Garry Newton

Newton was born July 2, 1939 in the City of York. In 1948, at the age of 9, he immigrated to Medicine Hat, Alberta with his family. He studied science at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta and completed his science degree in Zoology at the University of Melbourne in Australia. After receiving his degree, Newton travelled, visiting a vast majority of North America, Europe, Central America, and Greece. After returning from his worldly travels, Newton settled in Calgary, Alberta and started to focus primarily on creating intaglio prints. In 1958, he received a Canada Council Grant to produce approximately 50 prints of the Amaryllidaceae plant family. Newton was also picked to display his work at the 6th International Invitational Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration. Later in his life, he taught drawing classes in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Newton also contributed significantly to the book, Prairie River, in which he created the illustrations and maps. Newton, met his partner, Elwood Amundson in 1993. Together, they mastered the technique of marquetry. Newton’s work resides in collections at the Medicine Hat College, the Calgary Library, the University of Alberta, the Medicine Hat Gallery, and the Carnegie-Mellon University at the National Library of Canada. Newton passed away on May 15, 2008 in Medicine Hat.