Judy Ward is one of Thunder Bay’s artists whose varied media and styles can best be described as observant, playful, and thought-provoking. So much so that anyone who has seen her work has
a great urge to get to know the artist behind the art.
Much of Judy’s work reflects her personality: stylish, independent, and curious. “She never married,” Alexiss Rusnak, Judy’s niece says. “And very much lived life on her own terms.
She was distinctly herself and we loved her for that. When someone phoned her place and asked, ‘Is Mrs. Ward there?’ she would reply, ‘There’s no one here by that name,’ and then hang up!”
Judy shared her interests for art with her six nieces and nephew and made those experiences extra special. On one occasion, she brought a niece to a David Bowie fashion exhibition featuring costumes from his performances. It was amazing and very much the kind of thing that Judy enjoyed doing.
In 2017, Judy began showing signs of dementia, and as her condition progressed and her care needs increased, she had to move from assisted living into long term care.
“In many ways, dementia has felt like a long goodbye,” Alexiss says. “She is no longer able to recognize us, and she has lost abilities that were once so fundamental to her, including being able to read and tell time.”
But a little of Judy still shines through.
“She has her sense of humour and she continues to take real pleasure in simple, present-moment experiences,” Alexiss adds. “She enjoys things such as music performances by volunteers, sweet green relish on hot dogs (which she always loved), having her hair brushed and braided, and the wonder of looking at the trees and landscape from the patio.”
But everything has changed.
Now Judy’s family realizes that quality of life is about making the present moment as rich, pleasant, and comfortable as possible.
Shortly after Judy moved into long term care her family sorted through her art pieces. Judy had explored a wide variety of media when she pursued and completed her Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree while working as a secretary at Lakehead University. She worked in pencil, charcoal, watercolour, collage, amberlite, touché resist, computer-generated photo stencil and woodblock printing. There were over 200 pieces of art.
They decided that Judy’s work needed to be shared more widely while also doing some good. Through her consulting business, Superior Collaboration, Alexiss worked with Judy’s sisters to catalogue and photograph the pieces. She then worked with her sister, Kate, to create photo books of the collection for family members. After each family member had the opportunity to choose pieces that were especially meaningful to them, the family organized a Facebook sale of Judy’s remaining artwork, with all proceeds donated to the Alzheimer Society of Thunder Bay.
They’re planning another sale of approximately 100 pieces, mainly prints and possibly a few framed works, at the November 22 Craft Revival. All proceeds will once again go to the Alzheimer Society.
“We believe Judy would be thrilled to know that more people are seeing her work and that her pieces are now hanging in people’s homes and workplaces, including the homes of other artists,” Alexiss says. “And even though Judy is not able to actively participate in the art project now, in a very real sense she already has by creating it.”
To see a sample of Judy’s works go to https://padlet.com/alexissrusnak/public-version-of-judy-ward-art-invento...
