In 2011 Pat Wagensveld received the City of St. Albert’s Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts in recognition of her contributions to the arts community in St. Albert. Wagensveld spearheaded a 19-year-long effort to create a working studio and exhibition space for St. Albert artists, founding the not-for-profit Visual Arts Studio Association of St. Albert (VASA). Born in Hyde, UK, Wagensveld was an incredible volunteer in the community and became a prolific artist in her mid 40s. She completed the Grant MacEwan Visual Arts program and graduated with a BFA from the University of Alberta at age 50. She would go on to attend several residencies in Spain and at the acclaimed Emma Lake residency through the University of Saskatchewan. Her unabashedly vibrant abstracts and whimsical sunflower paintings gained a popular following. Pat Wagensveld passed away in 2013 and in 2015 was inducted into the St. Albert Cultural Wall of Fame.
