The family of renowned Canadian artist Kenneth Lochhead announced recently that it has donated 70 of Lochhead’s works to the University of Regina. The collection is valued at more than $700,000 and features paintings and drawings dating from the late 1950s to the mid-2000s, including many created during his years in Regina.
“This donation not only celebrates the decades-long relationship between our family and the University of Regina, but it brings the story of our much-loved husband and father full circle,” says Joanne Lochhead, wife of the late artist. “The time Ken spent here in Regina helped shape him as a person and as an artist, so to have this collection come home means so much to our family.”
Originally from Ottawa, Kenneth Lochhead served as Director of the School of Art at Regina College from 1950 to 1964 and became part of the renowned group of artists known as the Regina Five, who were considered to be at the forefront of contemporary Canadian art at the time. Lochhead also founded the University’s prestigious Emma Lake Professional Artists’ Workshops and went on to develop an international reputation, earning numerous accolades and awards, including the Order of Canada.
“Ken Lochhead means so much to our University and to our province, and all of us owe a great debt of gratitude to the Lochhead family for this incredible donation of his works,” says Dr. Vianne Timmons, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Regina. “Ken was a true Canadian treasure, and it is an honour for us to be able to display these works on the very campus where he worked for the first part of his long and distinguished career as an artist and educator.”
Lochhead’s works will be displayed at various locations around the main campus, as well as at the newly-renovated College Avenue Campus Building - the very location where the artist taught his students and created his early works 70 years ago.
