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Adventures of an Artist in the Canadian Rockies recounts the lifelong passion of Moose Jaw-based Vaughan Grayson. Though she was a prairie girl from Saskatchewan, her soul belonged to the Okanagan.
In her youth, Grayson studied acting at the Curry School of Expression in Boston and art education at Columbia University in New York City. Though she would make her living as an art educator, painting was her passion until she died at the age of 100.
In the early 1920’s, her education complete, Grayson returned to Moose Jaw, first as art curriculum advisor to the Moose Jaw Public School Board, then as art instructor at the Normal School (teachers’ college) in Regina and in 1929 as the Director of Art at the Normal School in Moose Jaw. During this time she wrote two books on art appreciation for elementary and high school students, books that were widely circulated, with a second printing a decade later.
Grayson’s life focused on two interests: travel and nature. She never stayed put for very long, and never stopped appreciating the beauty of the world around her. In particular, she was drawn to the mountainous landscape of the Canadian Rockies, losing herself in their majestic grandeur. Though she travelled across the entire world, the Rocky Mountains kept calling her back. She explored the mountains extensively, enduring difficult hikes and treks on horseback and during the 1940’s she led sketching trips into the mountains for the Banff School of Fine Arts along with her good friend Janet (Holly) Middleton from the Okanagan. Grayson gave life to her profound emotional connection to the Rockies in paintings reminiscent of the Group of Seven, whom she admired.
Grayson found moderate success as an artist in her lifetime, especially submitting her work to the large, juried exhibitions organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 1942, visitors to the 11th Annual British Columbia Exhibition voted her painting, Mount Rundle, to be the third most popular piece out of 133 works shown.
This Community Memories exhibit combines elements of Grayson’s biography, visual art and personal memoirs to paint a rounded picture of the life, work and thoughts of this important Moose Jaw artist.
