Audain Art Museum
James Hart, The Dance Screen (The Scream Too), 2010-2013, red cedar panel with abalone, mica, acrylic, wire and yew wood, Audain Art Museum Collection, Gift of Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa, Photo by Jarusha Brown
Xwalacktun, He-yay meymuy (Big Flood), 2014-2015 aluminum with LED lights, Audain Art Museum Collection, purchased with funds from the Audain Foundation. Photo by RAEF.ca
James Hart, The Three Watchmen, c. 2021, bronze with red ocher patina. Xwalacktun and Levi Nelson, Ti A7xa7 St’ak’ (The Great Flood), 2021, waterjet cut aluminum and concrete. Audain Art Museum Collection, Funded by the Audain Foundation. Image by Oisin McHugh.
Established in 2016, Whistler’s Audain Art Museum is a leading arts organization founded upon the major philanthropic gift of Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa.
Designed by internationally renowned Patkau Architects, the 56,000-square-foot museum is a striking piece of art in itself, deliberately restrained to provide a quiet, minimal backdrop to the art within and the surrounding natural landscape. Elevated a full storey above the ground and crowned with a steeply sloped roof, the building is clad in an envelope of dark metal that recedes into the shadows of the evergreen forest, the metal overlaid by a luminous wood casing. The public spaces inside are visible from the outside to continue this warm luminous materiality. A bridge from Blackcomb Way rises through the forest to arrive at the sky-lit entry porch, and a beautiful glazed walkway overlooking the meadow below leads to the galleries. Forbes Travel Guide named the museum one of five “Canadian Architecture Attractions You Have to See”.
The Audain Art Museum boasts an extraordinary Permanent Collection of nearly 200 works by British Columbia’s most celebrated artists. Exemplifying the richness of cultural diversity in Canada, the collection takes visitors on a transformative visual journey from the late-18th century to the present.
The Permanent Collection is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Northwest Coast First Nations masks, including hereditary Haida Chief James Hart’s The Dance Screen (The Scream Too); an expansive range of works by Emily Carr, encompassing all periods of her artistic career; as well as art by important post-war modernists such as E.J. Hughes, Gordon Smith, and Jack Shadbolt. The Collection also showcases art by contemporary British Columbia artists who are celebrated worldwide, including Jeff Wall, Dana Claxton, Marianne Nicolson, Rodney Graham and Stan Douglas, among many others. The striking museum also hosts dynamic exhibitions from around the world.
The Audain Art Museum hosts a number of exciting Special Exhibitions each year. Dedicated to presenting a wide range of artists and artistic practices, exhibitions include historical and contemporary art. The AAM curates exhibitions that travel nationally and internationally, as well as showcasing exhibitions from other institutions that complement the Permanent Collection of art from British Columbia.
The Audain Art Museum has ongoing opportunities for virtual engagement. Its popular Tuesday Night Talks (TNT) offers a unique chance for online participants to simultaneously enter the museum and the artist’s studio or home via Zoom during the evening, while learning about key works in the Permanent Collection directly from their respective makers. The series is hosted by Dr. Curtis Collins, AAM director and chief curator.
Photo by RAEF.ca
Find Audain Art Museum at
4350 Blackcomb Way
Whistler, BC
V8E 1N3
