Whitney Pier Society for the Arts... Home of the week long annual arts festival PierScape

Home    About Us     Events    Artists    Musicians    Gallery    Photos    Awards    Links


Past Featured Artists

1998 - Austin "Bud" Gallivan
  A member of the Cape Breton Artists Association, Bud Gallivan has exhibited his work for twenty-five years. He considers the upcoming Festival "a great thing, but with all the artists in Cape Breton, especially Sydney, it is well time we had our own major Festival."
  Born July 18, 1930, Bud, in his words, "grew up, lived, worked, did it all in the Pier." He started to work at sixteen, having left school early. He eventually became a tower operator at the International Piers on Dominion Street, where he loaded coal onto the boats. He retired nine years ago, after forty years working in coal transportation. He is married, has three sons and still lives in Whitney Pier.
  Like many "Pier" artists. Bud is self-taught. He began drawing and painting at a young age, moving from oils to watercolours, his medium of choice. His wife, Anna, says that Bud is very hard on himself. "He believes if you're satisfied, you won't keep working at it," she says, "but I love it all."
Much of Bud's work depicts life in Whitney Pier, but he has painted many other subjects. His philosophy is, "If I like it, I paint it." Those who know Bud's work are glad he likes what he sees in the "Pier". (Article from "The Cape Bretoner", Summer 1998 edition)


1999 - Alfred Goduto
  Alfred Goduto (1920-1990), was born in Italy and showed a talent for visual art as a child. He received some formal art instruction while a prisoner-of-war in Europe. Emigrating to Canada in 1952, he and his wife Bibiana settled in Whitney Pier, where they raised sons Dominic and Blaise. While working as a master bricklayer by trade, Alfred pursued a parallel artistic life, specializing in a traditional Italian Renaissance style and employing classical techniques of oil painting and "al fresco" work. He was a member of the Cape Breton Artists Association and his paintings are part of many local collections. His family continues to hold a large number of his works

2000 - Charles Dawe
   Charles Dawe was born in Sydney, Feb. 11th, 1923.  He enrolled in a 4 year University Course in Art at the Ontario College of Art, specializing in the human form. Later Charles attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. He said he learned "more in one year about art at NSCAD  than four years in Toronto". Since 1982 Charles has lived on Maloney St. in Whitney Pier. He used to walk the tracks and sketch whatever took his fancy. One particular day, he was drawn to the natural spring water on Maloney St. and noticed the house at 175 Maloney: it had a "for sale" sign on it. He removed the sign, sketched the house, and then immediately bought it . " 
  Charles works in acrylics.  He says acrylic colors remain pure, the  colors stay clean, just keep the brushes wet with water, and as a bonus -there's no odor!
 
2001 - Linda Crewe
  Linda Crewe was born in Sydney on April 17,1962. A resident of the Pier Linda started school at Elmwood, then attended grades 2 - 7 at Holy Redeemer Girls School. Junior High years were spent at Don Bosco, and she graduated from Holy Angles (Girls) High School in 1980. While attending Jr. High she began to attend oil painting classes, which was part of the Sydney Recreational Leisure Program. She says "My Father, Wally Crewe (now deceased) would stand in the line-ups to register me, so that I could attend the Art Classes!". With that kind of support from her family and with the guidance and encouragement of instructor Sister Harriett MacNeil, Linda went on to attend other classes at the Cape Breton School of Crafts. Some years later, Linda moved to Toronto, where she attended the Ontario College of Art and Design. During her four years at OCA Linda worked with a variety of mediums including oils, watercolour, pastel, egg tempera, silver point and encaustic. Linda says " I feel lucky to have been exposed to such a variety of mediums". While attending Art College Linda concentrated on drawing and tributes her skills to instructors Peter Mah, and Richard Robinson. Linda received much encouragement from her family and she successfully completed her courses and graduated from OCA in 1993, at which time she returned to Cape Breton.

2002 - Bill MacQueenBill
MacQueen's background in Art consists of two years at the Nova Scotia College of Art in Halifax. He completed three years as an Art Instructor in oil painting at the Adult Evening Classes at Sydney Academy High School. He completed a ten month course at the Adult Vocational Technology College in Sign Lettering under John Tynski. He assisted John Tynski in painting the backdrop for the Rotary Show "Hello Dolly" which was held at Sydney Academy. Bill worked eight years in the Art Department of CJCB T.V., and ten years as owner and operator of Able Signs.
Bill is a member of the Cape Breton Artists Association and the Whitney Pier Historical Museum.

