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Canadian artist John Taylor was born on Vancouver Island, BC on July 2, 1946. Taylor majored in media studies photography at Ryerson University, Toronto, ON. John Taylor’s “photographic focus is architecture – spaces of people and human interaction. Taylor divides his work into two main categories, conceptual images which describe new ways of perceiving existing spaces and auto-biographical work which places personal experience into symbolic context”. Taylor’s artwork has appeared in numerous exhibitions within Canada and internationally and he has been the recipient of various awards, including being inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2015.

Taylor was involved in the creation of Mount Allison University’s accredited BFA photography program. Taylor has also taught and been a guest artist at post-secondary institutions and organizations within both Canada and the United States during the span of his career, including, but not limited to, Rice University (Houston, TX), Texas School for the Deaf (Austin, TX), University of Texas at Austin, Western Academy of Photography (Victoria, BC), and Victoria College of Art (Victoria, BC).

John and his wife Vijaya co-founded Eclectic Gallery in Victoria, BC, which they ran from 2008 until they sold the business in 2017. Eclectic Gallery focused on contemporary art and represented over 100 individual artists. John and Vijaya’s association with artist Anthony Thorn resulted in several exhibitions of his work at Eclectic Gallery during their time operating the gallery.

Antonio (Tony) Tascona was born in Saint Boniface, Manitoba in 1926. He studied at the Winnipeg School of Art (1948-50) and the School of Fine Art at the University of Manitoba (1950-53).

Tascona struggled to establish himself financially and to support his family by working as an electroplating technician. He managed to develop his artistic abilities and use work-day experiences to launch a unique series of artwork in aluminum and, after 1971 he was successful enough to devote himself to art full time.

His first one man show was in 1958 at the University of Winnipeg. Since then his work has been exhibited at art galleries all across Canada. Tascona was honored many times for his contributions to the visual arts. In 1970, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada awarded him an Arts Medal. There were numerous monetary grants from the Canada Council and the Manitoba Arts Council, a Canadian Silver Jubilee Medal was granted in 1977, and the Academia Italia Del Arti e Del Lavoro awarded him a Gold Medal in 1980. The University of Winnipeg gave him an LLD. (Honorary) in 1994 and in 1996 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Tascona was not dependant on commercial art galleries to promote his work. Rather, Tascona was at once both an artist and a businessman and his archival collections comprehensively document this aspect of his career.

Tascona won many commissions for his work. They include: murals, stabiles, sculptures, prints and paintings for buildings across Canada. Some of his major works can be seen at the Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg, Saint Boniface Hospital (painting and stabiles), the Winnipeg Centennial Library, the Manitoba Law Courts Building, and the Windsor Public Library.

In 2000 and 2001, he sponsored the Tony Tascona Bursary at the University of Winnipeg to a student studying Canadian Art History.

Tascona died in Winnipeg in May 2006. His work is collected throughout Canada, the United States and Japan by private collectors, corporations and private and public galleries

The Susan Whitney Gallery opened its doors in November 1979. In addition to Susan Whitney, at the time of its founding there were four other shareholders: Victor Cicansky, Joe Fafard, Jill Rawlinson, and Richard Spafford. Whitney became the sole shareholder in the late 1980s.

The mandate of this commercial art gallery was to exhibit and sell contemporary art, including painting, sculpture, tapestry, photography, and furniture, as well as Canadian folk art. A primary strength of the gallery was Saskatchewan artists.

In 1980 Whitney mounted the first of the Made in Saskatchewan exhibitions. The show was an unusual undertaking for a commercial gallery at the time. The show “included Doukhobor, Mennonite, Hutterite, Ukrainian, and French-Canadian furniture, rugs, quilts, carvings, clothing, paintings, samplers and ceramics. For most of its viewers, it was a first introduction to the vibrant material culture of the province’s ethnic heritage”.

This vibrant and nationally acclaimed commercial gallery participated in a number of international art fairs. Many of Saskatchewan’s most notable artists - Joe Fafard, David Thauberger, Victor Cicansky, Donna Kriekle and Wilf Perreault were represented by this gallery over the course of its twenty-six year history.

The Susan Whitney Gallery changed hands in 2005 and became the Nouveau Gallery.

Jack Sures was born in Brandon, Manitoba in 1934. He attended the University of Manitoba (BFA 1957) and Michigan State University (MA 1959, Painting and Printmaking).

