Dorothy Jantzen

Dorothy Jantzen had a strong background in civic involvement, having worked in Edmonton on a number of mayoral and provincial electoral campaigns and in Wetaskiwin, with various volunteer organizations, including the Red Cross, the Women's Auxillary of her church, the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE) and the Wetaskiwin Art Club. She was employed for 29 years with the Wetaskiwin School Board and served on various education boards and councils. In the late 1950s, she began exploring her interest in art with art classes at the Wetaskiwin Art Club. She went on to take classes with the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension, earning a diploma from the Faculty. In art classes in Edmonton and at the Banff School of Fine Arts, she studied with noted Albertan artists W.L. Stevenson, Harry Wohlfarth, H.G. Glyde, Harry Savage, Paul Braid and Gisela Felsberg, among many others. She began teaching at the Wetaskiwin Community Art Club in the late sixties, conducting classes in the basement of her home, and went on to teach for more than a decade with the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension. Her paintings were shown widely in the province of Alberta, including at the University of Alberta Corbett Hall, the Wetaskiwin Public Library and in many commercial gallery exhibitions. In 1983, she was awarded the Alberta Achievement Award honouring her work on the school board and for her accomplishments as a teacher and as an artist.