Edwin Robert Procunier (1 October 1927 - 26 September 2011) was a Canadian playwright, teacher and art collector. He founded the London Community Players, and was President of Theatre Ontario and the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre. Upon his death he bequeathed 372 paintings from his collection to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, where they are on display in The Rooms museum.
Procunier was born on 1 October 1927 in Lamaline, Newfoundland, to William Procunier and Minnie (née Pugh). [1] His father died when he was three years old and he and his brother George were raised by their mother in Harbour Grace. They moved to Ontario when Edwin was 15 so he could attend university. Edwin took Honours English at University of Western Ontario, his MA at Queen's University, and his teacher's certificate at the Ontario College of Education, University of Toronto. He taught English at Brantford Collegiate High School, and later at Althouse College, University of Western Ontario. He founded the London Community Players, and was President of Theatre Ontario and the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre. He lectured for the Canadian Opera Company.
Procunier wrote 27 stage plays, produced across Canada and on CBC Radio. [2]
Procunier bequeathed 372 paintings from his collection to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, where they are on display in The Rooms museum. He also established the Procunier Family Music Scholarship at Memorial University of Newfoundland. [3] Procunier Hall at The Palace Theatre, London, Ontario was dedicated to him after his death. [4]
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of 405,212 square kilometres. In 2023, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador was estimated to be 533,710. The island of Newfoundland is home to around 94 per cent of the province's population, with more than half residing in the Avalon Peninsula. Labrador borders the province of Quebec, and the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon lies about 20 km (12 mi) west of the Burin Peninsula.
John Christopher Pratt was among Canada's most prominent painters and printmakers. In addition to a body of highly acclaimed paintings, prints, drawings and writing, he designed the flag of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mary Frances Pratt, LL. D. D.Litt. was a Canadian painter known for photo-realist still life paintings. Pratt never thought of her work as being focused on one subject matter: her early work is often of domestic scenes, while later work may have a darker undertone, with people as the central subject matter. She painted what appealed to her, being emotionally connected to her subject. Pratt often spoke of conveying the sensuality of light in her paintings, and of the "erotic charge" her chosen subjects possessed.
Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell was a British medical missionary to Newfoundland, who wrote books on his work and other topics.
Edward Moxon Roberts was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He first served as a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly (MHA) from 1966 to 1985 representing White Bay North, and again from 1992 to 1996 representing Naskaupi. He went on to serve as the eleventh lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador from 2002 until 2008.
The Rooms is a cultural facility in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The facility opened in 2005 and houses the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador.
David Lloyd Blackwood was a Canadian artist known chiefly for his intaglio prints, often depicting dramatic historical scenes of Newfoundland outport life and industry, such as shipwrecks, seal hunting, iceberg encounters and resettlement. He also created paintings, drawings and woodcuts.
Gerald Leopold "Gerry" Squires, was an artist from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Perhaps best known for painting dramatic landscapes in acrylic and oil, Squires also produced major work in sculpture, lithography and stained glass. He was also an accomplished portraitist. Much of his work drew inspiration from the landscape and culture of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador covers the period from habitation by Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day.
Bay Roberts is a town located on the north shore of Conception Bay on the northeastern Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The growth of the local economy can be connected to the town's proximity to other major Newfoundland markets, by road and by water.
Michael Cook was a Canadian playwright known for his plays set in Newfoundland.
Mireille Eagan is a Canadian arts writer and curator.
A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society is an 1831 oil on canvas work by English painter Sir Edwin Henry Landseer depicting a Newfoundland dog. The original was damaged in a flood whilst on loan to the Tate Gallery in 1928, and was returned to public view for the first time in 50 years after it was restored in 2009.
Eric Newton was an English artist, writer, broadcaster and art critic. He produced several books in addition to his newspaper and radio work and created mosaics for Ludwig Oppenheimer Ltd, mostly on a religious theme. His radio broadcasts made him well known to the British public in the 1930s.
Helen Parsons Shepherd LL. D. was a Newfoundland and Labrador artist, known for her portraits and still-life paintings. Her father was the poet R.A. Parsons, and her brother was the painter Paul Parsons.
William Austin Oke was a newspaper publisher, politician, and District Court judge in Newfoundland. He represented Harbour Grace in the Newfoundland House of Assembly for three terms, from 1898 to 1908, as a Liberal.
John A. Schweitzer is a Canadian artist known for mixed-media collage incorporating text. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002, first place at the international exhibition Schrift und Bild in der modernen Kunst in 2004, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from The University of Western Ontario in 2011. He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) in 2003 and to the Ontario Society of Artists (OAS) in 2006. His work is found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Museum of History, Art Gallery of Ontario, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Glenbow Museum, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, The Rooms Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
The art of Newfoundland and Labrador has followed a unique artistic trajectory when compared to mainland Canada, due to the geographic seclusion and socio-economic history of the province. Labradorian art possesses its own historical lineage.
Constance "Colette" Joyce Urban was a Canadian/American artist known for performance art, sculpture and installation. Her work questioned social conventions, gender roles, and the relationship between spectator and performer, as well as consumer culture and the everyday with a disarming and humorous tone. Urban was a tenured Professor of Visual Arts at University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, until 2006, when she relocated to the Bay of Islands, in Western Newfoundland and based herself in the communities of Meadows and McIvers, Newfoundland, to develop Full Tilt Creative Centre, an artist residency, organic farm and exhibition venue. In November 2012, after a lengthy period of mysterious pain, Urban was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. She died at her home in McIvers in 2013.
Anne Meredith Barry D.Litt. was a Canadian visual artist known for her landscapes of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her paintings and prints made use of bold colours and whimsical patterns, occasionally incorporating collage and handwritten text.