Alberta became the first province in Canada to formalize public support of the arts and culture through the passing of the Cultural Development Act in 1946. What followed was the establishment of several provincial organizations, bodies and projects that formed the skeleton of what is now known as the AFA. The Alberta Art Foundation (AAF) was established in 1972, the first of three lottery-funded
bodies mandated to support cultural development in Alberta. At first, the AAF did not focus on grants; rather, it was assigned the task of collecting art on behalf of the people of Alberta. The first piece of art ever acquired to the AAF Art Collection was a piece called Portrait of Don Getty, a print featuring former Alberta Premier Don Getty’s Edmonton Eskimos player card. In preparation for Alberta’s 75th anniversary celebrations in 1980, the Visual Arts Branch of Alberta Culture launched a province-wide traveling exhibition program that featured a number of exhibitions drawn from the AAF collection. When the program wrapped up at the end of the year there was such demand from communities around the province that the AAF decided to continue the program, which still runs today as the TREX Program. With the creation of the Alberta Foundation for the Performing Arts in 1978 and the Alberta Foundation for the Literary Arts in 1984, the province had a variety of approaches to supporting different sectors of the cultural community. In 1991 the government decided to combine the Alberta Foundation for the Performing Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Literary Arts and the Alberta Art Foundation into one. Thus, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts was born on September 6, 1991. More information at https://www.affta.ab.ca/news/afa-origins
