Holiday at the Banff School of Fine Arts: The Cinematic Production of Culture, Nature, and Nation in the Canadian Rockies, 1945-1952

Journal of Canadian Studies, Winter 2005 by Reichwein, PearlAnn

The National Film Board's 1946 production Holiday at School was the culmination of a decade's work in university extension education by Donald Roy Cameron, the director of the Banff School of Fine Arts. Established by the University of Alberta in 1933 and shaped by Cameron's vision from 1936 to 1966, the Banff School promoted Canadian nation-building through the arts and contributed to the construction of Banff as a prime tourism destination and wilderness recreation park. The strategy was not unlike the way Canadian cultural policy in the mid-twentieth century approached national development through tourism in the national parks and through film-making by the National Film Board. All three institutions-the National Film Board, the Banff School of Fine Arts, and Banff National Park-constructed Banff as a symbolic national landscape for leisure and tourism consumption. The film Holiday at School was thus produced at the intersection of these institutions participating in the construction of citizenship in Canada after the Second World War: holidays at the Banff School became a site for the expression of postwar ideals of liberal democratic citizenship that encompassed public education, leisure consumerism, and Canadian nationalism.

La production de 1946 Holiday at School de l'Office national du film représentait le point culminant de dix ans de travail dans l'enseignement périscolaire au niveau universitaire par Donald Roy Cameron, directeur de la Banff School of Fine Arts. Établie par l'université de l'Alberta en 1933 et formée par la vision de Cameron entre 1936 et 1966, la Banff School encourageait la constitution de la nation canadienne à travers les arts et a contribué à la transformation de Banff en une destination touristique primée et en un parc récréatif naturel. Cette stratégie ressemblait à la façon dont la politique culturelle canadienne au milieu du XX^sup e^ siècle traitait le développement national à l'aide du tourisme dans les parcs nationaux et de la réalisation de films par l'Office national du film. Les trois établissements -l'Office national du film, la Banff School of Fine Arts et le parc national de Banff-ont contribué au paysage national symbolique de Banff en matière de loisirs et de tourisme. Le film Holiday at School a été réalisé à la jonction de ces établissements pour aider à promouvoir la citoyenneté au Canada après la seconde Guerre mondiale. Les vacances à la Banff School of Fine Arts devinrent un lieu d'expression des idéaux d'après-guerre de la citoyenneté démocrate libérale englobant l'éducation publique, la consommation récréative et le nationalisme canadien.

Holiday at School, the National Film Board (NFB) documentary about the Banff School of Fine Arts, was first screened before a Banff audience on 18 July 1946. The film made front-page headlines in the local newspaper, and it was the opening night feature at the 14th Banff School of Fine Arts. Banff locals and arts students alike applauded the sight of Tunnel Mountain and other familiar places. Banff National Park Superintendent PJ. Jennings commended the school's director, Donald Cameron, for selecting Banff as the site for the summer school; Jennings observed that "there is probably no finer spot in the world than this for such an organization" (Banff Crag and Canyon 1946b, 1). The Banff Crag and Canyon (BCC) noted plans to translate Holiday at School into 16 languages, concluding that "all will agree" that the film "is possibly one of the best publicity pictures, not only for the School of Fine Arts, but also for Banff as a recreation centre" (3).1 The newspaper's observation acknowledges the various investments in the film's public production of Rocky Mountain culture: the promotional, cultural, and nationalist goals of the Banff School, Banff National Park, and the National Film Board would all be effectively advanced through the wide distribution of Holiday at School.

In mid-twentieth century Canada, both nature and culture drew visitors to Banff on holiday and advanced recreational tourism on behalf of both school and park.2 The originators of the Banff School perceived a close alignment between adult extension education and national development; fine arts education reinforced the idea of the Canadian mountain parks as symbolic cultural landscapes. Canadian national development and identity were served by both institutions through this production of tourism: educational and cultural labour was construed as holiday time, but was also believed to facilitate the development of a specifically Canadian national culture. The 1946 NFB film Holiday at School was the culmination of a decade's work by Donald Roy Cameron (1901-1989), the director of the Banff School from 1936 to 1966. Under Cameron, the Banff School promoted Canadian nation-building through the arts and contributed to creating and reproducing a common understanding of Banff as a prime tourism destination and wilderness recreation park. The strategy was not unlike the way Ottawa approached national development through tourism in the national parks and through film-making by the National Film Board. Indeed, all three institutionsthe NFB, the Banff School, and Banff National Park-joined in constructing Banff as a symbolic national landscape for leisure and tourism consumption. The NFB film Holiday at School was thus produced at the intersection of these institutions as an exercise in nation-building: holidays at the Banff School became a site for the expression of post-second World War ideals of liberal democratic citizenship that encompassed public education, leisure consumerism, and Canadian nationalism.