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VAN WALSEM, Margreet
- Born
- Netherlands, 1923
- Died
- Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, 1979
- Biography synopsis
- Prior to emigrating to Canada in 1956, Margreet van Walsem studied theology in the Netherlands. It was only in 1969 that she began art studies at the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan where she learned how to prepare wool, often using roots, flowers, berries, and lichens in her natural wool dyes. She also learned to hand spin with basic tools and was quickly recognized for her hand-woven tapestries. Van Walsem became a central figure in the local arts community after moving to Prince Albert in 1973 where she was President of the Prince Albert Arts Council. She also participated in a study trip to Lausanne, Switzerland at the 6th Biennial Exhibition of Tapestry in 1973. Experimenting with three-dimensional forms, Van Walsem produced abstract sculptural representations of the prairies. She was one of the Saskatchewan representatives at the World Craft Fair in Toronto in 1974. She attended Emma Lake Summer Art School in 1977, where she also began painting. In 1985 her textile sculptures were exhibited at the Mackenzie Art Gallery (Regina, Saskatchewan) where her works are held today as well as in private collections. She worked with Kate Waterhouse, a well-known weaver and fibre artist known throughout Saskatchewan for her natural dyeing processes. In 2017 Margreet van Walsem's tapestry collection was donated to the Mann Art Gallery in Prince Albert. In 2023 one of her most important works “Inside Out” was included in the Prairie Interlace Exhibition held at the Nickle Gallery in Calgary and Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina.
- Media used
- Tapestry
- Textiles
- Weaving
- Education
- Emma Lake - University of Saskatchewan Art School, 1977 - ?
- Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts, 1969 - ? (under with Anton Skerbinc)
- Memberships
- Prince Albert Arts Council
- File & Archive locations
- Artexte Information Centre, QC - Documentation Centre
- Detroit Institute of Arts
- London Art Gallery, ON
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- University of Calgary Library, AB
- University of Manitoba - Architecture and Fine Arts Library
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- Saskatchewan Art for Architecture Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Mendel Art Gallery, 1977
- Burke, Lora. “Contrast in Art Expression at Gallery.” The Leader-Post (Regina) 9 Feb 1985: 14
- Hardy, Michele A., et al. Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms, and the Expanded Frame, 1960-2000 Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press, 2023
- Larson, Doris. “New “Perspectives: Saskatchewan Women Artists.” Canadian Women's Studies. Les cahiers de la femme 3.3 (1982)
- Lozinski, Peter. "Weaves of Expression: Visual Art." Prince Albert Daily Herald 29 Nov 2017: A85
- Newdigate, Ann. Margreet Van Walsem: Works in Textiles Regina, Saskatchewan: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1979
- Newdigate, Ann. “From Plants to Politics: The Particular History of a Saskatchewan Tapestry.” N.Paradoxa 4 (August 1997): 22-26
http://www.ktpress.co.uk/pdf/nparadoxaissue4_Ann-Newdigate_22-26.pdf - Robertson, N. “Weavings Show Growth." Saskatoon Star Phoenix 11 June 1976: 29
- Surette, Susan. "Living and Liveable Space: Prairie Textiles and Architecture." Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms, and the Expanded Frame, 1960-2000 Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press, 2023
http://ucp.manifoldapp.org/projects/9781773854885