Returning to Manitoba Sures taught Junior High School in Winnipeg for one year. In 1960 he left Canada again, this time taking up residence in London, England, where he worked part-time at the Chelsea Pottery, part-time making ceramic cats, studied classical guitar under Len Williams and pursued his own painting in a one room apartment/studio. In 1961-62 he travelled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East; visiting galleries and museums and working for a time in Cyprus and Israel.

In 1962 Sures returned to Canada and began, what he refers to as his "true ceramic education". He established a ceramic studio on Winnipeg's Portage Avenue where he became inventor, teacher and artist. He built Manitoba's first gas kiln with the help of colleague Ron Burke; built several wheels including one from a milk separator; taught classes; rented space to other ceramic artists; and worked intensely in his own studio.

In 1965 he was offered an opportunity to establish a ceramics program at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus (precursor to the University of Regina). The same year he was the recipient of a Canada Council Award enabling him to work in Japan from March to September 1966. From 1969 to 1971 he served as Chairman of the Department of Visual.

Another Canada Council Grant took Sures to France to work in 1972. He then accepted a fifteen month appointment to work for the United Nations Handcraft Development Program in Granada, West Indies before returning to Regina in 1974.

Throughout his career, Sures has travelled extensively in Canada, the United States and abroad, conducting lectures, demonstrations and workshops at universities, colleges, high schools, art galleries and museums. Over the years he has offered his expertise as consultant to a variety of organizations including the Canada Council, in ceramics; the Banff Centre, in facilities and program development; the Regina Wascana Centre Authority, Fine Arts Committee; and the Board of the Canadian Conference of the Arts.

Work by Sures has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally and is included in the collections of the Saskatchewan Arts Board; External Affairs Canada; Province of Saskatchewan; University of Saskatchewan, Pecs National Museum, Hungary; and the University of Regina. His major commissions include ceramic pieces for Secretary of State Canada; a ceramic mural for the Provincial Office Building, Saskatoon; a terrazzo floor for the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre, Regina; and a mural for the Museum of Civilization, Ottawa. In 1989 he was awarded the Grande Priz in "Mino'89", the foremost international ceramic competition held in Japan every three years.

Recognizing his outstanding contributions to undergraduate teaching at the University of Regina, Jack Sures was awarded the Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at Fall Convocation on October 19, 1991. Further recognizing his achievements, on October 30, 1991, he received the Badge of the Order of Canada, from the Governor General of Canada at an investiture ceremony at Government House, Ottawa. In 1992 he received the Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Research. He was elected to the International Academy of Ceramics and he also received the Commemorative Medal of the 125th Anniversary of The Confederation of Canada in Recognition of Significant Contribution to Compatriots and to Canada.

In 1998 Jack Sures retired from the University of Regina and continues to work in his Regina studio.

In 2003 Sures received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

Brian Stockton was born in North Battleford in 1964 and grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan. He began his media career as a broadcaster with CKCK Radio in Regina and in 1984 was hired by Ron MacLean, then program director at CKRD Radio in Red Deer, Alberta.

After his time in Red Deer, Brian returned to Regina and attended the University of Regina where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in film and Video studying under Professor Jean (Hans) Oser, a key figure in the early sound cinema of Europe. As a student at York University, Brian earned an MFA in film production and was a director resident at Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre. While at the CFC he wrote and directed the “The Weight of the World” in 1994, which was a multi-award winning short film that screened at numerous international festivals and was aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States.

Stockton has created a number of short films: notably the animated short film The Blob Thing, which spawned numerous short sequels that have been shown on television and at festivals around the world. Brian worked with his grandmother on the short film The Final Gift (1990), which was recognized as one of the ten best short films at the Ann Arbor Film Festival by Los Angeles Film Forum.

Stockton has also worked on a series of autobiographical short films The Epic Story of My Life, which have premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. This series includes Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Part 2 (That’s My Wonderful Town), which won the grand jury prize for best documentary at the Temecula Valley Film Festival in California.

Stockton moved back to Regina after living in Toronto for nine years. He has taught filmmaking at workshops across Canada and was an innovative instructor at the University of Regina. Brian was invited to screen a program of his short films at the Idaho International Film Festival, where he created the Instant Animation Workshop. Participants of this workshop wrote, prepared, and shot a stop-motion animated film in one afternoon. He retired from the University of Regina film department as an Associate Professor in 2022. Brian Stockton is currently the co-host of The Clean Energy Show podcast, which began in 2020 and has been releasing weekly episodes since then.