Works in silver honouring Canadian women in art
January 15 - February 23, 2020
Anne Barros, Anne-Sophie Vallée, Beth Alber, Brigitte Clavette, Chantal Gilbert, Charles Funnell, Elizabeth Goluch, Fiona MacIntyre, Jackie Anderson, Ken Vickerson, Kye-Yeon Son, Lois Etherington Betteridge, Mary Anne Barkhouse, Mary K. Mcintyre, Myra Tulonen Smith
Inspired by Canada's 150th Anniversary, this exhibition of silver candleholders honours Canadian women's creative past and inspires their future.
In 2016, Laura Brandon, curator, and a retired art historian from the Canadian War Museum, entrusted her family silver to a metal collective of silversmiths and jewellers. Under the stewardship of silversmith Lois E. Betteridge, fifteen members of the collective individually designed and crafted a silver candle holder. Each candleholder celebrated the 150th anniversary of Confederation by honouring Canadian women's involvement in a particular field of art between 1867 and 2017.
Entitled Illuminations, the original collection was exhibited in Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. In 2023, a final piece was commissioned for the project, created by Vivienne Jones.
Laura Brandon wished that the candleholders might eventually illuminate the dining table at Rideau Hall and inspire more understanding of the rich cultural role played by Canadian women artists. This may come true. In 2024, the Illuminations collection was successfully donated to the National Capital Commission’s Crown Collection.
Find out more in the exhibition catalogue:
