Jump to content

Joan Chalmers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Margaret Joan Chalmers
Born(1928-05-30)May 30, 1928
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedDecember 2, 2016(2016-12-02) (aged 88)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
AwardsOrder of Canada
Order of Ontario

Margaret Joan Chalmers, CC OOnt (May 30, 1928 – December 2, 2016) was a Canadian philanthropist and supporter of the arts.

Born in Toronto, Ontario,[1] she and her parents, Floyd and Jean Chalmers, founded the annual Chalmers Awards in 1972, which donates $25,000 CAD to artists in dance, theatre, crafts, film, the visual arts and music.

She was involved with the travelling exhibit, Survivors in Search of a Voice: The Art of Courage, which as a collaboration among 24 prominent Canadian women artists and over 100 breast cancer survivors.

While celebrating her 70th birthday in 1998, she announced that she would provide 20 arts groups with a total of $1 million in funding.[2]

Chalmers was the partner of former singer-songwriter Barbra Amesbury.

She died on December 2, 2016, in Toronto, from injuries suffered in a fall.[3]

Honours

[edit]
  • In 1985 Ms Chalmers received the Diplôme d'Honneur from the Canadian Conference of the Arts
  • In 1987 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[4]
  • In 1987 she was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa from NSCAD University.
  • In 1992 she was promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada.[4]
  • In 1993 she received the Ramon John Hnatyshyn (RJH) Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts.
  • In 1994 she was awarded the Order of Ontario.
  • In 1994 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law from the University of Waterloo.
  • In 1997 she was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada.[4]
  • In 2001 she received the Governor General's Award for Visual and Media Arts in the Outstanding Contribution category.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Birth Notices, The Globe and Mail, 31 May 1928, page 12
  2. ^ Ontario Arts Council press release, 25 May 1998 Archived 12 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Martin Morrow (16 December 2016). "Joan Chalmers turned philanthropy into activism". The Globe and Mail.
  4. ^ a b c Office of the Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada citation. Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 26 May 2010