Born Mary West in Fredericton, NB in 1935, Pratt studied art at Mount Allison University under such luminaries as Lawren Harris and Alex Colville.
While a student at the university she met and eventually married fellow artist Christopher Pratt. After graduating with a BFA in 1961, Pratt and her husband moved to Newfoundland, where they had four children together before separating in 1990.
Despite the challenges of domestic life, Pratt maintained her own practice and over the years has had many successful exhibitions and received many awards for her talent including the Order of Canada in 1996 and appointment to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2013. A major focus for Pratt in her art was the domestic realm, and within a feminist context her art is celebrated as a validation of that aspect of women’s lives and its broader significance to our society.
Tonight at the MacKenzie Art Gallery at 7:30 p.m. there’s an opening reception for this retrospective of Pratt’s work. Then Saturday at 2 p.m. there’s a curator’s tour. The show was organized by the National Gallery, and will be on display in Regina until Aug. 24. You can find out more here.
