biography
Wendy Cooper-Parkinson has maintained a studio art practice for 30+ years and exhibited and sold work across the globe.
Passionate about art, art-making and peace through art, Wendy finds connection, direction and meaning in her daily life.
She has a BA from University of Toronto.
Wendy works in a variety of media that include painting, drawing, printmaking, collage and enamel on copper.
These works are connected by process and theme, fueled by a desire to layer and scrape away. To build up surfaces, some thin and transparent, others thick and opaque; and take away those surfaces as a means to express ideas about roots, identity and finding place.
Words and original poetry are often used to construct images. Sometimes they are visible, other times they are not.
She has taught art through Artist in the school program and continues to teach out of her home studio.
Wendy co-founded, owned and operated the Lion and Rose Art Gallery for 5 years. She has worked as juror, critique and curator for both the Lion and Rose, and other galleries, councils and businesses. She was elected to the Board of Directors, Manitoba Craft Council for a term.
A founding member of Erin and District Arts Council, Wendy served on its executive for 6 years.
She has donated time and artwork to organizations close to her heart; Alzheimer's, Big Sisters, Brain Tumor, Breast Cancer, Heart and Stroke, Rotary, Humane Society, Aids, Art Schools, Community Services and more.
Wendy studied enamel (ground glass on copper) for several years with Arthur Brecken, an Erin, Ontario artist and educator. She was commissioned by The Wellington County Historical Society to write his biography, "The Life and Art of Arthur LeRoy Brecken", which was published in 2007. Foreword written by Wesley Harris MFA, RCA, a former student of Arthur Brecken.
Wendy was invited to design and craft a large scale enamel (glass on copper) outdoor rock wall sculpture for each of the two years of Spirit Valley Festival in Rockwood, Ontario, 1997-8. "Voice", a 50 piece enamel on copper was purchased at the 1997 Festival and hung for a time at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Ottawa. The design and making of "Dancing on my Own" in 1998, a 67 piece high fired and granulated enamel dancing figure, was assisted by an Ontario Arts Council grant and has been shown in group and solo shows across two provinces.
A passionate advocate for Peace and Peace through Art, Wendy curated an international art exhibition, in partnership with the City of Toronto, 32 Points - 32 Voices: A Compass of Peace, September, 2019 at Cedar Ridge Creative Arts Centre. It featured work by 32 artists from 6 different countries that addressed the question, "What does peace mean to you". The exhibition was part of the UN International Day of Peace global Peace celebration September 21.
Wendy curated Compass of Perpetual Peace in 2005 at the Lion and Rose Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was part of the UN International Day of Peace global Peace celebration.
A spinal cord injury in 2021 resulted in paralysis that has altered daily living and the way Wendy makes art. Adaptive tools and a willingness to explore alternative ways to do what she loves, have added a new dimension to Wendy's art practice, and ongoing desire for expression.
