committed to legacy.

Rosebud Legacy Society is home to collaborative artists and entrepreneurs who have created a lasting legacy. Traditional arts organizations struggle to meet their annual operational budgets. We're doing something to change this.

May 7th, 2023 @ 3pm

Celebration at Crescent Heights Baptist Church

Get ready for an electrifying blast from the past! On May 7th at 3:00 p.m, we invite you to join us at Crescent Heights Baptist Church, located at 1212 - 1st Street NW in Calgary, for a once-in-a-lifetime event. This is the very church where the legendary Rosebud Venture first began its journey back in the spring of 1973, and we're about to bring fifty years of history back to life in the sanctuary!

But that's not all - we've got some incredible guests in attendance. You won't want to miss our Rosebud legacy partners, who will be showcasing their displays in the gymnasium at 2:00pm. Get up close and personal with the artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia that have made the Rosebud Venture such a beloved part of our community.

And don't worry about dressing up - we want you to feel comfortable and casual as we celebrate this momentous occasion together. So mark your calendars and get ready to experience history come to life at the Rosebud Fellowship event. We can't wait to see you there!

Come Celebrate 50 Years

August 4 - 7, 2023

Unleash your spirit at Rosebud's Jubilee! An unforgettable journey through time, culture, and nature's beauty, bonding over the rhythm of music, theatre, and shared dreams for the past, present, and future.

Learn More

Iconic Past

Behind every brand name are many stories. In the information age nothing remains hidden.

Rosebud Valley, according to Sioux history, was nurtured as a sacred place for 10,000 years for the Great Creator. This was a gathering place for nomadic people, a place where war drums were turned into peace drums. Hundreds of medicinal plants provided healing. Abundance of wildlife and fruits-in-their season provided sustenance. The valley provided refuge from the prairie storms. Elders, the knowledge keepers, taught the younger generations. Generation followed generation as guardians of the land. Then their world was changed.

Settlers arrived. They were not nomadic. They did not come to keep the land for the Great Creator. They came to own the land. They were not guardians but possessors. A new culture was established -
agriculture. Treaty #7 was signed in 1887 by Blackfoot Chief Crowfoot.

Rosebud’s settlement dates from 1883. The Village of Rosebud became the hub for rural families. The Village dissolved in 1945 and became a hamlet. Agriculture underwent constant change. Ranching changed to family farming. Farming became industrialized. The CN rail line built through the Rosebud River valley endured for only a century leaving lasting environmental change, but Rosebud did not go the way of neighbouring railway sidings.

In 1973, Rosebud Camp of the Arts was formed as a place of learning for youth. Vacant buildings in Rosebud provided a campus. U of C and SAIT summer students were employed with the support of Crescent Heights Baptist Church, North Calgary Kiwanis Club, Imperial Oil, Calgary Coop, Maclin Ford, Simpson Sears, Smitty’s Pancake House, National Transmission, and Calgary Printing and Silk-screening. Calgary Public and Separate Boards of Education promoted the program though their Fine Arts departments. Alberta Culture, Fine Arts Department stepped in with support.

Rosebud Camp of the Arts began filling the void left by family-farm decline. Fifty years later ROSBUD is a brand name in Tourism and the Arts. The visitation of nomadic tribes has been replaced by rubber tire traffic on paved highways used by tens of thousands of visitors annually to Rosebud’s music festivals, galleries, theatre productions, plein-air paint-outs, choral concerts, and celebrations.

The centuries of enjoying the blessing of the Great Creator continue in this valley with new legacies, memories, and friendships. Farm families and international guests meet. Local service clubs and the Rosebud Church provide continuity. Rosebud’s Memorial Museum documents history.

