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Ontario Visual arts
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Suzy Birstein

Oral Interview with Suzy Birstein for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Carol Herbert. Suzy was born in Toronto, ON and she describes her family history within Toronto and origins in Eastern Europe. She describes growing up with artistic influences from her parents who liked classical painters and attending art galleries and her aunts who would knit and embroider. It wasn’t until college that Suzy saw herself as an artist; through working as an artist model, she was exposed to various studio spaces and art classes. Suzy speaks about her experience at Emily Carr, in learning hand building pottery, and being a full-time artist while balancing motherhood both in Toronto and in Vancouver. She also talks about her artistic style, including the influences of Kahlo and Picasso and prominent themes including feminism, resilience and expression; These can be seen in her Frida Kahlo inspired exhibition and in her Ladies Not Waiting series. Suzy discusses the highlights of her career including her work for the 2008 Academy Awards and her teaching of workshops at an artist residency in Greece. She also talks about her teaching at Arts Umbrella and within the wider community

Linda Frimer

Oral Interview with Linda Frimer for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Pam Wolfman via remote Zoom call. Linda was born and raised in Wells, BC. She describes her family history within Wells and BC, but also their origins in Eastern Europe. She talks about her family’s livelihoods within Canada, and her marriages and children. She explains early influences for creativity including her and her parents’ love of nature and culture, but also their stories of the Holocaust and loss that were very poignant to her at a young age. Linda discusses her early and mature education, how she has always had the gift of painting which inspired her attending of art school as an adult, and her honorary doctorate from the University of Fraser Valley. Linda talks about her “childlike” fascination with art and nature and how its recognition affirmed her talent for art. She speaks about her early career as a professional painter, how her artistic style is creative rather than belonging to any one genre, and how colour and symbolism are big factors in her pieces. Linda discusses her meaningful collaborations with First Nations artists, her mentorship with Holocaust survivors, and her connection between people and her art. Linda discusses her work in galleries, the Jewish art community in BC, and the relationship between her art and Judaism.

Sima Elizabeth Shefrin

Oral History Interview with Sima Elizabeth Shefrin for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Brynn Gillies. Shefrin was born in Ottawa in 1949. . She is married to Bob Bossin, a Canadian folk musician, and they live together on Gabriola Island. She spent her youth part-time in Italy, surrounded by family fabric-workers and tailors. She describes how this informed her enthusiasm for fabric as a medium, and how she aims to convey stories through sewn projects. The name of Shefrin’s studio as well as her website is Stitching for Social Change, which she explains how she does fabric arts while integrating folk art tradition with activism, including feminism, anti-war sentiments, and reclamation of her Jewish heritage. Most notably, Shefrin tells the story of the Middle East Peace Quilt which aimed to discuss what peace would look like between Israel and Palestine with participants sending her quilt squares with their visions of peace from around the world. Shefrin also shares her exploration of comic and illustrative arts working on Jewish themed children's books and comics about her own life, including her husband's cancer diagnosis and life over the Covid pandemic.

Anne & Jack Black

Oral history interview with Anne & Jack Black who were born in Toronto and Winnipeg respectively. Jack was an electrician and later worked in a number of local Vancouver businesses. Anne was involved in numerous organizations, she was the chairman of the Kinsmen Club; Heart Foundation; Diabetic Association and Young Judea.

Lori Goldberg

Oral Interview with Lori Goldberg for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon. Lori, born and raised in Vancouver, talks about her family’s history in BC and abroad, her childhood, and early artistic influences in her family. She also discusses how she was introduced to visual arts through attending classes at the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre and her education at Langara and the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. Lori describes how she struggled to find her footing and artistic identity in college and how it affected her mental health, but prompted her to return to Vancouver and get her own art studio on Granville Island. Lori talks about her development as an artist, becoming a teacher at Emily Carr, and continuing art education as a single mother. Lori discusses how travelling to Bali and seeing the country’s spirituality concerning objects inspired her future art projects that addressed meaning and memory in kept things, but also offered her a new outlook on the mundane, like using dryer lint as an art medium. She also talks about being able to do charity in Cambodia through art, and how observing discarded objects influenced the creation of a new exhibit centering environmentalism. She closes with talk about her work with galleries and experiences with commissions.

