Theresa Towers-Rickard
BiographyTheresa Towers-Rickard is multi-disciplinary artist living and working in Central Alberta. She received her Art and Design Diploma from Red Deer College (RDC) in 1981, and then took a number of courses from RDC in print-making. In the early 1990s, her work was shown in several Red Deer galleries. Researching her family roots, she discovered Cree, Sioux and Ojibway ancestry, as well as her European forebears. She feels her affinity for landscape comes from her Indigenous and Métis ancestry. In 1995, her Finding My Voice print series was exhibited at the Red Deer and District Museum. Here, decorative elements from her newly-discovered family traditions create dynamic graphic images. Some pieces, such as “Mission School”, blend two artistic traditions, reflecting a dual heritage and depicting two distinct ways of life. This series was also shown at The Works Festival, in ManuLife Place, Edmonton, in 1996. “Mission School” earned Theresa one of the winning places in the annual Native Art Contest, sponsored by Peace Hills Trust, in 1996. She was also selected to display her work at the St Albert Heritage Museum, in a group exhibit, Proud Traditions: Métis Culture and Heritage (2000).
Constantly developing herself both professionally and personally, Theresa has also studied photography and web design, and is now a certified New Media designer. She teaches design workshops and creative seminars, such as digital design and print-making, throughout Western Canada. Her photographs have been exhibited in group shows at the Bilton Contemporary Art Gallery in Red Deer (2009), and in the second Rooted in the Arts – The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Collection show, organized by the Red Deer Arts Council at the Kiwanis Gallery, Red Deer (2013). She has recently begun focusing on clay. Still inspired by the landscape, she is working on capturing imagery in the clay medium.
Theresa’s work is found in public and private collections, both nationally and internationally, including at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa.
