Few digital collection explains influence of Western Canadian artists

A large number of nationally and internationally renowned artists have come out of Western Canada over the years. Names such as Lionel Lemoine FitzGerald, Bertram Brooker, Leo Mol, Arnold O. Bridgen, George Swinton and many others have been recognized not only for their individual talents, but for their influence on other Canadian artists and in the development of the Canadian art scene.

The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collection has established a new website to explain how these and other Western Canadian artists influenced artists throughout the country and around the world. The website will explain how Western Canadian artists have been instrumental in shaping Canada’s sterling reputation as a world leader and innovator in art and culture.

Prairie Prestige: How Western Canadian Artists Have Influenced Canadian Art features digitized archival material from the fonds of several prominent Western Canadian artists:

Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Bertram Brooker, George Swinton, Leo Mol, Arnold Bridgen, Elizabeth Maude MacVicar, Angus Shortt

In addition, the religious work of several Ukrainian-Canadian artists is also showcased.

Digitized photographs, correspondence, diaries, catalogues, sketches, drawings, and audio clips from the archival holding of these individuals demonstrate the demonstrate the quality of their work and their relevance to the national art scene.

Canadian art is a key component to the cultural mosaic in which we live and the archival records of the artists included in this website vividly emphasize this point. The records have been digitized from the holdings of the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, the Winnipeg Art Gallery Archives, and the Ukranian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg Archives.

Art librarian LivValmestad’s historical essay places these individuals within the context of the broader Canadian art community and explains the impact of these individuals on the development of art in Canada. Slavic librarian/archivist James Kominowski’s essay focuses on the unique contributions of a select few Ukranian-Canadian artists, primarily with respect to their religious art work.

The individuals included in this website are but a few of the more celebrated gifted artists in Western Canada. But there are many more artists that have yet to receive their due. The Prairie Prestige Wiki will allow users to contribute their own suggestions of Canadian artists who have had a dramatic effect on the Canadian art landscape and their reasons for suggesting these individuals. The wiki will hopefully lead to some lively discussions that might further illuminate the contributions of Canadian artists and perhaps initiate further research into the effects of some lesser known Canadian artists.

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