2003 - bernard siller
dada and surrealism inform the visual creations of bernard siller, metaphorical integrations of painted topology, technological objects, and peninsular stained glass surfaces. While titles do provide singular insight, the work is ultimately grasped through subconscious gratification

2004 - Esther (Dakai) Rice
  The late Esther (Dakai) Rice's paintings hang in Italy, France, Austria, England, Hungary and various parts of the United States and Canada. Esther was born and raised in Whitney Pier, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. The family moved to Sydney River in 1955. In 1963 she began attending Home and School art classes at Sydney Academy that were taught by widely known and recognized Whitney Pier artist and graphic designer John Tynski. Her natural talent for painting came as a pleasant surprise to Esther and before long it developed to a point where she became the teacher, teaching both at home and at the Cape Breton School of Crafts. "I never had a student who did not do well," Esther was quoted as saying in a 1974 Cape Breton Post interview. Esther's talents did not stop at painting. She sewed, embroidered, did leather craft, weaving, knitting, crochet, quilting and pottery, and in her "spare time" she coloured black and white photographs.
     Esther died in 1985 at age 73, leaving behind a rich legacy that we ware privileged to share in today. The Whitney Pier Society for the Arts would like to thank Betty Polegato for her assistance in putting together this exhibition of her mother's work

2005 - Margaret (Janega) Dugandzic
Margaret (Janega) Dugandzic was born in Slovakia and grew up in Whitney Pier. Her interest in painting began at age fifteen while attending Holy Angels Jr. High School, where she was encouraged by her art teacher.
       Following her marriage, an intense desire to paint flourished under the capable direction of two local artist, Esther Rice, and Emma LaLoup. Margaret prefers to paint historical, nostalgic, and scenic subjects... "Any thing that catches the eye... I paint to enjoy and share with the viewer."
       This enthusiastic artist was also involved as one of a group of crafts people who were commissioned to create three 9 x 11 banners entitled Cape Breton's Past, Present, and Future. These banners have been displayed at Cape Breton University graduations.
       Margaret is an active member of the Cape Breton Artist's Association. Her Art work has been exhibited throughout Cape Breton as well as in private collections in Europe, USA and Canada.

2006 - Joe (Josef) McKinnon

   Joe (Josef) McKinnon is a lifelong resident of Whitney Pier who is widely known for his folk art creations. Joe showed an aptitude for the arts from an early age. Although interested in acting, painting, singing, and storytelling, it was wood carving that eventually captured his imagination. Working mainly in Cape Breton pine, Joe McKinnon's folk art pieces are in private and public collections locally and throughout the world. Although based in Whitney Pier, he spends his summers in Lake O'Law, Margaree, and enjoys his early trips to Lunenburg on invitation from the Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival. Joe has shown his work every year for the past nine years at PierScape.

2007- Cyril Hearn
    Life long resident of Whitney Pier and journeyman steel fabricator by trade, Cyril Hearn is a self taught wood carver and steel sculptor. His work is at the Nova Scotia Art Bank and in private collections in Nova Scotia and beyond. "Cyril's work has a fluidity of form that is not hampered by the rigidity of his medium" (bernar siller). He is most famous as the creator of the world's largest fiddle which stands at 55' and weighs 10 tons. "My multi piece work I do is very time consuming and labour intesive, but the end result is very satisfying and rewarding".

2008 - Patrick Gallivan
  Pat Gallivan has been a resident of Whitney Pier all his life except for his years with the Merchant Marine. While he was at sea he developed a love for the ever changing oceans and all of the beauty that surrounds them. Later he worked for the City of Sydney as a carpenter until he retired. Being precise with his craft was a necessity at work and helped him later as a painter. At the age of seventy-one he began to paint with watercolors and gained confidence taking classes from Iris Currie. The joy he gets from painting comes across in teh subject matter and also the composition.

2009 - Dorothy Rozeluk
      Dorothy [Ardelli] Rozeluk grew up in Whitney Pier on Street, attended Holy Redeemer Convent and married Michael Rozeluk in 1957. Although her education took a different turn Dorothy was always interested in drawing and painting. "I always loved to draw as a child then a teacher at high school said I had talent and should take art lessons, this was in the 1940s." She is a member of the Cape Breton Artists' Association and the Wyzart Group at the Y's man Centre in Westmount. Dorothy has taken art lessons from Georgina Astephen, Thorn Morrow, Bill Rogers and Patsy MacKinnon. Her dedication to Cape Breton subjects makes her paintings familiar and very popular with those who love our landscape and our people.

2010 - Simon Gilis
      Simon Gillis, originally from New Waterford, grew up in a military family for which they traveled to many different parts of Canada. Simon has resided in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and in Whitehorse. All of Simon's travels have led him right back to his home here in Sydney, Cape Breton. Simon joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1961 at which time he was posted in many different provinces until he was posted back home. While in Sydney, he met Myrna Dunn from Bay Street in Whitney Pier. When Simon's term was just about up, he moved to Kitchener Ontario where he was then hired by IBM. Myrna and Simon were married in Kitchener where they lived and worked for 14 years before being transferred to Halifax. Seven years later, he was transferred to Sydney and has been here ever since. In the early 1970s Simon was fascinated by watching Bill Alexander doing a complete painting in just a half an hour on the PBS series. In 1997 Simon's brother-in-law Frank Dunn sparked an interest in oil painting, so at that time Simon laid down his curling brush and picked up the paint brush and has been part of the Whitney Pier and Cape Breton art community ever since.