Townships Heritage WebMagazine

Folk art is a general term that can be said to describe art that has been produced by men and women with little or no artistic training. It is the product of natural, if unrefined talent.

Born in the village of Way's Mills in 1902, Orson Wheeler was a professor in the fine arts department at Concordia University in Montreal for much of his professional career. A sculptor by training, he is perhaps best known for his bronze busts of noted Canadians. Wheeler was also a talented designer, however, and produced some 200 architectural models.

Frederick Simpson Coburn, one of the greatest artists to come out of the Eastern Townships, was born in Melbourne (Richmond) in 1871.

Frederick Simpson Coburn, l'un des plus grands artistes des Cantons-de-l'Est, est né à Melbourne (Richmond) en 1871. Après avoir fréquenté le collège Saint-François, M.

Born in Arthabaska (now a part of Victoriaville) in 1869, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté is one of Quebec's most celebrated artists. The youngest of ten children, Suzor-Coté studied art in Montreal and Paris. He began his art career as a church decorator with the firm of Joseph-Thomas Rousseau.

A WOMAN WITH A PASSION
Born in Brome Township in 1857, Sally Wood had a passion for photography. After learning the art in Montreal's prestigious Notman Studios (the premier photography studio in Canada), Wood worked as a substitute for John A. Wheeler, a photographer based in Knowlton and Cowansville.

Louis-Philippe Hébert, of Acadian background, was born in Sainte-Sophie-de-Halifax in 1850. At age 19, Hébert left his parents' farm to join the Papal Zouaves, an army created by the Catholic Church to defend Rome against the forces of Italian unification. In Europe, Hébert was exposed to a world of art and culture such as he had never seen before.

Landscape painter Aaron Allan Edson was born in 1846 in Stanbridge, Missisquoi County. Studying painting in Montreal, London, and France, Edson became a charter member of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1880.

The son of an English father and a French Canadian mother, William S. Hunter was born in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu (St. John's), Quebec in 1823. Hunter lived for many years in Stanstead, where his wife Nancy Parsons was born.

The Lovell Family of Barnston and Coaticook, Quebec is recognized as one of the most prominent and distinguished families of the Eastern Townships. The surname was originally “Lovewell” which over time evolved in to “Lovell” the form which remains in use today.