Hilda Woolnough

Infobox Artist
bgcolour = silver
name = Hilda Woolnough


imagesize =
caption = Woolnough's Appearance on CBC News, 1999
birthname = Hilda Mary Woolnough
birthdate = 1934
location = Northhampton, England
deathdate = 2007
deathplace = Charlottetown, Canada
nationality = British
field = Arts, Advocacy
training =
mentors =
works = Guantanamo, Time Piece
patrons =
awards =

Hilda Mary Woolnough, MFA, RCA, (1934 to 2007) was a world-renowned artist with shows in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and North America. She lived in the artistic community of Breadalbane, Prince Edward Island

Early life

Woolnough was born in Northhampton, England at a time of war, to a family full of painters, including her mother, uncle and brother. Beginning traditional art training at the Chelsea School of Art in London in 1952, studying with many including Henry Moore, she experimented with printmaking and then graduated with a focus on painting in 1955. She married physcologist Donald Hopkins and together they had three children. Immigrating to Canada in 1957, she settled in Hamilton, Ontario, but then left in 1965 to go to Mexico's San Miguel de Allende Instituto to study experimental etching, graduating in 1967 with a focus on graphics and a Master's of Fine Arts. Returning to London, she did post-grad art metal technique work at the Central School of Art and Design.

Career

She made her way to Kingston's Jamaica School of Art, creating an etching and lithography program. By this time, Woolnough had re-married to partner Reshard Gool, a Canadian poet/writer/publisher, who started a publication company known as Square Deal and wrote best-seller Cape Town Coolie. [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0920661092 Amazon.com: Cape Town Coolie: Reshard Gool: Books ] ] . The two of them bought a home in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and taught at the local university while forming a vibrant art society and creating their own newspaper, that failed only after radical Quebec seperationist appearance in the paper caused a stur. During the 1970s, Hilda worked with native quilting, during the Native American craft revival [ [http://peiacsw.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/hilda-woolnough-rca-1934-2007/ Hilda Woolnough, RCA, 1934-2007 « Women’s Equality Prince Edward Island ] ] . In the 1980s, Hilda worked in the crafts program at Holland College, in PEI; Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts [ [http://schoolofvisualarts.blogspot.com/2008/01/hilda-woolnough-remembered.html School of Visual Arts/Craft: Hilda Woolnough Remembered ] ] said the following, "Besides her career as an artist and arts advocate, she shared her great passion with her students, for the integration of strong design principles in handcraft design." In 1989 her partner Reshard Gool died, and she and her family created a scholarship for Island students in his name.

Even those whom Woolnough did not appreciate, appreciated her. "Being new to the Island, I did not know Hilda personally. However, it was impossible not hear people speak of her and her effect on the Island's Arts landscape. We have lost a tremendous champion of the Arts and of artists. Through this scholarship, it is our hope that future generations of Island artists will also remember Hilda and her enduring contribution to the Island." [ [http://schoolofvisualarts.blogspot.com/2008/01/hilda-woolnough-remembered.html School of Visual Arts/Craft: Hilda Woolnough Remembered ] ] said one Council of the Arts member. In 2001, a biography was done by author Linda Rae Dornan of Woolnough, titled "Hilda Woonough: Timepiece." [ [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0920089909 Amazon.co.uk: Hilda Woolnough: Timepiece: Linda Rae Dornan: Books ] ] Infobox


caption = Cover of Woolnough Biography by Linda Dornan

Towards the end of her life, Woolnough could be seen swimming daily in the Atlantic Ocean off Victoria, in home province of Prince Edward Island. When her hip broke, it was replaced with one made from enamel, which she was known to tell came from oysters, so "now the ocean was a part [of her] ." When she could swim no more, she enjoyed listening to friends play live music at her Breadalbane home, and worked hard to maintain enough strength to travel once more, and did, to Costa Rica with her partner, and was even able to swim again.

