Mina Forsyth Explained

Mina Mabel Forsyth
Birth Name:	Mina Mabel McDonald
Birth Date:	September 20, 1921
Birth Place:	Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Death Date:	1987
Education:	Queen's University, University of Manitoba, Michigan State University
Known For:	painting
Style:	expressionism
Awards:	Lifetime Achievement Award, Saskatchewan Arts Board

Mina Forsyth (September 20, 1921 in Estevan, Saskatchewan^[1]  - 1987 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan^[2]) was a Canadian artist. She is known for her expressionist and abstract landscapes, figural works and still life paintings.

Education

In 1955 Mina Forsyth received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Manitoba. She also had an MA from Michigan State University, which she received in 1957. In Michigan State she studied under Abraham Rattner. Forsyth attended the Emma Lake Artists' Workshops in 1955, 1965, 1966 and 1967.

Career

During the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, Forsyth attended many workshops at Emma Lake Artist's Workshops at Murray Point, Saskatchewan, studying with artists such as Jack Shadbolt, Jules Olitski, Lawrence Alloway, Harold Cohen, Frank Stella, Walter Darby Bannard, John McLean, Tim Hilton, and Terry Atkinson. Forsyth also attended the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Gimli Summer School in Gimli, Manitoba.^[3]

Forsyth was a guest artist at an Emma Lake workshop in 1977 and worked at the University of Saskatchewan as professor emeritus^[4] and as an art instructor until she retired in 1985. In 1991, Forsyth received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the Saskatchewan Arts Board.^[5]

Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 1949 - Banff School of Fine Arts, Banff, Alberta, Banff Travelling Exhibit
  • - Hudson's Bay Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Young Contemporaries
• 1967 - Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Centennial Exhibition (curated by Clement Greenberg)
• 1972 - Mendal Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Drawings by Eight Painters
• 1974 - R.C. Dahl National Exhibition Center, Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Contemporary Saskatchewan Paintings & Sculpture
• 1976 - Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina Public Library, Regina, Saskatchewan

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 1957 - Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, Graduate Exhibition
• 1968 - Marquis Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• 1975 - Shoestring Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• 1977 - Frances Morrison Library Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• 1979 - Shoestring Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • - Regina Modern Dance Works
  • - Lea Collins Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
  • - Rosemont Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
• 1981 - Gallery One, Saskatoon, SK, Six Tenant Farmers and Other Works
• 1982 - Gordon Snelgrove Art Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• 1985 - Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Mina Forsyth: Flowers and Heads

Accolades

Awards

• 1954 - Winnipeg Show Student Prize, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• 1955 - Saskatchewan Jubilee Prize for Painting, Government of Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan
• 1965 - Second Prize, Saskatchewan and Canadian Centennial Poetry Competition

References

1. Book: University of Saskatchewan, P.
2. Book: Newman, Marketa. Biographical Dicationary of Saskatchewan Artists. Fifth House. 1990. 0920079660. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 51–54.
3. Web site: Saskatchewan NAC Artists Mina Forsyth. www.sknac.ca. 2016-02-26.
4. Web site: Faces of Forsyth. Art Gallery. Mann. 7 July 2013. PANOW. 3 March 2016.
5. Web site: Mina Forsyth - Saskatchewan Arts Board. artsboard.sk.ca. 2016-02-26.

Sources

• "Mina Mabel Forsyth" Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
• "Forsyth, Mina Mabel" Canadian Women Artists. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
• "Mina Forsyth fonds" SAIN Collections. Retrieved 2016-02-26.