The Other Emma

Leah Taylor, curator

The Other Emma celebrates six prolific Canadian female artists who attended the early years of the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops. The art camp opened in 1936, with the summer art classes taught by Augustus Kenderdine. From 1955-2011 the artists’ workshops took place every summer, during the last two weeks of August, with groups participating in the residency and exchange of ideas. 

This selection of paintings, prints and archival ephemera highlights a time when the workshops were influential for these six artists. Their approaches to painting and drawing had been visibly affected by both the workshop leaders and the surrounding Emma Lake landscape. The Other Emma revisits and asserts these artist’s importance in the canon of Saskatchewan art history by celebrating the ways they garnered respect and space for female artists at the infamous Emma Lake Art Camp. A special thank you to the University of Saskatchewan Library Archives and Special Collections and the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina.