Rita Winkler | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Rita Winkler 1987 (age 36–37) |
Alma mater | Drewry Secondary School |
Known for | An artist with Down syndrome |
Notable work | My Art, My World |
Parents |
|
Relatives | Leora Winkler, Rachel Winkler (sisters) - Mark Winkler, Lawrence Winkler, Sam Jundler (uncles) |
Website | www |
Rita Winkler (born 1987) is a Canadian artist who is known for her paintings and artbook, My Art, My World. [1] [2]
Rita Winkler was born in 1987 with Down syndrome in Calgary, Alberta. [3] She attended Drewry Secondary School where she learnt sign language. [4] [5] Later, she went to DANI, an organization which is helping people with disabilities, where she participated in their stage productions and wrote their newsletters. [5] [4] At DANI, she discovered her passion for art. [4]
After the death of her father due to cancer in 2002, her family moved to Toronto, Ontario in 2003. [5] There, Rita began a life that included folk dancing, yoga, signing, and painting. [6] [5] As a folk dancer, she used to perform dance until COVID-19 pandemic at Prosserman Jewish Community Centre with her mother, Helen, who also taught a course called Move N'Mingle at the center. Nowadays, she performs a dance with her mother for Jake's Jam every Sunday. [5]
In the past few years, Rita flourished as an artist, painting how she sees life through her own eyes. [7] Alongside creating paintings, she also likes to paint birthday cakes and create birthday cards. [5]
During the pandemic, she took classes at L'Arche London and learnt watercolor painting. [4]
In 2021, a publishing company approached her family, and with the help of her mother, Helen Winkler, and her uncle, Mark Winkler, from New York, they co-authored an educational picture book entitled, My Art, My World. [8] [9] The book shows how she views her life through paintings and teaches inclusion. [10] [9] The book received positive reviews, including a star in Kirkus Reviews . [11]
Rita is also a member of the Ontario Folk Dance Association. [12]
Marion Jean Woodman was a Canadian mythopoeic author, poet, analytical psychologist and women's movement figure. She wrote and spoke extensively about the dream theories of Carl Jung. Her works include Addiction to Perfection, The Pregnant Virgin and Bone: Dying into Life.
Maud Kathleen Lewis was a Canadian folk artist from Nova Scotia. She lived most of her life in poverty in a small house in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia. She achieved national recognition in 1964 and 1965 for her cheerful paintings of landscapes, animals and flowers, which offer a nostalgic and optimistic vision of her native province. Several books, plays and films have been produced about her. She remains one of Canada's most celebrated folk artists. Her works are displayed at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, as well as her restored house, whose walls she adorned with her art.
Dianne Warren is a Canadian novelist, dramatist and short story writer.
Jan Brett is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. Her colorful, detailed depictions of a wide variety of animals and human cultures range from Scandinavia to Africa. Her titles include The Mitten, The Hat, and Gingerbread Baby. She has adapted or retold traditional stories such as the Gingerbread Man and Goldilocks and has illustrated classics such as "The Owl and the Pussycat."
Helen Humphreys is a Canadian poet and novelist.
Irene Luxbacher is a Canadian artist, an author and children's book illustrator.
Helen LaFrance was a self-taught Black American artist born in Graves County, Kentucky, the second of four daughters to James Franklin Orr and Lillie May Ligon Orr. Helen has often been described as both an outsider artist due to her lack of formal training and existence outside the cultural mainstream and as a memory painter, best known for her captures of the disappearing lifestyle of the rural South. Sharing traits in common with memory painters Horace Pippin (1888–1946) and Grandma Moses (1860–1961), LaFrance has been referred to as "the Black Grandma Moses." She also painted powerful and intensely spiritual visionary interpretations of the Bible, in a style that differed radically from her memory paintings.
Helen McLean was a Canadian author and painter, known for her autobiographical Details From a Larger Canvas.
Julie Flett is a Cree-Métis author and illustrator, known for her work in children's literature centered around the life and cultures of Indigenous Canadians. Flett is best known for her illustrations in books such as Little You, and When We were Alone, as well as for her written work in books such as Birdsong. Many of Flett's books are bilingual, and written in a combination of English, Michif, and Cree, and serve as an introduction to Michif and Cree for English-speaking readers. Flett's works are critically successful and have been awarded the Governor General's Literary Award and the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.
Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton was an Inuvialuit author of children's books, story keeper, and residential school survivor.
Helen Lucas was a Canadian artist whose work features Greek Orthodox icons, female sexuality, and flowers. Her career as an artist spanned over six decades.
The Marrow Thieves is a young adult dystopian novel by Métis Canadian writer Cherie Dimaline, published on September 1, 2017, by Cormorant Books through its Dancing Cat Books imprint.
Thao Lam is a Vietnamese-Canadian children's author and illustrator. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Tyler Clark Burke is a Canadian artist, illustrator, designer, and writer based in Toronto, Ontario. She is the co-founder of Canadian independent record label Three Gut Records. She has written and illustrated two children's books.
Nadia L. Hohn is a Canadian educator and children's book author. She has earned critical acclaim for her books for young readers, including her debut picture book, Malaika's Costume.
Susan Marie Guevara is an American sculptor and illustrator, who is best known for her illustrations in picture books. She was born in Walnut Creek, California and now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Susan received a BFA in illustration from Academy of Art College in San Francisco. She took time off between her first and second years and moved to Belgium where she was able to study with Remy Van Sluys and take painting and drawing classes at Royal Academy of Fine Art. She was the first recipient of the Pura Belpré Medal Award in 1996 for Gary Soto's Chat's Kitchen. She won again in 2002 for Gary Soto's Chato and the Party Animals, and was a recipient of a Pura Belpré Honor Award for Susan Elya Middleton's Little Roja Riding Hood.
Dulari Devi is an Indian artist and illustrator, working in the Mithila art tradition. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Padma Shri, a civilian honour granted by the Government of India, for her contributions to art.
Birdsong is a 2019 children's picture book written and illustrated by Julie Flett. The book follows the story of a young indigenous girl named Katherena, who moves to a countryside home with her mother. Lonely in her new home at first, Katherena develops a friendship with her elderly neighbor, Agnes. The book explores the intergenerational relationship between them. The pages were illustrated with pastel and pencil colours.
A Stranger at Home is a memoir aimed at middle-grade children, written by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret (Olemaun) Pokiak-Fenton and illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes, published September 1, 2011 by Annick Press. The book follows Margaret Pokiak's experience of returning home to her family after living at a residential school for two years.
Not My Girl is a memoir aimed at children, written by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard, published January 9, 2014, by Annick Press. The book follows Margaret Pokiak's experience of returning home at age ten after attending a residential school for two years.