Shirley Gibson-Langille was born in Toronto, but now calls Kingston home, where she is very active in the arts scene.
As a Romantic Painter, Shirley works on location, taking the time to connect with her subject, always with a feeling of joy for the love of things just as they are!
Over the past many years, Shirley has given and continues to give her artists’ perspective to so many of the unique nooks and crannies of Kingston, as well as the other special locations she captures in her work.
Shirley specializes in Portraits of homes and businesses.
Art Courses: Queen’s University, St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Mary Schneider School of Fine Art Actinolite, Ontario. Italy France, and Spain.
Participation: Ambassador of University Hospitals Kingston, LeRoyer Patron of the Hotel Dieu Hospital, Founder and 1st President of the Kingston Artist’s Workshop in 1960.
Art Exhibitions:
Shirley has held 36 Solo Exhibitions in Kingston, 15 in surrounding Townships, and some in Germany. In each of her Art Shows she has brought back a ghost from the past and she has raised monies in them with games, a “Ghost Board,” musical entertainment, historical displays, Car Shows, and a percentage of her sales have been directed to the following worthy projects:
- The Kingston Humane Society
- 911 system for Camden East Township
- Hotel Dieu Hospital
- Hotel Dieu Cat Scan Campaign
- Kingston Hospitals Joint Advancement Foundation to benefit the Hotel Dieu Child Development Centre
- Healthcare 2000
- University Hospitals Kingston
Many of her Art Shows have also made donations for continuous art scholarships to the following:
- Ernestown Secondary School
- Sydenham High School
- Napanee District Secondary School
- Gananoque Secondary School.
Shirley has also contributed to the comfort of the public elsewhere:
- five granite park benches in Cataraqui Cemetery
- four granite park benches for Frontenac Island
- two granite benches for Wolfe Island
- one granite bench for Simcoe Island
- one granite bench for Howe Island
- four granite park benches for the four Storrington Township cemeteries
In these ways, Shirley’s art is not only recording and communicating the society around her, but is contributing to it as well!