Behind the scenes Rosebud Fellowship was provincially chartered in 1976 and received its charitable status #817369945RR0001 in 1977. It is a fine arts production company like none other. It acts as a fine arts incubator until its offspring have their own legal status. Then it stands in the wings to help with production capacity. Rosebud Fellowship’s legacy includes Rosebud School of the Arts, Rosebud Theatre in Rosebud, AB, the Canadian Badlands Passion Play in Drumheller, AB, and The Chemainus Theatre Festival on Vancouver Island. The Society stands ready to birth other endeavours that comply with its charitable purposes.

Rosebud Chamber Music Festival is produced annually by Rosebud Fellowship as its contribution to the Canadian music scene.

Purposes of Rosebud Legacy Society

  1. Develop enduring partnerships of artistic, creative, and visionary leaders between Rosebud Legacy Society and related charitable arts organizations. 
  2. Produce cultural and educational experiences of emerging and professional artistry in all fine art forms. 
  3. Provide artists with performance and portfolio-building opportunities. 
  4. Create endowments for arts organizations through the Calgary Foundation and other CRA approved entities. 
  5. Undertake powers to: 
    1. Carry out an attainment of the purposes of the society, to purchase, take on lease or otherwise acquire and to hold, service, manage, develop and mortgage real and personal property of every kind and description, and any estate or interest therein, including, without limitation, lands, and buildings, and to do all such other acts, deeds, and things as are necessary for and conducive to the carrying out and attainment of the purposes of the society. 
    2. Receive donations to finance the society's objects and purposes. 
    3. Apply for all lawful and necessary grants-in-aid. and related charitable arts organizations. 

Rosebud, Alberta – Our Common Narrative

The purpose of a Common Narrative is to present a unified image at home and abroad.

Rosebud is the Cultural Heart of the Canadian Badlands. It is a grateful heart that longs for an abundant future.

Rosebud is a community of confident skills and varied interests. It is a safe place for its citizens and guests. It is creative and resilient. It is committed to be a welcoming home for all. It is a valley full of stories and longings: stories of nomadic people living here since the last Great Ice Age, stories of vast migrations, of settlers who came to start new lives, stories of cowboys who built sprawling ranches, of the last great open-range cattle round-up, stories of building a farming community, stories of rural survival in the face of overwhelming international urbanization. Rosebud’s unique cultural history has flourished as a national treasure.

Rosebud has attracted writers, composers, artists, families and international friends. In winter its snow covered valley waits for the summer’s blaze of glory. But during all seasons it is open for friendship.

Today Rosebud’s heart is citizens who tell these stories, at home or on the world’s stages networking with other creative people. It is farmers whose productivity feeds a needy world. Rosebud is a community of friendship with hearts open to welcome you. Come celebrate with us in festivals and country living.

Rosebud invites the world to hear its stories, see its beauty and share in its community values. It invites you to be a citizen for a day, or a lifetime. Come away for a little while from the stress of urban pressures, or the sadness of faltering communities. Let us become part of your story, and you part of ours. Come as a student to study here. Bring your children, who with wide-eyed wonder will travel to times only imagined. Spend hours floating down our lazy river or visiting our rural attractions. Why visit any other place when we long to have you here?

Why raise your family, or build your business, or launch you career anywhere else?

Rosebud might seem like a quaint and distant place, but we are a global centre attracting talent and visitors from around the world.

Get Involved

Join the Rosebud Legacy Community

There are multiple ways to be a part of Rosebud Fellowship. Follow on social media or become an official member.

Team members

Rosebud Fellowship Board Members

LaVerne Erickson Photo

LaVerne
Erickson

President
Tim Erickson Photo

Tim
Erickson

Treasurer
Robert Dack Photo

Robert
Dack

Secretary
Roy Christensen Photo

Roy
Christensen

Assistant Secretary
Aaron Krogman Photo

Aaron
Krogman

Member
Paul Muir Photo

Paul
Muir

Member
Alma Siemens Photo

Alma
Seimens

Member
Elling Dahlen Photo

Elling Dahlen

Member
Diane Illerbrun Photo

Diane
Illerbrun

Member