Irene F. Whittome, is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 multi-media artist.

Born in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, she attended the Vancouver School of Art. She then spent five years studying printmaking at the Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter

Stanley William Hayter

Stanley William Hayter , CBE was a British painter and printmaker associated in the 1930s with Surrealism and from 1940 onward with Abstract Expressionism. Regarded as one of the most significant printmakers of the 20th century, in 1927 Hayter founded the legendary Atelier 17 studio in Paris...

. Since 1974, she has been a Professor of the visual arts in the Faculty of Fine Arts of Concordia University

Concordia University

Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...

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In 2004, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

. In 1997, she was awarded the Prix du Québec

Prix du Québec

The Prix du Québec are awards given by the Government of Quebec to individuals for cultural and scientific achievements. Founded in 1977, the government annually awards six awards in the cultural field and five in the scientific field.- Cultural awards :...

's Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas

Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas

The Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals who are artists or craftsman in the fields of visual arts, of the trades of art, architecture and the design...

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