Ron Shuebrook & Frances Thomas
Ron Shuebrook and Frances Thomas: In Conversation
Opening Reception, Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 1:00 pm
Ron Shuebrook and Frances Thomas have each undertaken a serious engagement with abstraction. Both artists are highly skilled at manipulating paint to highlight wonderful connections between line, form, colour and scale. The intent of this exhibition is to highlight the avenues of abstraction unique to each artist, while finding commonalities and celebrating the differences.
This exhibition and accompanying publication were co-produced with the MacLaren Art Centre. It has toured to the MacLaren Art Centre in the summer of 2024 to its current location at the Art Gallery of Northumberland followed by the Art Gallery of Algoma in 2025.
The Woodstock Art Gallery and MacLaren Art Centre extend their sincere thanks to the Olga Korper Gallery, the Peter Robertson Gallery, and all the private individuals who contributed to this important project.
Exhibition Curated by Mary Ried | Director/Curator, Woodstock Art Gallery
Ron Shuebrook:
Ron Shuebrook is a distinguished Canadian artist, educator, administrator, curator, writer, and cultural advocate. He is Professor Emeritus at OCAD University in Toronto, where he served as President from 2000 to 2005 and Vice-President, Academic, from 1998 to 2002. In recognition of his significant contributions to art and education in Canada, Shuebrook was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa in 2008. The Ron Shuebrook Award in Painting and Drawing was established in June 2005 at OCAD University by faculty, staff, and friends to honor his legacy.
In addition to his leadership at OCAD University, Shuebrook has held prominent positions within the Canadian art community, including as past President of both the Universities Art Association of Canada and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
Shuebrook holds a B.Sc. in Art Education and an M.Ed. in Art Education from Kutztown University (PA), as well as an MFA in Visual Art from Kent State University (OH). He has also studied at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (ME) and was awarded a Fellowship in Painting from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA, from 1969 to 1970.
Shuebrook’s academic career spans seven Canadian universities and art schools, including the University of Guelph (1988–98), where he served as Chair of Fine Art, founded the MFA Program in Studio Art in 1992, and oversaw the renovation of the department’s facilities. In recognition of his dedication, colleagues at Guelph established the Shuebrook Graduate Scholarship to support future art students.
Beyond his teaching and administrative work, Shuebrook has been an external consultant and assessor for over twenty-five Canadian universities, colleges, and art schools, as well as numerous government agencies, including the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Nova Scotia Department of Culture, Recreation and Fitness.
Frances Thomas:
Frances Thomas, a Canadian painter and printmaker, was born in Parry Sound, Ontario. She received both her BFA and MFA from York University, Toronto, Ontario, and is the recipient of the Samuel Sarick Purchase Award for excellence in thesis work. She has participated in residencies in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland and Triangle Arts in Brooklyn, New York and in 2016 spent three months in Berlin on a self-directed residency. Her paintings were featured in a solo exhibition, “but wait”, with an accompanying catalogue, at the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie, ON. In November 2023 her work will be featured in a two-person exhibition, “Ron Shuebrook and Frances Thomas in Conversation”, with an accompanying catalogue, at the Woodstock Art Gallery. Thomas currently lives and works from her studio in Barrie, ON. She has exhibited in Barrie, Montreal, Edmonton, Toronto and New York and her work is in the permanent collections of the MacLaren Art Centre, Bank of Montreal and York University.
Mary Reid, Director/Curator at the Woodstock Art Gallery:
Mary Reid has been leading the Woodstock Art Gallery as the Director/Curator since 2014. Under her tenure the Gallery has transformed into a vital community hub along with launching a modest public art program for the City of Woodstock. From 2017 to 2023 she was a sessional instructor for Fanshawe Collage’s Fine Art Program delivering the balance of the Art History courses to the entire program enrollment. Prior to returning to Ontario, she was the inaugural Director/ Curator of the School of Art Gallery at the University of Manitoba (2011 to 2014) and the Curator of Contemporary Art and Photography at Winnipeg Art Gallery (2004 to 2011). She started her career at the MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON in 1998.
Reid received her Master’s degree in Art History from York University, Toronto in 1999 and returned to complete her Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Arts and Media Administration in 2020. Over the last twenty-five years she has curated numerous exhibitions on contemporary art and photography. In addition to exhibition coordination, Reid has project-managed and contributed essays to several catalogues, brochures, journals and magazines which support her various projects.
