Artist Info
Airaca Dalen
Virginie Dufour, (born Aubrey Virginia Schneider), painted under the name Airaca B. Dalen. She grew up and received her primary education in Fergus, ON, where her artistic precocity became apparent. As a young adult, she worked in advertising copywriting and layout design, and painted during winter holidays at the Doon School of Fine Arts (ON), with exhibitions at the ABS House of Art and Crafts in Amherstburg (ON). She obtained a B. Sc. Ed. at the Windsor Teachers College (ON) before she realized her long-held dream of obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which she earned at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, in 1970. A career in art teaching followed, first in Windsor, ON, and later as an Art Specialist in Mississauga, ON. In 1978, determined to paint full time, she purchased a camper van and travelled the continent from coast to coast by herself for three and a half years, painting as she went. She finally settled in Calgary, AB and assumed the professional name of “Airaca B. Dalen”, under which she continued to paint, exhibit, and sell her work.
Keenly attuned to children’s wisdom and purity, the healing powers of the wilderness, and the effects of colour on human well-being, she frequently photographed, drew, and painted children, landscapes, and flowers with bold, expressive palettes. In a 1983 letter to her sister she wrote, “I am concerned with the spiritual uplift of colour and the emotional impact of shapes. The two should work together to make people feel a surge of joy. No message about the future, or life or states of being. Just JOY.” Her efforts to uplift humanity extended well beyond her art practice. With husband Germain Dufour, whom she married in 1998, she co-founded and served until her death in 2000, as Spiritual Leader and Secretary General of The Global Community, a humanitarian organization that promotes strong international cooperation toward world sustainable development.
