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Christmas Greeting Cards sent to Carolyn Curtis from various artists
- Museum / Archive
- Elgin County Archives
- Part Of
- Don Cosens Collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- textual records
- Date Range
- 1926-1968
- Accession Number
- 2018-58
- Storage Location
- M5 S1 Sh7 B3 F15
- Museum / Archive
- Elgin County Archives
- Part Of
- Don Cosens Collection
- Description Level
- File
- Accession Number
- 2018-58
- Storage Room
- Archives 4th Floor Storage Room
- Storage Location
- M5 S1 Sh7 B3 F15
- GMD
- textual records
- Date Range
- 1926-1968
- Series
- Don Cosens Collection - Carolyn Curtis records series
- Physical Description
- 39 cards
- History / Biographical
- Caroyln Curtis was a local artist reknowned for her water colour works, and for paintings and etchings of historic buildings in and around St Thomas. She was born in St. Thomas, Ontario in 1903 to James D. Curtis and Dora Ferguson Curtis. She attended Wellington Street Public School and the St. Thomas Collegiate Institute, from which she graduated in 1922. She graduated from Alma College in household science in 1924, and then enrolled at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Ontario, graduating in Commercial Art four years later.
After graduation, Carolyn taught handicrafts at various organizations including the YWCA, Girl Guide camps, and at Alma College. During the Second World War, she accepted work inscribing honour rolls and lettering for government issued documents. For many years, she also inscribed the names of Alma College graduates in script on their diplomas. She eventually developed an interest in black and white etchings and water colours, and pursued additional training. These styles became her signature work, and her greeting cards featuring her artwork became collectors' items.
Curtis died in 1995. Her work can be found in the Canada Council Art Bank in Ottawa, at the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre and in many private homes.
Information summarized from the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre's biography of Curtis.
- Scope and Content
- File contains Christmas greeting cards sent to and retained by Carolyn Curtis from various artists. Were included in a box labelled "Christmas Greeting Cards by Artist Friends". Includes cards from the following individuals and artists, many of the cards featuring prints and original handmade artworks:
- -Grace Hare (Grace Johnston)
- -Eve Knight
- -Helen Saunderson
- -Alice M. Hincks
- -Aleen Aked (calendarss)
- -Musa L. Cox (one cards contains a photograph of Cox at a piano)
- -Alex and Grace Tulloch
- -Dorothy Carswell
- -Phyl Moore (possibly abbreviated from Phyllis Moore)
- -Elizabath Lambe
- -Kay and Jerry Riddell
- -Elizabeth Hoey (formerly Elizabeth Wilkins, who taught art at Alma College in the 1950s)
- -Stewart and Eva Pearce
- -Two cards signed "Bea" with artist signature "BN"
- Name Access
- Curtis, Carolyn
- Website / Street View Notes
- link directs to the St. Thomas Public Art Centre's website, which includes a biography of Carolyn Curtis.
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