Selected Exhibitions and Awards
2024 April 27-July 20, Beyond the Surface, International Women's Day Art Exhibition, Orillia Museum of Art and History, Orillia
2024 Melody in Blue -Spring Exhibition, Orillia District Arts Council (ODAC), Orillia Opera House
2024 Spring Exhibition, Orillia District Arts Council, CDC, Orillia
2023-24 Voices-Meet Wendy Cooper-Parkinson by Gabriela Ocampo, Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, SCIO Community Magazine, community.sciontario.org
2023 DRAWING 2023, Juried Online Exhibition/Art Book, Juror - Guiseppe Di Leo, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto
2023 Reimagine, International Women's Day Art Show, Orillia Museum of Art and History, Orillia
2023 Winter Exhibition, Orillia District Arts Council (ODAC), Orillia Opera House, Orillia
2023 Home, Members' Exhibition, Quest Art School + Gallery, Midland
2023 Rotary Auction , Midland
2023 Winter Salon Art Exhibition, The Gallery at L.E. Shore, Thornbury, Ontario
2022 Gift Gallery 2.0, Quest Art School + Gallery, Midland, Ontario
2022 The Mechanics of Life, Stack Gallery, City of Orillia Recreation Centre, City of Orillia Art in Public Places (Partnership with Orillia Museum of Art and History and The City of Orillia)
2022 I AM HERE: Home Movies and Everyday Masterpieces , AGO, Toronto
2022 The World Would Wake Into Itself Again, Members Exhibition, Quest Art School + Gallery, Midland, Ontario
2022 Life Lines, International Women's Day Art Show, Orillia Museum of Art and History, Orillia
2021 Art Through The Ages, Members' Exhibition, Quest Art School + Gallery, Midland, Ontario
2021 Portraits of Resilience, AGO, Toronto
2021 ASAP - Artists' Responses to Covid 19, Quest Art School + Gallery, Midland, Ontario
2019 Bridge, Revolve Art Cooperative, Yorkminster Park Art Gallery, Toronto
2019 32 Points-32 Voices: A Compass of Peace, International Exhibition, Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, Toronto
2018 Separate and Together, Revolve Art Cooperative, Toronto Public Library-Fairview Branch, Toronto
2017 Caroline Dalton Project, United Kingdom
2017 Animal Love , Canada 150th Exhibition, BMFA, Collingwood
2016 Home, International Juried Exhibition, Canadian Federation of Artists, Vancouver, B.C.
2016 Nine Artists Reunite 20 years of Art, Williams Mill Gallery, Glen Williams
2016 6 Word Photo, Juried Exhibition, BMFA Collingwood
2015 Access/Abilities, Juried Exhibition, Scarborough Arts
2014-15 Sketchbook Project, Travelling Library of visual art books, Brooklyn Art Library, New York
2014 Canadian Postcard Project, Initiative that brings young students together with artists through postcard art
2011 Bound by Nature, Group Exhibition, Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery, Winnipeg
2010 The Bookmark Project, Juried Exhibition, Koffler Center of the Arts, Toronto
2009 Global Peace Project, Juried Exhibition, Japan
2005 Compass of Perpetual Peace, Exhibition in Celebration of UN International Day of Peace, Lion and Rose Gallery, Winnipeg
2004 Aruhe - The Spiral, Lion and Rose Gallery, Winnipeg
2000 Enamels for the Millenium - Featured Artist, Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo
2000 Above and Beyond - 2 Person Show, Halton Hills Cultural Centre
1999 Big Show of Little Things, Enamel Society Exhibition, Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo
1998 Prague Printmaking Collective - Invited Artist, Prague
1998 Choices - 2 Person Show, Wellington County Museum, Aboyne
1997-8 Spirit Valley Festival - Enamel Outdoor Installation, Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Award (1998), Spirit Valley Collective, Rockwood
1998 Annual Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists, Aird Gallery, Toronto
1998 Scorched Earth, Enamel Meets Raku - 2 Person Show, Williams Mill Gallery, Glen Williams
1997 Relief Printmaking Project, Juried Exhibition, Prague
1997 Spirit of Place - 7 Artists, Wellington County Museum, Aboyne
1997 The Print Show, Guelph
1996-7 Insights, Annual Juried Exhibition, Wellington County Museum - Sun Art Award (1996) - Elora Racquets Award (1997)
1996 Recovered - A Show of Found Materials, University of Guelph
1996 Painting Gorecki Symphony No. 3 - Solo Show, Wyndham Art, Guelph
1995 Annual Juried Exhibition, Mississauga Civic Centre Art Gallery
1995-6 Annual Juried Exhibition, Peel Art Gallery
1995 Works on Paper Annual Juried Exhibition, Latcham Art Gallery, Stoufville
1994 Annual Juried Exhibition - Juror's Award, Guelph Arts Society, Guelph
1993 Open Water, Juried Exhibition - Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, Dorothy J. Corson Award, Aird Gallery, Toronto