Carla Stein

Oral Interview with Carla Stein for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon via remote Zoom call. Carla discusses how her uncle’s career as a professional painter and illustrator helped to mentor her in arts at a young age, alongside classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. She discussed attending post-secondary for a diploma in Fine Art and a Masters degree in education, but working in journalism and counseling before becoming a professional artist. Carla explains how she retired from these professions to pursue art full time, which includes currently illustrating her own and others’ poetry. Carla speaks about the flexibility of her work, and allowing words on a page, or pieces to speak to and guide her through the process of their creation intuitively. She discusses how she is motivated to make art by issues that are important to her and the world around her, and highlights memories of her first art show and a prominent commission that she is proud of. Carla speaks about the importance of colour and composition in her work, and how never giving up is one of the most important pieces of wisdom she could offer.

Tanya Bub

Oral History Interview with Tanya Bub for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon. Tanya was born in Minnesota in 1969. Tanya speaks about her family history and her upbringing in Beit Yanai, Israel as a child as well as London, Ontario. Tanya discusses her life in academia while also focused on parenthood and finances, and how she transitioned into an art career in Vancouver. Tanya describes her art as part of the ‘eco-art’ genre, as her mediums are often natural, like driftwood, or recycled and/or found materials. Tanya tells stories of finding community by creating interactive sculptures, especially driftwood people and animals, shared through public art installations across B.C.

Elan Mastai

Interview with Elan Mastai about his mother Judith Mastai, interviewed by Michael Schwartz. Elan speaks about his maternal family’s origins in Chicago and Vienna, Austria and how the family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada because of Judith’s father’s pharmaceutical career. Elan discusses Judith’s upbringing and education in Oakridge and her enthusiasm for theatre, inspiring her education and early career as a theatre actress and director. Elan talks about Judith’s time as a theatre actress in London, England and English teacher in Jerusalem, where she met her husband, Moshe Mastai. Judith then immigrated back to Vancouver to obtain her PhD in education and raise her children. Elan talks about how his mother raised him in an untraditionally intelligent and artistic environment, prompting his career as a writer. He talks about Judith’s career in education at Simon Fraser University and her entrance into visual arts as the director of public programming at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Elan speaks about her time as a travelling art curator and critic, head of education at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and executive director of the Canadian Museum of Craft and Design.

Cynthia Minden

Oral Interview with Cynthia Minden for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Bill Gruenthal via remote Zoom call. Cynthia was born in Toronto in 1953 and describes growing up into a family full of musicians, including her parents, who also admired visual arts. She talks about her professional background in classical music as a flautist where she was a member of ensembles, a music teacher, and an arts administrator. Cynthia speaks about her brothers moving to Vancouver and her love of rural living as inspiration for her to move from Toronto to Denman Island. Cynthia discusses her beginnings as an artist through making baskets and subsequently sculpture, collage, surface design, and other art forms. She talks about translating her art practice into therapeutic work through equine facilitated wellness, where people can connect with nature and do be guided through art projects. She speaks about her work in exhibits including the political inspiration behind her pieces: from themes of refugees and migration to environmentalism and making art from reclaimed objects.

Hinda Avery

Oral Interview with Hinda Avery for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Bill Gruenthal. Hinda speaks about her family history in Poland, Russia, and immigration to Vancouver before World War II and the beginning of the Holocaust. She discusses her maternal family’s experience in the Holocaust and her immediate family’s livelihoods in Canada. Hinda talks about her childhood in Vancouver where there was little Jewish community and its impact on her and her relationship with her parents. Hinda discusses how her trip to concentration camps and Holocaust memorials in Europe influenced her decision to pursue visual arts as a form of therapy after she retired from teaching. She speaks about her style of mural illustrations of herself and women in her family resisting against perpetrators of violence during the Holocaust. Hinda talks about how she keeps her artwork, and her difficulty showing her work in Jewish institutions. Hinda speaks about artists who inspire her, how her work was translated into a film, and her previous awards and grants. She also discusses her passion for animal rights, her interest in biology, and her outlook on her wisdom in life.