Towards the end of her life, Woolnough could be seen swimming daily in the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 off Victoria, in her home province of Prince Edward Island. When she broke her hip, it was replaced with one made from enamel, which she was known to tell came from oysters, so "now the ocean was a part [of her]." When she could swim no more, she enjoyed listening to friends play live music at her Breadalbane home, and worked hard to maintain enough strength to travel once more, and did, to Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 with her partner, and was even able to swim again.

One of the last projects Hilda worked on was in conjunction with Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 about the crisis at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Titled Guantanamo, the 12 piece show toured the world, including a stop in Japan. At one gallery, it was written by the gallery owner that she "first saw Hilda Woolnough’s 10-panel graphite drawing Guantanamo when it was shown at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown, PEI. [She] was very taken with the artistic strength behind the 33-foot piece and immediately wished to bring it." A reviewer of the work described it: "The 10 panels that make up Guantanamo are a testament to Woolnough’s ongoing horror of the detainees’ treatment, an appeal to bring the human face back to these men. Each of the 576 men imprisoned at Guantanamo during the time Woolnough worked on the piece in 2004 and 2005 is represented — but as faceless figures. Paper-doll chains are cut out and stacked to replicate the chain-link fence. In spread-eagled positions, the figures appear naked and shackled to each other. Rough representations of genitals appear on the figures in two panels. Using dark black strokes behind the links in some panels, or softer billowing shadows in others, Woolnough evokes moods ranging from violence and anger to confusion and despair. Vertical black oblongs in the final two panels, which are placed to form a right angle, surround the viewer with the darkest area of the entire piece. The suggestion belies hope of release for the prisoners, and promises only death."

After her death on December 12, 2007, at age 73, a Hilda Woolnough Memorial Scholarship was started. According to the Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts, Woolnough "has left a wonderful legacy for artists both on the Island and throughout Canada."

Mentors

Henry Moore

Henry Moore

Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....

, Bernard Meadows

Bernard Meadows

Bernard Meadows was a British modernist sculptor. He was part of the 'Geometry of fear school', a loose-knit group of British sculptors whose prominence was established at the 1952 Venice Biennale.- Early life :...

, Julian Trevelyan

Julian Trevelyan

Julian Otto Trevelyan, RA was a British artist and poet.Trevelyan was the only child of Robert Calverley Trevelyan and his wife Elizabeth van der Hoeven...

, Diederich Kortlang, Leonard Marchant, Prunella Clough

Prunella Clough

Prunella Clough was a prominent 20th century British artist. "Her subjects are closely observed details and scenes from the landscape...

, Ceri Richards

Ceri Richards

-Biography:Richards was born in the village of Dunvant, near Swansea, the son of Thomas Coslett Richards and Sarah Richards . He and his younger brother and sister, Owen and Esther, were brought up in a highly cultured, working-class environment...

, Fred Bill

Accomplishments

Woolnough was a member or founder of:

• The Phoenix Gallery
• The Great George Street Gallery
• The Arts Guild
• The Printmaker's Council
• PEI Council of the Arts
• The Gallery-on-Demand
• The Royal Canadian Academy
• The Student Art Expo

Woolnough received awards such as:

• The Father Adrian Arsenault Senior Arts Award, 1999

Collections

Woolnough's work can be/has been seen in:

• The Canada Council Art Bank
• Air Canada, Montreal, Quebec
• Art Gallery of Jamaica
• Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario
• Canadian Catholic Conference
• Cantebury College of Art, Kent, England
• Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
• Gallery 98 and Museum
• CBC Montreal
• Esso Resources Division
• Gotland Museum, Visby, Sweden
• McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario
• The Art Gallery of Ontario
• The Montreal Museum of Fine Art
• The Confederation Centre Art Gallery
• Musee des Beaux Arts
• The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
• Memorial University Art Gallery, St. John's, Newfoundland
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, PE
• The New Brunswick Art Gallery and Museum
• Shell Canada Collection
• St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• St. John's University
• Toronto Dominion Bank
• The Point Gallery

Quotes

"I'm interested in evolution of plants, land, the world. There are stages in the growth of the brain that are reptilian or flower-like. They're proof that we are all the sum of our parts, like the land or sea."

"What is most important to me as an artist are 'accidents and mistakes'. If I don't make them technically and intellectually on a regular basis I don't feel I'm going anywhere. I have lived on Prince Edward Island for about thirty three years, but I have travelled, taught, and done my own work all over the world; and been fortunate enough to have my work in many collections and exhibitions in Canada and abroad, including the Canadian Pavilion in the Spanish Biennial in Seville."