Shadow Bands: a non scientific print

Barbara Hall (1942 - 2021)

Barbara Hall has played an integral role in the development of printmaking in Toronto’s contemporary art scene. In 1970, Barbara Hall and fellow printmaker Richard Sewell rented a studio space in the eminent artist hub, Queen West in Toronto. This space was soon to be known as Open Studio, a space meant for teaching, learning and production. Later in the decade, David Lumley would found the Moosehead Lithography Press in Winnipeg. Combined with the Lithography Workshop founded at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1968, these seminal artists’ centres provided a supportive environment that propelled Canadian contemporary printmaking and shared it with the public. Her founding of Open Studio demonstrates Hall’s commitment to nourishing Canada’s contemporary art scene and supporting printmakers in Canada and abroad. Open Studio is still active today, providing a communal space where artists can learn, educate and create in an environment built by artists, for artists.