Margaret Rodgers is an artist, writer and curator. She was founder of The IRIS Group, taught at Durham and Centennial Colleges, and was Director/Curator at VAC Clarington. She is the author of Locating Alexandra (Toronto: ECW, 1995) about Painters Eleven artist Alexandra Luke, and is published in various journals. In 2015/16 she curated Crossing Borders, an exhibition exchange between BluSeed Studios, Saranac Lake NY and VAC Clarington. In 2017-18 she was Guest Curator for The Robert McLaughlin Gallery exhibition Legacies: Luke, McLaughlin, Donovan and MacGregor. She is an active member of The Women's Art Association of Canada and the Writers' Union of Canada.
Professional Artist Award June 2022
The Oshawa Culture Counts Professional Artist Award recipient is Oshawa artist Margaret Rodgers. The award recognizes an established artist of any arts discipline who has demonstrated creativity, originality, professional maturity and artistic leadership in the community.
has awarded me a Professional Development grant for my Maple Park Series. I am pleased to be working with Ruth Walker who is helping me realize the manuscript.
Three Maples
Neath the spreading maple tree was the theme song for our hut at camp
Spreading across the back yard are three from neighbours’ yards
All are invaders, weed trees that have been forbidden, even banned in some places
but they prevail. The Norway Maple, once a municipal darling because it was hardy, fast growing, disease resistant, easy. Now they’re everywhere, leather umbrellas that cool on impossible July days, stain the sidewalks, but, unlike their cousins, do not die back to gorgeous red come October. The other two are Manitoba Maples--spreaders, invaders, monster weeds that migrate over fences into our sky space. Light blocked on both sides, when
each spring
flowering
plants
light
hungry
push
their leaves
and stems
through
earth
to race
the maples
Full of leafy optimism, they are. But the trees win. Tiny flower buds fall off, starved for light.
Maples
not gardens
prevail
.
More Maple Park and some other writings
on Wednesday November 24, 1 p.m. I read from my fictionish version of 1950s life plus some other recent writings.
Supported by the National Public Reading Program, Canada Council for the Arts through The Writers Union of Canada.
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READ ONLINE
Sunshine Review ISSUE 3
Ironing Out the Pandemic,
and Wonder
INSTAGRAM Interview with Margaret and Wendy (scroll down Katie's page)
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