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MACLEAN, Donna
- Born
- Toronto, Ontario, 1914
- Died
- Medicine Hat, Alberta, 2013
- Biography synopsis
- After studying at various Canadian art schools, Donna MacLean settled in Medicine Hat where she became a member of the local cultural community. She began her art studies in Toronto at the Danforth Technical School, and after working in commercial art at the Hudson's Bay in Winnipeg in the 1960s, also studied at the Quetico Art School in Ontario (1965), Banff School of Fine Arts (1970-1974), and the University of Alberta (1965–1976), where she obtained an Art Certificate (1982). In 1983 she attended the Instituto Allende in Guanajuato. For many years MacLean served as southern representative for the Alberta Community Arts Club Association and later as the director when she settled in Medicine Hat. She was president of the "Hat" Art Club in 1976. A solo exhibition "Voices of the Land" traveled to various galleries as well as group exhibitions in southern Alberta. She collaborated on a mural for the Medicine Hat Public Library for the city’s centennial. MacLean’s work is held in numerous private and corporate collections, as well as at the Banff School of Fine Arts, the City of Los Angeles, the City of Hokkaido, and the Royal Commonwealth Society in London. Through various donations, she established art prizes, including the Ontario College of Art and Design Donna Maclean Award which was granted beginning in 2004.
- Media used
- Acrylics
- Oil painting
- Pastels
- Watercolour
- Education
- Banff School of Fine Arts, 1970 - 1974 (under Professor H. Wolhfarth)
- University of Alberta, 1965 - 1976 (under Professors Doug Barry and Harry Wohlfarth)
- Danforth Technical School (under Dr. C Smith)
- Ontario College of Art & Design (formerly Ontario School of Art)
- Quetico Art School (Thunder Bay)
- Memberships
- Alberta Society of Artists, 1996-2000
- Edmonton Art Club
- Alberta Community Art Clubs Association, president
- Winnipeg Sketch Club
- Medicine Hat Community Art Clubs Association
- File & Archive locations
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- University of Calgary Library, AB
- Archives Society of Alberta
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Medicine Hat Art Club celebrates 50 Years." Medicine Hat News 23 Mar. 1996: 27
- Brown, Rob. "Brooks Artist picks up Recognition in Hat Art Show." The Brooks Bulletin 05 Aug. 2014" B1
- Carney, Linda. Voices of the Land: Artist Donna MacLean Medicine Hat, Alberta: Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery, 1989
- MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009.
- Reichwein, P. and K. Wall. Uplift: Visual Culture at the Banff School of Fine Arts Banff: Banff School of Fine Arts, 2020
- Zimon, Kathy E. Alberta Society of Artists: The First Seventy Years Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2000
