Biography
Barbara Jane Whelan (1928 - 2024)
Born in Bancroft, Barbara grew up and was educated in Belleville, Ontario. She took an early interest in drawing and painting and taught Fine Arts for Loyalist College, The City of Belleville Recreation Department, and the East Central Ontario Art Association, inspiring and mentoring local artists.
Barbara was a tireless observer of life and a lover of landscape and people. This is reflected in all her works. Freedom and spontaneity characterize Barbara’s approach to her subject matter, coupled with a lively sense of colour. Her paintings are in private and corporate collections across Canada, in the United States, Ireland, England, Poland, Australia, as well as Germany and South Korea.
Barbara asked her students to look beyond what you see. Her paintings reflect her tireless observation of life as well as a lover of landscape and people. Although she is gone her art will live on.
Founding Organizations
Barbara was a founding member of the Belleville Arts Association, the Burlington Fine Arts Association, and Gallery 121 where her work is regularly exhibited. Her paintings may also be seen at Brock Street Gallery in Kingston, Ontario. She is a member of the Quinte Arts Council and member of the East Central Ontario Arts Association. In 1973, Barbara founded Art on the Fence in Ameliasburgh, Ontario, and has supported this successful venture for over 30 years. She has been a contributor to Festival of Trees in Belleville since its inception.
Solo exhibitions have included the Belleville Public Library Gallery – 1978, 1989, 1991 and 1996, and Gallery Eight in Wellington in 1982. Commissions have included the Culture Award for the City of Belleville for the late Mr. J Green Christmas card designs for the late Jack Ellis, M.P. and Lyle Vanclief, M.P. and in 2002, Barbara was asked to design a poster for Belleville’s annual Festival of Trees.
Barabara’s work has been accepted in numerous juried exhibitions since 1981 and she has been the recipient of many awards including the Muriel Andrews Award for Excellence in Design, 2000.
International
"Skating on the Harbour” was presented in 1994 to the City of Lahr, Germany, by the City of Belleville to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the ‘twinning’ of the two cities, on display in the Lahr City Hall. In May 2000, another painting was presented to Kunpo, South Korea, from the City of Belleville and another presented to Major General Lewis Mackenzie from the City of Belleville on behalf of the United Nations.
In 2003, Barbara was the proud recipient of the annual “Arts Recognition Award”, by Belleville’s Quinte Arts Council for her long-standing support and contributions to the community. Nonminers wrote: “Her very popular paintings, full of local content, should be displayed in galleries and collections from Vancouver to Newfoundland and beyond. You might say that she has, in her own unique way, put Belleville on the Map”