Fonds 2004.18 - Vivian Antoniw Collection

Vivian Antoniw (nee Wright) was born on 24 December 1918 in Virden, Manitoba to John and Edith Wright. In 1964 she received her B.Ed (Secondary) from UBC through a Double Art Major in Drawing and Painting, Design and Ceramics and then went on to pursue her M.Ed (Fine Arts) from the Western Washington State University which she received in 1975. From 1959-1988 she taught various art programs in Kitimat, BC (1959-1980) and Prince George, BC (1984-1988). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s she participated in numerous one person art shows, group exhibits and juried art shows and was a member of the famous Milltown Painters (6) group. Her work has been collected by various private individuals as well as by Canfor Pulp Mill (Prince George), the Prince George Tourist Bureau, Grace Anglican Church (Prince George) and the Ukranian Catholic Church (Prince George) among many others. Vivian Antoniw was primarly a watercolourist who also worked in oils & acrylics. Her themes were inspired by nature and she enjoyed painting the “various moods” as she called them, of Prince George, the Queen Charlotte Islands, Prince Rupert, Smithers, Kitimat, Jasper, Vancouver and Victoria. Environmental issues such as the disappearance of the Monarch Butterfly, diminishing sea life and the loss of habitat were also a personal concern of hers which was often reflected in her art. Vivian Antoniw passed away in Prince George, BC in 2003.