Wynona Croft Mulcaster, Waterhole, 1975. Collection of the Mendel Art Gallery. Purchased 1976.
Our editors’ weekly roundup of Canadian art news.
Saskatchewan-born artist Wynona Mulcaster died at her home in Mexico on August 25 at the age of 101. Mulcaster, who has 36 works in the Remai Modern’s permanent collection, was included in “Major Saskatchewan Artists,” a 1975 exhibition at the Mendel, and had a solo exhibition, “Wynona Mulcaster: A Survey, 1973-1982,” in 1984. Mulcaster received the Saskatchewan Arts Board Lifetime Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1993. “Wynona Mulcaster was a trailblazer…Her considerable personal legacy is intimately connected with the art history of this province,” said Gregory Burke, executive director and CEO of the Remai Modern.
The Ryerson Image Centre in Toronto announced on Wednesday that Denise Birkhofer has been hired as the collections curator. Birkhofer will assume her position, which involves overseeing the collection and archives, curating and publishing, this autumn. Birkhofer holds a PhD in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and comes to the RIC from the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.
The Vancouver International Film Festival will be opening with a taste of the East Coast: the Maud Lewis biopic, Maudie, will be launching the event at its gala on September 29. Depicting the life of iconic Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis, the film stars British actor Sally Hawkins in the titular role, while American actor Ethan Hawke plays her husband, Everett. The biopic has its Canadian premiere on September 12 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts announced in a press release on Thursday that Mathieu Laperle has been appointed director of administration. Laperle comes to the position from McGill University, where he has worked since 2009 overseeing housing and hospitality services at the campuses. Before McGill, he worked at the University of Ottawa and the Quebec General Delegation in Paris. He will join the MMFA on October 3, 2016.
