One of the Foothills’ most celebrated art galleries is unveiling plans to expand its facilities.
The Leighton Art Centre, located in the countryside between Okotoks and Millarville, perched on a hillside looking out on Foothills County, will be holding an open house on Oct. 19 to showcase the proposal for a new and expanded Education Centre.
“Over the last few years the organization has done a lot of research and a lot of visioning about what the organization needs,” said Christina Cuthbertson, executive director for the Leighton.
“One of the most pressing issues at the Leighton Art Centre is the aging infrastructure of our Education Centre.”
That consists of the “Ballyhamage” heritage schoolhouse, and pottery and weaving studios located on a parcel of land adjacent the historic home of Barbara Leighton that houses the main art gallery.
After a 2020 feasibility study was done, the pottery and weaving studios were found to be too far-gone to repair.
“We need to replace them, and it was also found that it would just be too prohibitive to remediate the existing structure,” Cuthbertson said.
“The plan is to demolish weaving studio and a bunch of the small sheds that line the north edge of the property and create a new purpose-built studio at the Education Centre.”
The Leighton's Education Centre sees an average of 6,000 school children per year for art and nature programming, according to a vision document provided by Cuthbertson, however the aging infrastructure has limited that to 4,000.
That capacity would increase to an estimated 13,500 students, and constructing a new building entirely would also bring the centre up to modern standards in terms of accessibility.
The schoolhouse shall remain, however, as a provincially designated historic resource.
“We’re keeping that, that one’s in good enough shape that with minor renovations we can get it up to snuff, and then build on that history and legacy,” Cuthbertson said.
The open house will give insights as to how the Leighton moves forward, and let those to whom it is important engage.
"It's really an opportunity to describe what some of our vision and ambitions are for the Education Centre, but also to gather insights, questions, concerns and ideas from the community," Cuthbertson said.
"The success of Leighton Art Centre has always been in relation to creating a space that is community-driven and has a lot of support and love within the community."
On top of engagement, the Leighton is also seeking donations to support the expansion, with the vision document stating: "A donation to this project means more artists will be supported at every stage of their artistic development."
Simon Fernandes, principal architect at Works of Architecture, wanted to keep his design true to the spirit of the Leighton Art Centre and honour founders Barbara and Alfred Leighton.
“We wanted to draw from a lot of the moods and design cues that were there already, that were important to Alfred and Barbara,” Fernandes said.
“We initially started doing a dive into the history ... poured through all the stories and artifacts and imagery and just wandering the site and getting a feel for it.
“One thing we wanted to do is be respectful to what’s there.”
All that was to create a vision that was true to the original space.
“There’s communities involved, and groups involved that have a tangible investment and emotional connection to the site,” Fernandes said.
“We’ve tried to align to the Art Centre and use the building to draw people into the landscape as well.”
The proposed design features large indoor and outdoor spaces that complement and draw on the environs.
“One of the early requests was to have a covered outdoor classroom, whether that would be attached to the building or a free-standing structure,” Fernandes said.
“We took it as an opportunity to combine them together, and also make them a landing space where people could gather before they head out into the landscape.”
That proposed design has been well received so far, he added.
“It’s had a very positive response from everybody, but that’s what we tried to do; observe what was there, soak in the knowledge and use our best judgment in developing a design solution,” Fernandes said.
Having studied fine arts as an undergraduate before getting his degree as an architect, the project has a special meaning to him.
“It’s been kind of a dream project,” said Fernandes. “This project means quite a bit to me and it’s very important, so I hope Barbara and Alfred would be happy with what we’re doing.”
Those wanting to learn more about the proposed Education Centre or engage with the Leighton can go to leightoncentre.org or visit the open house at 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 19.
