Meredith Evans

Meredith Evans was born in London, England in 1919 and immigrated to Edmonton with his family in 1921. His interest in art developed at an early age and he was encouraged by his teachers in school, but possibilities for a full art education were relatively scarce at this period in Edmonton. He was, however, able to make some art contacts through the president of the Edmonton Art Gallery, Julian Garret and he corresponded with the American artist Robert Brinkerhoff, who favourably critiqued Evans' drawings, providing much encouragement. His first major art-related employment was in the display department at Eaton's department store and in 1939 he received a scholarship to study at the Banff School of Fine Arts. He began receiving portrait and drawing assignments and continued with his own self-education by reading about art and artists. During the Second World War, he served in Vancouver, where he set up art workshops for his fellow servicemen. Following the war, he worked in the Northern Alberta military hospitals where he headed a program for patients called Diversional Therapy. He subsequently had many other jobs, usually ones that allowed him to exploit his artistic abilities and interests, including a time working as a pictorial artist for Hook Signs Limited in Calgary. He also worked as a film animator creating animations demonstrating heart surgery procedures for the University of Alberta's new cardiovascular program. In 1964, he started a gallery in St. Albert which led to the formation of an artists' group called Academy Six which organized art workshops and encouraged art development throughout the region.

Meredith Evans' favourite subject for his colourful oil paintings was the Alberta landscape. He also found inspiration through his travels in the North, including to the Northwest Territories, the Nahanni Valley, Alert, Ellesmere Island and Thule, Greenland. Some of the paintings from his Northern excursions are now in the collection of the War Museum in Ottawa. His work is also represented in many other private and public collections, and has been included in numerous exhibitions.