The station originated in 1927 when the Extension Department of the University of Alberta purchased the licence to CFCK. CKUA is fully donor funded, and its programming includes all types of music. Since 2012 the station has been based at the newly renovated Alberta Hotel at 9804 Jasper Avenue. CKUA also has a satellite broadcast location in the King Edward Hotel in Calgary.
Painting The first visual art produced in Alberta was made the members of Aboriginal tribes such as the Blackfoot, Sarcee, and Nakota. Blackfoot pictographic art was made on media such as tipis, rock, and robes, and recurring subjects include spiritualism and inter-tribal war. One of the best-preserved examples of Aboriginal art in Alberta is at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park near Lethbridge.
The first European artist to travel to Alberta was Paul Kane, who visited the province thrice in the late 1840s. Kane was enthralled by the expanse of the land and portrayed the west as romantic and exotic. Romanticisation of the landscape would remain a prominent feature throughout much of the province's artistic history. In 1859 Kane published an account of his journeys entitled Wanderings of an Artist Among the Indians of North America. Other European artists, such as James Alden and William Hind, journeyed to Alberta in the mid-19th century and produced romantic depictions of the land, similar to those of Kane. Watercolour was the preferred medium at this time as it was fast-drying and easily transportable.
Following the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, the company's president William Van Horne began giving free passes to artists. Paintings produced by these artists would serve to promote travel to the newly-accessible region. Early artists to travel to the west on the CPR included John Fraser, Lucius O'Brien, Robert Ford Gagen, John A. Hammond, and Frederic Bell-Smith. Most of their paintings depict the mountains rather than the prairies.