An exhibit of some of Brenda Wainman-Goulet’s original work as well as some of the waxes poured from her molds will be on display and for sale at Coles Art Market from August 6 to October 10, 2022.
The exhibit is being organized by her daughters Halley Clover (Goulet) and Danielle and Mallory Goulet.
Brenda Wainman-Goulet was a talented artist whose beautiful bronze and stone sculptures left a mark on the community. Here in Huntsville, her talent is evident every time someone walks along Huntsville’s Main Street or enters the Algonquin Theatre—Thom Thomson, his canoe and colour palette that adorn the base of Huntsville’s clock tower is just one of many of Wainman-Goulet’s cherished works as well as Donnie Eagles’ broom at the entrance to River Mill Park, George at The Table Soup Kitchen Foundation and others across Muskoka including statues of Norman Bethune in Gravenhurst and nurse Rene Caisse, developer of the Essiac herbal formula, in Bracebridge.
The beloved artist died unexpectedly in 2018, leaving her family and community in shock.
“This has been a wonderful journey for us being able to really reflect on our mother’s life and work. You know, growing up with an artist as our mother we really had a unique experience and connection to this world and like many youths, we probably took it for granted a lot of the time,” said Halley. “I remember once as a young teenager sitting on the stairs down to mom’s workshop with my dad and as we watched her work away with some oldie playing on her record player completely engrossed in what she was doing, he said, ‘you know one day one of you girls better learn how to do what she does.’ Well of course I didn’t get that then or take him seriously, really. Our mother’s legacy wasn’t just the beautiful sculptures she created, it was building an arts community here and she really believed in the power of art starting at a young age.”
One of her daughters did pursue a similar field. “My sister Danielle inherited her artistic ability very directly. She’s a goldsmith and jeweller. She already knew basically how to do it all. Turns out she was the only daughter that paid attention,” laughed Halley.
Wainman-Goulet’s daughters want to keep their mother’s legacy alive and “continue to show the world her work and give back to the community that has given us so much. With the help of Artcast and my sister’s talent and skill, we plan to continue to sell limited edition posthumous replicas from mom’s molds. These will have a different signature from their original series for collecting purposes. We will then continue to support different art programs in our community as well as continue the art scholarship we hold in her name in partnership with our local Kiwanis club,” explained Halley.
She said travelled to their mother’s foundry not fully knowing what to expect.
“Would it still be the same owners? Would they remember who she was? Would they care to help us? Well to our great surprise they were the same owners and welcomed us with open arms. Our mom worked at Artcast after art college and cast over 300 pieces there over 25 years, some of which are the statues in our area we know and love. They were able to show us the entire process and boy did it take us back. They knew every detail of how she would finish her work down to the exact colour of patina, ” explained Halley.
She also thanked Matt Coles for his support. “Our mom showed her work for many years at the framing place and at the Algonquin Art Centre. It has been an honour to work with Matt Coles who worked with our mom many times. He is a true gem we have here in the arts community and it was the framing place that really gave our mom some of her first starts. We are so grateful,” she said.
Through My Daughter’s Eyes, Brenda Wainman-Goulet in Retrospect is being presented at Coles Art Market located at 1-14 Main Street East, until October 10, 2022.
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I went to this showing at Coles Art Market and fell in love with one of the pieces that was not for sale but Matt the owner spoke with the daughters and they agreed to sell my the piece of Trees on Petrified Rock –
Brenda was also very instrumental in the artist in the school programs. She and I worked together on a number of projects bringing art opportunities to students at our schools here in Dwight, Huntsville and Port Sydney. Some of those projects still hang in the schools.
A lovely Tribute to your Mom.
Brenda was special lady and such a great artist. She will always be remembered.