Alberta Craft Council

If you’ve never been to the Alberta Craft Gallery, you don’t know what you’re missing. The gallery houses hundreds of pieces of beautiful art, all handcrafted by Canadian artists. Whether you prefer glass art or ceramics and pottery, wood or textiles, they have the artists that do all that here. All the pieces come with labels of the artist and where they’re from in Canada.
Everything is just absolutely stunning to look at; there are so many vivid colours. They have jewelry as well, all original designs, all exceptionally beautiful. I know I keep saying it’s all wonderful, but no matter how many times I say it, it won’t do justice to this art.
They have a lower gallery where they are currently featuring artists Brian McArthur and Darren Petersen, ceramics and glass art, respectively. It’s a really neat exhibit, if you want to see flying beavers and glass trout.
The gallery offers some great ideas for gifts, even if you’re not an art-​collector. I’m definitely going to be back for the next exhibit in January. It’s places like this that make me proud of the talent we have here in Canada.

Over the last several years, I have ended up in Edmonton on business on many occasions. And although Downtown Edmonton is still a work in progress, I always make it a point to make the trip in (usally from Sherwood Park) to visit and shop (for mostly gifts) at the gallery at the Alberta Craft Council.
I have never been disappointed with this place and I certainly can’t blame them for the more recent lousy exchange rates. The space is well designed to showcase various artists and their various media and the staff are very good advocates of who they represent (mostly Prairies and BC artists). I usually linger for at least an hour and have never left without buying something and being impressed on the quality, value, and variety. My friends and family back home have always appreciated these unique gifts.