BANFF CENTRE SHIFTING TO ONLINE COURSES IN FALL
Waylaid by the pandemic, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to offer online programs in visual arts, performing arts and music among others this fall.
The renowned post-secondary arts school will offer 14 courses digitally from September to December in the areas of literary arts, visual arts, music, performing arts, Indigenous arts, and Indigenous leadership.
“Artists and leaders tell us there is nowhere in the world like Banff Centre,” said Janice Price, president and CEO of Banff Centre. “The educational opportunities, the residencies and performances experienced and created by artists and leaders here have transformed lives. Now we can share those opportunities with a wider audience through digital dissemination and engagement. I applaud the team for taking this innovative step.”
As was the case for all post-secondaries in Alberta, Banff Centre had to suspend activities on campus this spring. With ongoing social distancing and gathering restrictions, most universities and colleges in Alberta are not reopening to in-person classes this fall, instead going online. Banff Centre, along with many technical education institutions that rely on hands-on training, is able to offer only a limited number of programs digitally.
It will also offer some events as online experiences, including the Banff International String Quartet Festival and the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival. On Sunday, Banff Centre will be hosting a virtual celebration of National Indigenous Peoples’ Day led by Reneltta Arluk, director of Indigenous arts, and Alexia Mckinnon, associate director of Indigenous leadership. In July, it will host a digital Midsummer Gratitude event in place of the annual Midsummer Ball, to thank its donors.
Banff Centre’s conference and hospitality services, as well as its performance spaces, fall within Stage 3 of the Alberta Relaunch Strategy, which means those businesses, and subsequent revenue, remain closed. As a result, Banff Centre laid off 284 employees.