Winsom (1946 - ) is a prominent Jamaican-born Canadian multi-media artist, activist, and arts educator. She studied at the Jamaica School of Art (1965-1968) in Kingston (now the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts), where she majored in mural painting, before moving to Canada in 1969. From 2004 to 2022 Winsom split her time between Canada and Belize, where she established the Winsom Foundation. Since 2022 she has been based in the Toronto area.
Winsom’s work is known for spiritual symbolism, particularly reflecting Yoruba and Arawak traditions, and for the use of multiple media including painting, textiles, sculpture and video. Her practice, especially her work with textiles, is influenced by her travels across Ghana and West Africa, where she worked with master dyers and Adrinka printers. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Canada and internationally, including the United States and the Caribbean. Some of her solo exhibitions include Jumping the Big Boa at the Image Factory Gallery in Belize, The Masks We Wear at the Agnes Etherington Art Gallery at Queen’s University in Kingston, and Winsom: I Rise at the AGO. She has also been involved with several theatre and dance productions as a designer and artist, predominantly with the Nightwood Theatre in Toronto.
In addition to her work as an artist, Winsom has made significant contributions to the arts community as a longtime teacher, mentor, and activist. She has taught in schools, workshops, festivals, and other programs to students of all ages. In 1992, Winsom was an instructor and founding member of the Fresh Arts collective, which established programs for Black youth in Toronto to receive mentorship in the arts. She was also a founding member of the Draw It Black Artist’s Collective (DIBAC), a not-for-profit group launched in 2000 that was dedicated to promoting the work of African Canadian artists. Winsom is the Founder and Director of the Winsom Foundation, a Belize-based non-profit organization established in 2007. Through this foundation she supports arts education for young people in the Cristo Rey Village area. Winsom has worked with many education and community-oriented organizations as an educator and artist, including the YMCA and the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO.
Winsom has been recognized with several awards, including an Honorary Doctorate from the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD) in 2015, the Marilyn Lastman Award from the City of Toronto Arts Foundation in 2002, and a Canada Council Visual Arts “A” Grant in 2003. Her long career as an artist and activist has had tremendous impact on subsequent generations of artists.
