All images by Liane Hung.

When I think of planning a trip to Whistler, a stop to an Art Museum doesn’t cross my mind right off the bat, which is exactly why I was so intrigued to visit the Audain Art Museum.

audain art museum whistler

Opened March of last year, AAM was designed by John and Patricia Patkau, David Shone and their firm Patkau Architects. The museum structure itself is a work of art, modern and unique yet simple and compliments the forest it’s surrounded in. The idea of the building was to disturb as little of the natural surrounding as possible, cutting down only a small amount of trees and using mainly wood as its primary material to blend seamlessly into the background of Engelmann and Sitka Spruce.

audain art museum whistler

audain art museum whistler

audain art museum-6190

It’s also worth mentioning that the museum hosts other activities such as yoga lessons, and can be rented out as a venue as well.

audain art museum whistler

audain art museum whistler

The focus of the art museum is local British Columbian art, as well as native historical pieces such as masks and tapestries. There is a section dedicated to Emily Carr, a well known Canadian artist and writer, as well as EJ Hughes, whose method of separating his art pieces into small squares in order to focus on the colours of each individual panel particularly interesting; as it ends up creating hyperrealistic works of art.

audain art museum whistler

audain art museum whistler

audain art museum whistler

 

Their current exhibit running until February 2018, is Stone and Sky: Canada’s Mountain Landscape. The exhibit celebrates our mountain and coastlines over time from water paints to videography.

audain art museum whistler

audain art museum whistler

 

Overall the Audain Art Museum was worth the visit, not just for the exhibits but also the architectural building itself. It’s minimalistic aesthetic was quite pleasing and clean, and it provides a nice few hours of leisurely activity where you can familiar yourself with BC history and culture.

 

Disclosure: Please note we were invited on a media tour of Whistler and our admission was paid for, all opinions are our own.