Ruth Abernethy Author Event

Tickets $15: Click HERE to buy tickets.

Join acclaimed artist Ruth Abernethy for a conversation about her new book, In Form: Life and Legacies in Bronze. Hosted by Angie Littlefield, who wrote the introduction to the book.

ABOUT IN FORM: LIFE AND LEGACIES IN BRONZE:

In Form includes the story of 20 sculptures in bronze. Located across Canada, they capture key figures from history, science, art, sports, the labor movement, medicine, royalty, human rights, World War II, business, and politics.

For Ruth Abernethy, the creative process starts with her off-center observations of human nature. She puts her thoughts "in form" as she plans and engineers public installations and studio works against the backdrop of family and the evolving zeitgeist. For this, her second book, Ruth takes you on a road trip across Canada to visit installations and initiate conversations about the role of sculpture in modern public life. In Form is filled with thought-provoking ideas for study and chat in academia, book clubs, seniors, arts, and business groups and for the sheer enjoyment of the stories behind the portraits of:

• Lester B. Pearson, prime minister
• Margaret Atwood, author
• Bob White, labor leader
• Isabel Coursier, ski jump champion
• Liu Xiaobo, human rights activist
• Sir William Stephenson, spymaster
• Michael Holcombe Wilson, mental health advocate
• HRH Queen Elizabeth II
• Dr. Michael Smith, Nobel laureate
• Daurene Lewis, the first Black mayor in Canada.

ABOUT RUTH ABERNETHY:

Ruth Abernethy grew up near Lindsay, Ontario. At the age of 20, she was hired as Head of Props at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, MB. At the Stratford Festival (ON), where Ruth began work in 1981, she refined her method of 3D mapping. The success of her first bronze prompted the invitation to sculpt renowned pianist Glenn Gould, which began a definitive career change. The National Portrait Gallery acquired Ruth’s portrait bust of Al Waxman (2003) and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveiled Ruth’s portrait of Oscar Peterson at the National Arts Centre (2010). She was the first Canadian artist to exhibit with Sculpture in Context, Dublin, Ireland (2007), and Sculpture-by-the-Sea, Sydney, Australia (2004).

For this, she was awarded a bursary from the Canadian Consulate in Sydney and was invited for a return to the Casuarina Sculpture Walk, Australia (2006). Ruth was the only Canadian artist short-listed for the Beijing Olympic Sculpture contest (2008). In addition to bronze and portraiture, Ruth’s studio works combine textiles, hand-made lace and stainless steel. Ruth began her own Canadiana Collection in 2005, seeking a broader narrative for social history. Pieces from this collection were selected for The Canadiana State Collection (Ottawa, ON), exhibited with Crossing Borders (Lockport, NY, 2005), and acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum (5 pieces, Toronto, ON, 2009). 

Her bronzes have been commissioned for sites across Canada and she is the only Canadian artist to have sculpted Abe Lincoln for a public site in the United States. Ruth portrayed Queen Elizabeth II, 150% enlarged, for Queen's Park, Toronto (2023). Ruth authored Life and Bronze, A Sculptor’s Journal (2016). She was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University (2018), and inducted into the Waterloo Region Museum Hall of Fame (2019). She sculpted Margaret Atwood, a patron of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and was made an Honourary Fellow of the Society, awarded the Louie Kamookak Metal (2023).  Ruth continues to sculpt ideas that prompt dialogue, invite compassionate scrutiny of human experience and that hold a hint of humour!