She Loved The Bay

It was the first time that such a large collection of Willi Wildman’s work had been publicly displayed. For the month of May this year, the walls of The Gallery at L.E. Shore Memorial Library in Thornbury were filled with paintings that captured scenes of Georgian Bay, area waterways and surrounding hillsides.

Colleen Reid was one of several collectors who generously loaned paintings from their personal collections for the retrospective exhibition. Reid was a close friend of Wildman and among the crowd who attended the opening reception.

“Honestly, I was overwhelmed because I didn’t know what to expect, but I was delighted for her. I thought, ‘Oh my God, would she be happy about this,’” said Reid.

Born in Amsterdam in 1942, Wildman studied visual arts at the University of Ottawa and worked as a photojournalist before moving to Southern Georgian Bay. Wildman died in March 2022. Over the past four decades Wildman became influential in the development of the art scene in Collingwood and the Blue Mountains as she worked to foster forums for local artists to showcase their work. At the same time, helping others discover their own creativity gave Wildman great satisfaction. She welcomed both new and experienced artists to her Thornbury studio, where ideas, laughter, soup and wine were often shared in a salon setting.

Friend and fellow artist Heather Adams recalls how the groups of painters would don French berets for their shows at the library gallery. Adams wore her beret as did many others at the exhibition’s opening reception. “It was my thinking that during that opening it would be great for people to realize that all of these artists were influenced by Willi,” said Adams.

A prolific painter, Wildman often sold her paintings but it’s not known how many she completed over the years. In an effort to verify and catalogue her work, collectors are being asked to contact the Wildman Studio so the paintings can be documented: w.wildmanstudio@gmail.com.