Society of Western Canadian Artists

Society of Western Canadian Artists (SWCA)

About Us: Membership ranges from 100-150 artists mostly from Edmonton and surrounding areas. The Society represents a diverse cross-section of the artist population, ranging from the novice artist at the beginning of their journey, to the hobby artist who just enjoys painting, to the professional artist who sells his or her work or has representation in a gallery. Monthly meetings are held in Edmonton.

Our Motto: SWCA’s mandate is expressed well in its motto, “Artists helping artists.” The society works toward creating an environment that allows artists to learn from each other in a joint artistic journey.

Our History: The Society of Western Canadian Artists originally began as a part of the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA). The national federation had its beginnings in Kingston, Ontario in the early 1940s. Chapters were subsequently formed in many of the major cities across Canada, including Edmonton.

In 1954, the national federation was disbanded and the chapters were also forced to close. Then, in 1960, the B.C Region of the Federation of Canadian Artists was incorporated. The Edmonton Chapter of the FCA was resurrected in 1982 with founding members Edith Miller, Meredith Evans, Margaret Chappelle, Isabel Levesque, Ken Brown, Jerry Heine and George Weber. The Chapter was incorporated under the Societies Act in 1985.

In January 1998, the opportunity arose to become self-supporting and no longer be affiliated with the FCA, and the membership voted in favour of this. With changes to the name and the bylaws, the Society of Western Canadian Artists officially came into being.

For more information on SWCA, please go to www.swcartists.ca