Sharing the Passion: 70 Years of Building the Collection Opening Celebration

Sharing the Passion:
70 Years of Building the Collection

Friday, 13 March 2026
7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Featuring a clarinet and oboe performance by Sarah Caldwell and Barbara Hankins
Free

On 21 September 1956, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Association celebrated the official opening of the Gallery with an exhibition of paintings by artist Tom Thomson, made possible through loans from private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. A.Y. Jackson’s remarks opened the exhibition. Seventy years later, KWAG continues to be a leader in commissioning, displaying, researching, and caring for the most exciting contemporary artists working today across the region, province, country, and beyond.

Explore KWAG’s history through Sharing the Passion: 70 Years of Building the Collection— an exhibition highlighting the significant stories and relationships that shaped the gallery, as told through the Permanent Collection and the people who made it all possible.

About the Performers
Oboist Sarah Cardwell is a member of the Stratford Symphony, the Kitchener-Waterloo Woodwind Quintet, Spiritus Ensemble and performs with many other groups throughout Southwestern Ontario. Committed to music education, Sarah maintains a private music studio at her home in Kitchener and is also on the faculty of the Laurier Academy of Music and Arts.

Barbara Hankins has been a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony since 1980 and performs with the K-W Woodwind Quintet and as a freelance performer. Ms. Hankins holds a Bachelor of Music degree (performance, with Distinction) and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Calgary, a Master of Music degree (performance) from the University of Toronto, and an Associateship Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), Toronto. She is a member of the Board of Examiners of the RCM. She enjoys teaching Clarinet, Recorder, Theory, and Chamber Music. She sings with various local choirs, and enjoys gardening, cycling, pilates, hiking, and reading.

Sponsored by:

The Gamble Family

Image: Meryl McMaster, Keeper’s Crossing, 2015 (2019). Pigment print on watercolour paper, 116.8 x 78.7 cm. Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Permanent Collection: Purchased with the support of Women for Women’s Art, 2019. Photo courtesy of the Artist.

Headshots courtesy of the performers.