This body of work features historical female artists that were working in Alberta during the early 1900s. As a long-time resident and female artist in this province, I have felt the challenges that women face in the art world today, with an understanding that in the past the challenges were even greater. Researching archives opens the doors to the history of the women artists that contributed to the growth of arts in Alberta.
I studied Art & Design in the mid-1980s where women artists were not really discussed and, when I enrolled in art history classes during the pandemic, I was surprised to learn that there is still not much information about female artists in the curriculum. There is even less information about female artists specific to Alberta.
In 2008, I attended an exhibition of work by Margaret Shelton at the Collectors' Gallery in Inglewood where I was fascinated to see her orange bike and paint box. She had painted her bike using house paint to make it more visible on the roads and would pack her art supplies and tent to cycle from the Drumheller Valley to the Rocky Mountains where she would create watercolour paintings and woodcut prints. She was a school teacher who used scholarship money to study at the Banff Centre under professional artists such as A.C. Leighton, Walter Phillips and more. She is one of the many inspiring Alberta women artists who created in spite of the challenges they faced.
Beginning the project during my Artist Residency with the Alberta Society of Artists in 2024, which was founded by A.C. Leighton, I explored the use of full-sized watercolour sheets coated with a medium for durability. My goal was to incorporate figurative work along with the work or belongings of each artist. I found that I missed working solely on portraits and switched to 12x12 inch cradled and prepared wood panels. Like Georgia O’Keeffe intended with her paintings of flowers, I want to invite the viewer to stop and learn about these important women.
I want to thank the Archivists at the Galt Museum, Whyte Museum and Paul D. Fleck Library and Archives at the Banff Centre for their assistance along with numerous others who reached out to share stories and photographs after learning about this project on CBC Radio.
To learn more about Margaret Shelton, please visit MargaretShelton.ca here, Galleries West magazine here and the Collectors' Gallery here.
I studied Art & Design in the mid-1980s where women artists were not really discussed and, when I enrolled in art history classes during the pandemic, I was surprised to learn that there is still not much information about female artists in the curriculum. There is even less information about female artists specific to Alberta.
In 2008, I attended an exhibition of work by Margaret Shelton at the Collectors' Gallery in Inglewood where I was fascinated to see her orange bike and paint box. She had painted her bike using house paint to make it more visible on the roads and would pack her art supplies and tent to cycle from the Drumheller Valley to the Rocky Mountains where she would create watercolour paintings and woodcut prints. She was a school teacher who used scholarship money to study at the Banff Centre under professional artists such as A.C. Leighton, Walter Phillips and more. She is one of the many inspiring Alberta women artists who created in spite of the challenges they faced.
Beginning the project during my Artist Residency with the Alberta Society of Artists in 2024, which was founded by A.C. Leighton, I explored the use of full-sized watercolour sheets coated with a medium for durability. My goal was to incorporate figurative work along with the work or belongings of each artist. I found that I missed working solely on portraits and switched to 12x12 inch cradled and prepared wood panels. Like Georgia O’Keeffe intended with her paintings of flowers, I want to invite the viewer to stop and learn about these important women.
I want to thank the Archivists at the Galt Museum, Whyte Museum and Paul D. Fleck Library and Archives at the Banff Centre for their assistance along with numerous others who reached out to share stories and photographs after learning about this project on CBC Radio.
To learn more about Margaret Shelton, please visit MargaretShelton.ca here, Galleries West magazine here and the Collectors' Gallery here.
CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/women-artists-alberta-1.7284254
CityView: https://www.airdriecityview.com/local-news/airdrie-artist-veronica-funk-honouring-women-through-painting-9439261
AIR 106.1: www.airdriecityview.com/local-news/airdrie-artist-veronica-funk-honouring-women-through-painting-9439261
CityView: https://www.airdriecityview.com/local-news/airdrie-artist-veronica-funk-honouring-women-through-painting-9439261
AIR 106.1: www.airdriecityview.com/local-news/airdrie-artist-veronica-funk-honouring-women-through-painting-9439261
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Photographs by Shallon Cunningham
The Mission of the Alberta Society of Artists is to have an active membership of professional visual artists, which will strive for excellence, and shall through exhibition, education and communication, increase public awareness and appreciation of the visual arts.
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ARTIST RESIDENCY:
Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 3pm September 7 to October 26, 2024 EVERYONE IS WELCOME CLOSING RECEPTION: DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1-3pm LOCATION: ASA Gallery 2nd Floor, Crossroads Market 222-1235 26 Avenue SE Calgary, AB |
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GALT MUSEUM: I recently had an appointment with Archives Assistant Bobbie Fox in the Archives Department of the Galt Museum in Lethbridge. I have a few other appointments scheduled this summer to begin research into historical female artists in Alberta (early 1900s). The most amazing thing I found were handwritten papers by Edith Fanny Kirk that were prepared for presentations in the 1930s: How to Look at Pictures, The Evolution of Art and Essentials in the Understanding of Pictures. It was the most exciting thing to hold these documents in my hand, to know there was a woman who was open-minded in discussing the value of art. I can't wait to learn more.
WHYTE MUSEUM: After 25+ years, I finally the opportunity to tour Catharine Robb Whyte's home in Banff and it was amazing to see her books, collections and art supplies. I spent a few hours in the museum, looking at the clothing and other objects of hers along with Mary Vaux and Mary Schaffer Warren. I also stumbled upon Edmee Brewster Moore, who studied in San Francisco but, I believe only painted as a hobby afterward, which is unfortunate as it was lovely to see her sketchbooks. Such huge gratitude for the assistance of the Director of Archives & Special Collections, Elizabeth Kundert-Cameron,
BANFF CENTRE: It was lovely to spend a week at the Banff Centre...a dream, really. I was so thankful to the Archivist of the Paul D. Fleck Library & Archives, Paul Hickling, as he was able to locate really clear photographs of Janet Middleton and Annora Brown along with handwritten letters. There is something so special about being able to see and hold something so personal. It was a real treat to be able to look through some of the University of Alberta archives while I was there.
THE COLLECTOR'S GALLERY OF ART: Thirteen years ago, I read an article about a fascinating woman by the name of Margaret Shelton (1915-1984) and couldn't believe I hadn't heard of her before. She grew up in the mid-central Alberta prairies (near Drumheller) and would ride her orange bike all the way to the Rockies to sketch and paint them along with everything else around her, both near and far, staying in her pup tent for the summer. Her work is quite stunning as she was able to capture the area with impeccable drawing skills and would then return home to create linocut and wood block prints along with larger watercolor and oil paintings. What an amazing role model to not only follow her dream as an artist, but to be so focused and driven to do what it takes to follow that dream. Even today, what she accomplished fills me with wonder and awe as I don't know that I could be so dedicated, so committed, so brave. In the summer of 2012, I headed into Calgary to visit The Collectors Gallery in Inglewood (always a pleasure) and saw my favorite pieces, a small watercolour sketch which sat beside its completed print. It was wonderful to see her bike (which she painted orange so that it wouldn't be stolen) in the exhibit along with the pochade and sketchbooks she travelled with - I wish these items would be placed in a museum for posterity. I wanted to take a ride on the bike and flip through her sketchbooks. I got to see another exhibit of her work at The Collectors Gallery recently, without her bike unfortunately, and was just as amazed as the first time.
FEATURED ON:
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Barbara Leighton
Margaret Shelton | Mary Parris | Catharine Robb Whyte
Annora Brown (ASA Artist Residency)