One of the last projects Hilda worked on was in conjunction with Amnesty International about the crisis in Guantanamo. Titled Guantanamo, the 12 piece show toured the world, including a stop in Japan. At one gallery, it was written by the gallery owner that she "first saw Hilda Woolnough’s 10-panel graphite drawing Guantanamo when it was shown at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown, PEI. [She] was very taken with the artistic strength behind the 33-foot piece and immediately wished to bring it." [ [http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=22999 Cageprisoners.com - serving the caged prisoners in Guantanamo Bay ] ] A reviewer of the work described it: "The 10 panels that make up Guantanamo are a testament to Woolnough’s ongoing horror of the detainees’ treatment, an appeal to bring the human face back to these men. Each of the 576 men imprisoned at Guantanamo during the time Woolnough worked on the piece in 2004 and 2005 is represented — but as faceless figures. Paper-doll chains are cut out and stacked to replicate the chain-link fence. In spread-eagled positions, the figures appear naked and shackled to each other. Rough representations of genitals appear on the figures in two panels. Using dark black strokes behind the links in some panels, or softer billowing shadows in others, Woolnough evokes moods ranging from violence and anger to confusion and despair. Vertical black oblongs in the final two panels, which are placed to form a right angle, surround the viewer with the darkest area of the entire piece. The suggestion belies hope of release for the prisoners, and promises only death." [ [http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=22999 Cageprisoners.com - serving the caged prisoners in Guantanamo Bay ] ]

After her death on December 12, 2007, at age 73, a Hilda Woolnough Memorial Scholarship was started. According to the Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts, Woolnough "has left a wonderful legacy for artists both on the Island and throughout Canada." [ [http://schoolofvisualarts.blogspot.com/2008/01/hilda-woolnough-remembered.html School of Visual Arts/Craft: Hilda Woolnough Remembered ] ]

Mentors

Henry Moore, Bernard Meadows, Julian Trevelyan, Diederich Kortlang, Leonard Marchant, Prunella Clough, Kerry Richards, Fred Bill

Accomplishments

Woolnough was a member or founder of:
* The Phoenix Gallery
* The Great George Street Gallery
* The Arts Guild
* The Printmaker's Council
* PEI Council of the Arts
* The Gallery-on-Demand
* The Royal Canadian Academy
* The Student Art Expo

Woolnough received awards such as:
*The Father Adrian Arsenault Senior Arts Award, 1999

Collections

Woolnough's work can be/has been seen in:
*The Canada Council Art Bank
*Air Canada, Montreal, Quebec
*Art Gallery of Jamaica
*Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario
*Canadian Catholic Conference
*Cantebury College of Art, Kent, England
*Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
*Gallery 98 and Museum
*CBC Montreal
*Esso Resources Division
*Gotland Museum, Visby, Sweden
*McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario
*The Art Gallery of Ontario
*The Montreal Museum of Fine Art
*The Confederation Centre Art Gallery
*Musee des Beaux Arts
*The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
*Memorial University Art Gallery, St. John's, Newfoundland
*Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, PE
*The New Brunswick Art Gallery and Museum
*Shell Canada Collection
*St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
*St. John's University
*Toronto Dominion Bank
*The Point Gallery

Quotes

"I'm interested in evolution of plants, land, the world. There are stages in the growth of the brain that are reptilian or flower-like. They're proof that we are all the sum of our parts, like the land or sea." [ [http://www.gov.pe.ca/cca/index.php3?number=1003523&lang=E Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour: Woolnough, Hilda; Liquado 2 ] ]

"What is most important to me as an artist are 'accidents and mistakes'. If I don't make them technically and intellectually on a regular basis I don't feel I'm going anywhere. I have lived on Prince Edward Island for about thirty three years, but I have travelled, taught, and done my own work all over the world; and been fortunate enough to have my work in many collections and exhibitions in Canada and abroad, including the Canadian Pavilion in the Spanish Biennial in Seville." [ [http://www.gov.pe.ca/cca/index.php3?number=1003523&lang=E Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour: Woolnough, Hilda; Liquado 2 ] ]

External links

* http://www.hildawoolnough.com/

References