Daryl Betenia Looks Back on 42 Years at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum

It can be a blessing to know exactly your path right out of university — for Daryl Betenia, that was working in museums, a path that led her to the Glenbow where she worked for 42 years in every position imaginable, eventually becoming director of collections and curatorial, overseeing the entire collection.

Betenia officially retired at the end of 2024, and over the course of her career, her hands have probably touched every item that has gone through Glenbow (albeit with a bright blue pair of rubber gloves on).
Walking through the halls of the still-under-reno Glenbow, she greets everyone with a smile and still lends a helping hand, finding specific pieces amongst a maze of more than 250,000 artifacts in storage with an impressive, practically photographic, memory.

When the Glenbow reopens after renovations are completed, three new glass-walled storage, production and conservation areas will be open for the public to view. Among them, Betenia shows off some of her favourite pieces — a dress worn by Queen Mary, an Indigenous coat made from the feathers and down of arctic birds, and a vintage coffee roaster from one of Calgary’s first grocery innovators, among many others.

It’s clear that even though she has retired, Betenia will always be a part of the fabric of the Glenbow.
We caught up with her to chat about her career, and where she thinks the future of the Glenbow is headed.

What first got you into the curatorial space?

Daryl Betenia: “I love history. I’ve always had a passion for it, and when I first came here to go to university, the plan was that I would get a business degree. But I loved history too much, and part way through my second year, I was taking every history option possible, so I decided I was just gonna go with that. When it came to looking for a job, Glenbow was a very logical place. That got me into museums, and I found my spot very fast and never left.”

In the simplest terms, what did your job entail?

DB: “I and my team were responsible for all the logistics around the collections. So, tracking everything in the storage areas, all the logistics and legalities around acquisitions, managing loans in and out of our collections. And the curatorial part is responsible for the content of collections, growing them and thinking ‘we should grow this or we should grow that.’ That led more recently into work on more exhibitions. So that’s putting it very simply.”

Do you have a memory that stands out?

DB: “There are too many memories to isolate anything in particular. My favourite part of the job would probably be an even split between the collections and the people I’ve worked with. I love the collections. I love history, I think it’s important. I love art, I think it tells us a lot about the world we’re living in and I think seeing the real thing [in person] carries an enormous weight. I think they’re all important for telling that story and offering other people the opportunity to tell their story.

I’ve always maintained that a particular type of people work in museums. They’re not aspiring for a corporate career — it’s a different type of mindset and they’re my people.”

Do you have a favourite exhibition over the years?

DB: “When I look over the span of the years, one of my favourites was Uninvited, which was the first exhibit in the pop-up space. I loved that one because it was about female artists in the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s. Just taking a look at a lot of these women who hadn’t been paid the attention they should have been paid. [Another one would be] Warriors, because that was the first one I ever project managed.”

Lately, museums have been under more scrutiny for maintaining cultural responsibility regarding their collections. How have you seen the industry change since you started at Glenbow?

DB: “Museums have evolved — just like any organization should evolve — and the conversation has shifted. I think, whereas 40 years ago, museums would talk about communities rather than talk to communities, now that has shifted so completely. Now, we don’t tell the story, we give the opportunity to other people to tell the story, so the way we communicate has changed.

“I think a large part of it is the relationship between museums and communities that they represent has changed and become more egalitarian. Museums had a tendency to be the experts, and we don’t see ourselves as the experts anymore.

“Another thing that comes along with that is [public] access to the collections, and just making people welcome in the collections and in the museum in a different way, which is going to be a big thing when the museum reopens.”

Anything else that has changed? I’m assuming things have been digitized?

DB: “When I first started at Glenbow, my part-time job was doing data entry, and it was on one of the first collections management systems in Canada, called the National Inventory Program. It was a national program for collections management around the country, and it’s so different now. At the time it seemed miraculous. Now it seems pretty clunky.

“Phones have made a huge difference, too. I remember when getting a photo of an artifact was a huge deal, even if you wanted a quick reference photo.”

What do you see as the future of Glenbow? What do you hope for?

DB: “I’m very excited for the re-opening. I think it’s going to be fantastic. We’re in the same footprint, but it’s going to be an entirely new building and an entirely new experience. And the fact that it is going to be free will be huge — the accessibility is going to change a lot here.”

Anything else you want to say?

DB: “I’ve been very fortunate. Every job has hiccups, but I can honestly look back and say that I have loved my job. It’s time to retire and I’m not at all unhappy about that, but I have loved my job. I’ve been able to work with some incredible stuff and some incredible people.”

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