Manitoulin Island’s premier artist, Ivan Wheale, was honoured this week with two prestigious awards.
Northeastern Manitoulin and the Island Mayor Al MacNevin and Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Bill Rosenberg met with Wheale at his home this week to present him with the accolades.
MacNevin says he was honoured to present Wheale with a certificate from the Province of Ontario honouring his contributions to the Arts.
Rosenberg also shared that Wheale has been nominated for the Queen Elizabeth II Ontario Medal for Citizenship — a distinction reserved for those who have made exceptional contributions to the well-being of their communities.
Rosenberg adds that the medal is Ontario’s second-highest civilian honour, just after the Order of Ontario.
Wheale’s works can be found around the world, including the Queen’s Collection at Windsor Castle, the provincial and federal political buildings, including Queen’s Park, and more.
In his 90s, Wheale is now in palliative care and says he has no regrets, having lived a life well spent doing what he loved and knowing his legacy will live on.
Wheale was born in Sunderland, England, in 1934 and settled in Canada in 1957.
He moved to Manitoulin Island in 1975.
A self-taught artist, he is also the recipient of many awards, including an Honorary Degree from Laurentian University, the Rotary International Paul Harris Award and the Canada Council.
He was listed in the American Artists Survey of Leading Contemporaries in 1989.
He has held over 94 solo exhibitions, including three touring exhibitions circulating Ontario, and a fifty-year retrospective at the Centennial Museum, Sheguiandah.
He has also contributed to over 65 group exhibitions.
His writing includes The Artist’s Conception, Manitoulin Expositor, 1985, and a five-year weekly television programme in Sudbury.
He is a past member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour and the Society of Canadian Artists.
He was an art instructor at Haliburton School of Fine Arts, Elliot Lake School of Fine Arts, Cambrian College, Georgian College, the Ontario Arts Council and Laurentian University, and has been a featured artist at Perivale Studios since 1981.
He is also a founding member of the Grimsby Public Art Gallery and The La Cloche Art Show, as well as a guest lecturer with The Ontario College of Art and the Toronto School of Fine Art for several years.
