Remai Modern Brings Thousands of Tourists to Canada

Saskatoon is out there. The city, located in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, lies approximately halfway between the larger cities of Edmonton and Winnipeg, along the Yellowhead Highway. Those two cities are located over 1300 kilometers (800 miles) apart.

Saskatoon sits roughly 325 kilometers (200 miles) north of the U.S. border between eastern Montana and Canada.

It's small, too. Its population of roughly 300,000 compares to Montgomery, Alabama or Lubbock, Texas.

It doesn't seem like an ideal location for a modern art museum, but it has proven to be one.

Opening in October of 2017, Remai Modern has transformed the area's arts community while generating a $21.3 million economic impact and 286 full-time jobs during its first year of operation alone. The museum's impact, however, goes far beyond economics.

"Remai Modern places a big emphasis on community engagement," Remai Modern Executive Director and CEO Gregory Burke said. "In our first year, more than 50,000 people took part in Remai Modern's Learning and Engagement programs. All Saskatoon students from kindergarten to Grade 12 have access to free tours of the museum."

Remai Modern also provides outreach programs at hospitals, treatment centers and supported living residences for people who can't visit the museum itself. Partnerships with the local community and art groups deepen the museum's connection to its hometown.

The museum hoped to sell 1,000 memberships in its first year. More than 9,000 signed up. Visitation goals for the inaugural year were set at 190,000. More than 450,000 visits were made. Remai Modern estimates that nearly 40 percent of all visits to the facility in the first year were tourists.

What allowed the museum to have such impressive immediate success?

"When we first opened it was the building itself; the awarding-winning design by KPMB's Bruce Kuwabara is unlike anything else in Saskatchewan," Burke said. "The views from Remai Modern are some of the best in the city. Since our opening, though, it's the program that is resonating with audiences. Our programming features some of the world's most inspiring, challenging and well-respected contemporary art minds."

What can other similarly small cities learn from the success of Remai Modern?

"Be bold and take risks," Burke said. "A project like this is challenging for myriad reasons, not least of which is getting it approved in the first place, but the result it something that will benefit the community for decades to come."

Those benefits include many that may be surprising.

"I think Remai Modern means different things to different people, but most of all, it is a meeting place," Burke said. "The museum is a place where people can come to be inspired, to slow down, to have conversations about the issues driving our time, to celebrate."

Another surprise? It's impact on real estate.

A luxury development near the museum pre-sold most of its units at a sales event in 2016, causing the developer to add another four floors

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How does the museum plan on maintaining its strong first-year momentum?

"Remai Modern spent the last part of 2018 doing an in-depth refresh of our strategic plan," Burke said. "It focuses on five key pillars: art, experience, engagement, sustainability and people. Those five areas will drive all of the museum's decisions in 2019 and beyond."

People have always been a key ingredient to Remai Modern's values. Remai Modern is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of Métis. Treaty 6 was signed by representatives from Indigenous tribes and the Canadian Government in 1876 and covers a wide swath of land in western Canada. The Metis are children born of European fisherman and their Native wives in the early 1600s who gradually migrated west.

What's next for the museum?

"In February, we open Rebecca Belmore: Facing the Monumental," Burke said. "This exhibition, which tours from the Art Gallery of Ontario, is especially relevant in Saskatoon at this time. Belmore is one of the most influential artists in Canada today and her work tackles themes including water and land rights, women's lives and dignity and violence against Indigenous people."

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