Laurie Swim (born 27 February 1949) is a Canadian visual artist, best known for her

quilt art Quilt art, sometimes known as art quilting, mixed media art quilts or fiber art quilts, is an art form that uses both modern and traditional quilting techniques to create art objects. Practitioners of quilt art create it based on their experienc ...

. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the New York

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

, the Nova Scotia Art Bank, the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council, the Ontario Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, and in private collections. She won the

Portia White Prize The Portia White Prize is the largest prize of its type awarded by the Province of Nova Scotia and is named for Portia White, a Nova Scotian artist who rose through adversity to achieve international acclaim as a classical singer on the stages of ...

in 2013.

Biography

Swim was born in

Lockeport, Nova Scotia Lockeport is a town and port in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a traditional Nova Scotian fishing town, situated on a peninsula in Allendale Bay. It is connected to the mainland by the Crescent Beach causeway. The area that sur ...

, Canada and grew up in Nova Scotia. She studied painting at

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

and

NSCAD University NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), is a public art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution that offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The unive ...

(Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) where she graduated 1972, before apprenticing with Danish designers Lisbeth Have and Annette Juel. She returned to Nova Scotia in 1975 but moved to

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, in 1978, making art quilts for corporate and private collections. In 2004 she established The Art Quilt Gallery of the Atlantic, in

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia Lunenburg () is a port town on the South Shore (Nova Scotia), South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. Historically, Lunenburg's economy relied o ...

Solo work

* ''Eve's Apple'' (1976), 104″ x 96″. Awarded best in show at the first annual Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council Juried Exhibition in 1976. * ''From Our Backyard'' (1997) * ''Magic Hour, Blue Rocks'' (2005) * ''In the Gut'' (2010) * ''Make-and-Break'' (2010), designated as "outstanding significance and national importance" by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board in 2014. * ''Time Goes By'' (2015) * ''Hope and Survival'' (2017)

Collaborative work

* ''Pulling Together, The Builders of The Rideau Canal, 1826-1832'' (1995), 9′ × 15′, created in collaboration with the support of the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

; part of the permanent collection of the Workers Art and Heritage Centre in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, Canada. * ''Lost at Sea, 1961'' (2000), a fisherman's memorial housed in the Community Center of Lockeport, Nova Scotia. * ''Breaking Ground — The Hogg's Hollow Disaster, 1960'' (2000), 7ʻ × 20ʻ, hangs in the

York Mills (TTC) York Mills is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 4015 Yonge Street at the intersection of Wilson Avenue and York Mills Road in the neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow. History The station ope ...

subway station, Toronto. * ''The Canadian Young Worker's Memorial Quilt'' (2003) supported by

Ontario Federation of Labour Ontario is the southernmost province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it is home to 38.5% of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by ...

. * ''The Lunenburg Heritage Quilt'' (2003), created for the town of

for its 250th anniversary. The work hangs at The Fishermen's Memorial Hospital. * ''Hope and Survival, The Halifax Explosion Memorial Quilt'' for the 2017 centenary of the

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with Explosive material, high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastat ...

. The artist wrote and illustrated a children's book ''Hope and Survival: A story of the Halifax Explosion'' using elements from the quilt for the illustrations.

Books

* ''The Joy of Quilting'' (1984), with an introduction by

Alex Colville David Alexander Colville (August 24, 1920 – July 16, 2013) was a Canadian painter and printmaker. Early life and war artist David Alexander Colville was born on August 24, 1920 in Toronto, Ontario, the second son of Scottish immigrant D ...

. * ''Quilting'' (1991). * ''Rags to Riches: The Quilt as Art'' (2007), with an introduction by the artist Mary Pratt. * ''Hope and Survival: A story of the Halifax Explosion'' (2017), a children's book and work of historical fiction

Awards

* 2013

, Nova Scotia's highest award for Artistic Excellence and Contribution to the community. * 2013 Dorothy MacMurdie Award, for outstanding contribution to Canadian Quilting. * 2009 designated a Master Artisan by the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swim, Laurie Living people People from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia 1949 births Artists from Nova Scotia Mount Allison University alumni NSCAD University alumni Canadian women textile artists Quilters 20th-century Canadian women textile artists 20th-century Canadian textile artists 21st-century Canadian textile artists 21st-century women textile artists