The Buchanan Collection

The Buchanan Collection is a collection of 47 works currently owned by the Lethbridge Polytechnic, gifted by locals Hugh and Donald Buchanan in honour of their parents, Senator William Buchanan and Alma Buchanan. The collection was originally offered to the City of Lethbridge in 1958, under the stipulation that a space with “properly designed exhibition room for paintings and storage space for handling travelling art exhibitions” be built within three years of the agreement. When the deadline passed and no centre was built, the collection was then gifted to Lethbridge Polytechnic, where it has resided since 1963. Works from the collection have been featured in multiple institutions since then, including the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, the Glenbow Museum, and even the National Gallery of Canada. It has been regarded as the first significant art collection to exist in Lethbridge.

The collection is an excellent sample of Canadian Art that not only includes work from some of Canada’s most well-known artists, but also covers many major Canadian Art movements and styles, from the Group of Seven’s search for a distinctly “Canadian” style in the 1920s right up to the rise of modernism and abstraction in the 1950s and 1960s. Undoubtedly, Donald Buchanan’s presence in the Canadian arts and culture scene played an important role in shaping this collection. He founded the National Film Society of Canada (now the Canadian Film Institute), co-edited the Canadian Art Journal, and was Associate Director of the National Gallery of Canada. He also worked as the Director of Talks and Public Affairs for the Canadian Radio Commission (now CBC Radio) and co-founded both the Ottawa Times and National Film Board. Additionally, he authored various written works during his lifetime, including 12 books and over 120 journal articles, largely focused on Canadian art and design. 

Since its donation just over sixty years ago, the Buchanan Collection has done just that. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, works were displayed in various institutions locally, nationally, and even internationally. From 2021-2025, the City of Lethbridge and the University’s Faculty of Fine Arts partnered to create annual paid summer internships researching the Buchanan Collection and the Buchanan Bequest. Four students – Thea Sleight, Cassandra Williamson, Jason Ranaghan, and myself – have all had the opportunity to work directly with these collections, each contributing meaningful research while building skills as museum and gallery professionals. Now, the Buchanan Collection has been generously loaned to the University for the next five years. During that time, we will showcase works in our two gallery spaces on campus – the Helen Christou Gallery (located on Level 9) and in the Dr. Margaret “Marmie” Perkins Hess Gallery (located on Level 6) – while also continuing research and care on the collection.