Silver

The Art Gallery of Guelph’s Contemporary Canadian Silver Collection is the only one of its kind at a public art gallery in Canada. The works have been methodically acquired through special commissions, sponsored purchases, and generous donations from artists and collectors. The collection was initiated in 2000 to acknowledge the high level of achievement of artists working in the field. The collection currently comprises 49 works and continues to grow.

The collection features the work of 26 artists from across Canada: Beth Alber, Jackie Anderson, Mary Anne Barkhouse, Anne Barros, Michael Belmore, Aggie Beynon, Beth Biggs, Brigitte Clavette, Lois Etherington Betteridge, Charles Funnell, Chantal Gilbert, Elizabeth Goluch, Antoine Lamarche, Fiona Macintyre, Mary K. McIntyre, Susan McDonald, Michael Massie, Ross Morrow, Harold Muller, Sandra Nobel Goss, Carl Poul Petersen, Myra Tulonen Smith, Kye-Yeon Son, Ken Vickerson, Susan Watson-Ellis, and Lyn Wiggins.

Guelph artist and mentor Lois Etherington Betteridge is the matriarch of Canadian silversmithing and her work forms the foundation of the collection. She is known for her innovative holloware and ecclesiastical silver and jewelry. For over fifty years, she has guided the craftsmanship and development in the work of generations of students and apprentices, many of whom are represented in this special collection.