Elodie W.

Maud Lewis

Elodie W.
Thames Valley Regional Heritage Fair
London, ON

My project was about the life history of Maud Lewis and how she had made an impact on many people with her work and her life story. Maud Kathleen Dowley was born March 7th 1903 in a small community in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. She faced multiple challenges growing up including being born with birth defects and soon developing juvenile rheumatoid arthritis as a kid. Since she had that condition as a kid she couldn’t play or be as athletic as the other kids so her mother had introduced her to creating cards and paintings at a young age. She had moved to Digby, Nova Scotia at 35 because of her parents' sudden death. This is where she met her soon to be husband, Everett because of a live-in housekeeper AD he had put up. Marrying Everett introduced Maud to a life of poverty she wasn’t familiar with. Later on in Maud’s life her arthritis had worsened causing her to try to contribute in any way she could, in which she picked selling cards and paintings. Maud started to just create paintings and sell them from her house as her popularity grew after World War 2. 

In 1968 Maud had fallen and broken her hip causing her to be hospitalized. Not long after her health went into a rapid decline and on July 30th 1970 Maud had died from pneumonia. After researching all about Maud Lewis my inquiry questions were answered. Maud Lewis’ love for art had always been inside of her but she was encouraged into it more by her mother because of the reason she couldn’t play and be as athletic as other kids while growing up because of her birth defects and condition. My other question was also kinda answered by just how she simply lived life with joy and optimism. She was able to look at all the beauty in life and create it all on her paintings and artwork she had done even with all the dark struggles she faced.

What sources and evidence did you consult for your project? What different perspectives did they provide on your topic?

I used a lot of different sources to gain information on Maud Lewis like websites, books, and even documentaries. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia helped me a lot with this project because of their website they had of Maud Lewis. I gathered a lot of information about her life story and the impact it had on people while also being able to get a 3D view of Maud Lewis’ real life house displayed in the art Gallery. That website helped me with my model of Maud Lewis’ house and the inside. I used the Canadian encyclopedia website which gave me lots of real life images, data and videos to watch about her. I was able to use CBC and find footage of the real interview they had with Maud Lewis in 1965 which made me hear her voice for the first time through a low quality video and sound, but it was still amazing. Another source would be the documentary and 

movie “Maudie” that was based on her story published in 2016. I personally really enjoyed the movie and thought that it made me learn new things and that the acting, script and location were flawless. The movie pulled me through lots of emotions like humor, anger, love and compassion. It truly was a memorable film for me.

What is the historical significance of your topic?

The long-term effects that Maud Lewis had done with her work is making the art community more welcoming to folk art. Back then the art community looked down on folk art and focused more on fine art, but because of how popular Maud’s work became it gave light to a new look on folk art towards the art community and the world. Another long-term impact would be how her paintings gave Nova Scotia’s rural life an identity. Because of how her work was mostly on rural life in Nova Scotia it showed how the life she was living was presented.

Why did you choose this topic? 

The reason behind why I chose my topic is because of the connection I had felt with Maud Lewis and her art. I wanted to choose a Canadian woman artist that I could do my research on because of my own love I have towards art. When I started researching more about Maud Lewis and her life story it intrigued me how she went through all these dark struggles in her life but still was able to express optimism through her artwork.