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Ted Godwin was
born in Calgary, Alberta in 1933 studying at the Alberta
Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary from 1951 to
1955. He also attended several Emma Lake Artists
Workshops, including those led by Barnett Newman (1959),
John Ferren (1960), Jules Olitski (1964), and Lawrence
Alloway (1965). From 1955 to 1964 he worked in the
commercial art field as Art Director for CJLH Channel 7 in
Lethbridge, and a neon designer, winning 2nd prize at an
international neon design competition, N.E.S.A. in 1958.
In 1962-63 he
spent the year sketching and painting in Greece on a
Canada Council grant and was hired by the University of
Saskatchewan, Regina Campus to teach at the School of Art
in 1964.
Godwin remained
at what became the Visual Art Department at the University
of Regina for the rest of his working career. He exhibited
with Ken Lochhead, Art McKay, Ron Bloore, and Doug Morton
as one of the Regina Five. Following the Regina Five years
he became known for his large Tartan paintings. A heart
condition (which eventually forced him to retire in 1985)
produced the Dying Orchids series in 1974. From the mid
1970s to the present, Godwin has produced several series
of large and vivid landscape paintings.
In 1991 Godwin
mounted exhibitions of new work simultaneously in four
Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, and Toronto.
The show was known as the Lower Bow project and Ted was
present to open each of the exhibitions; Calgary Thursday
evening, Regina Friday, Toronto on Saturday, and Vancouver
on Monday. In 1999, The Nickle Arts Museum of Calgary
mounted and toured a major examination of Godwin's Tartans
and in 2008 the Nickle mounted a major touring exhibition
of Godwin’s Regina Five Years, 1957 to 1967.
Ted Godwin was
elected to the RoyaI Canadian Academy in 1974, and was
awarded the Queens Silver Jubilee Medal 1978. For his
Messages from the Real World A Handbook for the Emerging
Artist, (1999) Ted won the Sask Book Award for best new
publication (Educational). He was awarded the Alberta
College of Art and Design Board of Governors Award of
Excellence and was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from
the University of Regina in 2001. In 2004, for his
excellence in the field of visual arts, Ted was made an
Officer of the Order of Canada. Ted Godwin has been
exhibiting his work since 1955 and has had more than 60
solo exhibitions. He currently resides in Calgary where he
devotes himself to writing, painting, fishing, Tai Chi,
and Alcoholics Anonymous.
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