Ralph Temple has been working in the arts all his life. He received recognition from an early age, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from the University of Alberta.

In 1981, he was hired as Technician at the Walter Phillips Gallery, at the Banff Centre, and settled in the Bow Valley. Ralph became involved in the Canmore Artists’ and Artisans’ Guild, and was asked to join the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour.

In 1983, he was included in a CTV documentary about artists in Canada. Ralph developed the Bow Valley Visual Arts portion of the Olympic Arts Festival for the 1988 Winter Olympics, and exhibited many times locally and in Toronto.

Ralph has produced several large public murals in the Bow Valley, most notably on Lawrence Grassi Middle School, which has since been torn down, but from which images were reproduced for the interior of the new replacement school.

In 2013, Ralph and his daughter, Breanna were honoured with a Mayor’s Award from the Town of Canmore for their contribution to the arts in Canmore and the Bow Valley. He rejoined the Canmore Artists’ Guild, and has previously served as a Gallery Director.

"My artwork reflects the way I experience my surroundings: I need to see context, placing myself and the viewer's perspective in scale with the subject matter.

The paintings provide an entry into, and a route through, the spaces they represent. The most important feature of my work, however, is the impression of atmosphere and qualities of light.

While all landscapes change with the changing light of day, the mountains offer constantly changing and limitless nuance in atmosphere. I love to capture moments in this display, to save and savour the feeling of that instant."

     - Ralph Temple