Weissman Wilks, Claire, 1933- : Born in 1933 in Toronto, Ontario, Claire Weissman Wilks has published several books as well as pursued a career in painting and drawing, showing her work in Canada and Europe.
Wilks for many years was visual researcher for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, work for which she has been awarded an Emmy in 1978 and 1980, the Art Director's Cut Award in 1981, and an Oscar in 1982 for the film, Just Another Missing Kid.
Kurelek, William, 1927-1977 : William Kurelek, artist and writer, was born in Alberta in 1927, his father an Ukrainian immigrant and his mother the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. He was raised on farms in Alberta and Manitoba during the Depression, before graduating from the University of Manitoba. Kurelek briefly studied art at the Ontario College of Art and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and then went to England in 1952, to further his art studies and to seek psychiatric treatment for recurring depression. In 1957, Kurelek converted to Roman Catholicism and later wrote about his experiences in the autobiography "Someone With Me". He remained a deeply religious person all his life.
On Kurelek's return to Canada in 1959, he became associated with the Toronto art dealer Avrom Isaacs and built an international reputation for his paintings, which drew on his Ukrainian background, religious conversion and the Canadian landscape. He was a prolific painter and his works have been actively collected by Canadian private collectors as well as public institutions.
Many of Kurelek's paintings were published during his lifetime in books for which he wrote accompanying texts, including series on Ukrainians, Poles and Jews in Canada. These books include "A Prairie Boy's Winter" (Tundra Books, 1973), "O Toronto" (New Press, 1973), "Lumberjack" (Tundra Books, 1974), "The Passion of Christ" (Niagara Falls Art Gallery and Museum, 1975), "A Prairie Boy's Summer" (Tundra Books, 1975), "Kurelek's Country" (Houghton Mifflin, 1975), "Kurelek's Canada" (Pagurian Press, 1975), "Fields" (Tundra Books, 1976), "Jewish Life in Canada" (with A.J. Arnold, Hurtig Publishers, 1976) and "A Northern Nativity" (Tundra Books, 1976). Kurelek also illustrated "Who Has Seen the Wind" by W.O. Mitchell and "Fox Mykyta" by B. Melnyck.
William Kurelek died in Toronto in 1977. Before his death, he received an honorary degree from the University of Windsor and the Order of Canada, in recognition of his contributions to Canadian art. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
