Art & Soul Memories Exhibition at Sheridan’s Gallery the First in a New Community Builder Series

The Gallery at Sheridan College’s Trafalgar Campus in Oakville will be host to an exhibition featuring the work of one of its former faculty members, the late Professor Emeritus Betts Engell. The exhibition, Art & Soul Memories, is a collection of her paintings that document the changes in her inner vision as Alzheimer’s disease affected her life.

Engell was an early childhood and social service professor, an Oakville-based artist and passionate advocate for social justice and environmental conservancy. The social consciousness and passion for life that inspired her to work with homeless youth and to champion environmental causes, are reflected in the images and colours in her paintings. She was a prolific painter whose artistic passion not only continued, but in many ways grew more intense, as words failed her. She continues to teach through her art.

This intimate and moving exhibition is organized by Sheridan’s Social Service Worker Gerontology program. It is the first installment of a Community Builder Series sponsored by the Faulty of Applied Health and Community Studies (FAHCS) that will include events, speakers and documentary film screenings.

“The Community Builder Series is a reflection of the objectives that are important to students and employees in our Faculty,” said Richard Finch, Dean of the FAHCS at Sheridan. “Its focus is on building better and healthier communities through engagement and collaboration.”

The Art & Soul Memories exhibition coincides with the United Nations International Day of the Older Person and National Senior’s Day, which take place on October 1. It is open to the public and will be at Sheridan’s Gallery from September 19 to October 3, Monday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information about the exhibition, please contact Lynne Murray, Gallery Coordinator at lynne.murray@sheridancollege.ca or by phone at 905-845-9430 ext. 2368.