A NATIONAL TREASURE Doris McCarthy Artist in Residence programme announces 2016 winners

Posted on 02/25/2016

The Ontario Heritage Trust has announced the artists selected to participate in the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence programme in 2016.  This is the second year of the residency programme, which provides professional artists with accommodation and studio space at Fool's Paradise in Toronto – the former residence of renowned Canadian artist Doris McCarthy.

The five artists selected to participate in the 2016 programme are:•    Nancy Holmes, a poet from Kelowna, British Columbia •    Rachel MacFarlane, a painter, collage artist and digital animator from Toronto, Ontario •    Kathy Stinson, an author of children's literature and other works from Rockwood, Ontario •    Ehryn Torrell, a painter and mixed-media artist from Newmarket, Ontario, now based in London, UK •    Winnie Truong, a visual artist specializing in pencil drawings from Toronto, Ontario When Doris McCarthy donated her property to the Ontario Heritage Trust, her vision was for other artists to have the opportunity to live and work at the site that inspired so much of her own artistic expression. TThe Trust established the Doris McCarthy Artist-in Residence Centre as a place that embraces the multi-disciplinary nature of the arts, strives to demonstrate the positive and restorative influence of landscape and the environment, and fosters excellence among contemporary Canadian artists, musicians and writers. As part of the residency programme, participating artists provide a mentorship opportunity to support the development of an emerging artist or artists.Doris McCarthy was one of Canada's most recognized landscape painters of the second half of the 20th century. She donated Fool's Paradise to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1998, but continued to live and work on the property for the rest of her life. She was a brilliant and prolific artist, a delightful character and an excellent teacher.  I had the privilege of having known and studied with her for three years and of having visited Fool’s Paradise, which is a wonderful retreat perched high on the Scarborough Bluffs. Doris McCarthy  died in 2010 at the age of 100.The Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence programme is supported by the RBC Foundation.