Saskatchewan Artist

Brenda Pelkey

Brenda Pelkey was born in 1950 in Kingston, Ontario. She attended Sir Sandford Fleming College of Applied Arts and Technology (1969, 1972-1973) and Trent University (1970-1971) in Peterborough, Ontario. In 1980, she moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and she received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Saskatchewan in 1994. Pelkey began teaching there that same year, and continued until 2003 when she moved back to Ontario to teach at the University of Windsor.

Pelkey's photographs document a variety of spaces, from ordinary urban yards in Saskatoon to dark woods at night. Her 2004 exhibition, “Spaces of Transformation,” focused on the interiors of bars and hospitals, spaces that Pelkey says “share the potential for 'threshold experiences' where the extremes of experience reside.”

Pelkey's work has been shown throughout Canada and in Finland, England, France, Scotland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. Her work is represented in collections such as the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (Ottawa), MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina), Winnipeg Art Gallery, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon), Canada Council Art Bank, Dunlop Art Galery (Regina), Surrey Art Gallery, and McMaster Art Gallery (Hamilton).

Pelkey has received numerous grants from the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the Canada Council, and the Ontario Arts Council. She has given artist lectures and served as a visiting artist at institutions across the country, including at McMaster Art Gallery in Hamilton, Peterborough Art Gallery, Medicine Hat Art Gallery, Concordia University (Montreal), University of Victoria, Mount Saint Vincent Art Gallery (Halifax), Moose Jaw Art Gallery, Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon), and Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina).

Brenda Pelkey lives in Windsor, Ontario.