Without Margaret Nadeau there would not be a Barrhead Art Club.
At least that is the opinion of Maria Sieben and a group of Nadeau’s former students and art club members, Doreen Lawrence, Rose Gray and Marilyn Wilson told the Barrhead Leader.
And that is why the club is honouring posthumously Nadeau as their artist of the month, from Oct. 7 to 29. Nadeau passed away in April at the age of 89 in Comox, B.C. where she had lived since 1994.
“It really can’t be over emphasized how much of an impact Margaret made in Barrhead’s art scene, not only because of her work as an artist, but even more importantly as a mentor and instructor,” Sieben said.
Born Ellen Margaret Smith in Coleman, Alta, left her hometown to for Calgary and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) where she received a diploma in commercial and fine arts. Nadeau also spent a summer, as a young woman, training at an art school in Banff.
After graduating from SAIT, Nadeau, returned home to Coleman where she met her would be husband, Ray.
“That’s how she came to Barrhead.” Wilson said. “Ray got a job, at Lorne Jenkins High School as a teacher and of course she came a long.”
This was sometime in the mid to late 1950s.
About the same time the Barrhead Art Club was just starting to take shape under the leadership of a committee headed by Anglican Church minister Rev. Eric Charlesworth.
After arriving in Barrhead it did not take long for Nadeau to get involved in the area’s art scene and the Barrhead Art Club, which formed about the same time under the guidance of Anglican Church minister, Rev. Charlesworth.
At the time the art club would bring in instructors from the Extension Faculty at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. However, as time went on, the club found it difficult to find instructors willing to come to Barrhead and it started to flounder.
“Some of the members tried driving to Westlock, but found the drive cold and tedious,” Wilson said, reading an excerpt from Barrhead’s Golden Years.
However, fortunately for the Barrhead Art Club, the organizing committee managed to convince Nadeau to become their instructor.
“That’s very significant,” Sieben said. “The fact that a small town like Barrhead brought in university professors and then to have them replaced with an artist as talented and with the qualifications of Margaret Nadeau is quite something.”
When asked if anyone remembers how the art club’s committee convinced Nadeau to become involved with the club, they said they weren’t sure.
However, Lawrence, who took many art classes from Nadeua, said it started at the hospital.
“One of the nuns, who worked there, wanted to learn how to paint,” she said, explaining how Nadeau would enter the hospital’s back door to instruct the nun and anyone else who was interested. “The classes were always so popular I don’t ever think there was a time when she had less than 10 students.”
Wilson understands why, adding that although she did know Nadeau back then, the artist she met and studied from was very talented and well versed in a number of different mediums.
“She did a bit of everything sculptures, paintings, prints, pen and ink, but I think drawing and painting were her favourites,” she said, adding that, for her, Nadeau’s best medium was water colour. “She was just a master at water colour.”
In addition to instructing, Nadeau often volunteered her talents in an effort to help promote arts and culture in the community.
“She had so many interests, music, live theatre, sports,” Wilson said.
Sieben agreed, adding when she was researching about Nadeau, she found a reference where Nadeau volunteered to paint the backdrops for the Barrhead Choral Society, which would put on live theatre productions.
As for what type of art patrons of the Barrhead Art Gallery can expect to see at the Nadeau exhibit, the group said they are not sure, as they are still in the process of asking her former students to loan the club examples of her work.
“There are just so many to choose from,” Wilson said. “She broke down a lot of barriers about art. Through her art and her instruction she taught people that modern art, pen and ink, and pencil were all legitimate forms of art.”
However, Sieben, Wilson, Lawrence and Gray all agree that Nadeau’s most important legacy to the Barrhead art community is the impact she had on people.
“She extolled art and developed and encouraged people to follow their art,” Wilson said.
The Barrhead Art Gallery is open Friday and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A reception will be held on Oct. 15 from 1 to 3 p.m., with some of Nadeau’s students, who will be on hand to answer questions the public may have.
