Rediscovering Deborah Uman-Sures: Ganaraska Art & Framing is thrilled to announce the new solo exhibition People Watching by Deborah Uman-Sures from May 1–June 7, 2025.
Celebrating the artist’s compelling character portraits and mixed media collages, the exhibition features highlights from Uman-Sures practice over the last 20 years. People Watching pays long overdue tribute to an under-recognized woman artist whose life and work has been on the periphery of pivotal moments in Canadian art, such as the Regina Five and the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops.
The exhibition has been a labour of love by her son, musician Ben Sures, who hopes to celebrate her creativity while also helping position her work within the larger context of Canadian art.
“My mother embodies the classic definition of an artist, shaped by a generation that believed art was an inherent identity, not just a choice,” says Sures. “As her son, I have watched in wonder over the decades as she continued to produce her work with an unrelenting spirit. Her essence lies in her lifelong study of art — it is at the core of her soul. With this exhibition, I hope that her work will be seen and recognized by a wider audience. I want others to finally get a chance to see the intangible sensitivity and wisdom in her creative expression.”
Ganaraksa Art & Framing owner and exhibition curator Graeme Steel adds: “I had the immense honour of meeting Deborah a few years ago, and came into possession of her collection of works.
Over the past two years, I have been working my way through her incredible archive. The exhibition showcases paintings, doodles, and illustrations that best display her unique artistic voice, one that took years for her to cultivate. She draws inspiration from a life filled with enriching experiences, and is fascinated by the characters of our internal lives. People Watching provides insight into her art, which she used to explore her own narrative.”
Uman-Sures’s practice is best defined by her large-scale abstract works that bring together painting, illustrations, and collage. Her last solo exhibition before People Watching was held in 2020 at the Art Gallery of Northumberland in Cobourg. Born in 1940 in Winnipeg, her early career focused on education. At the young age of 19, she taught at a secondary school in Portage La Priairie, MB, where she helped foster the artistic talent of a young Jackson Beardy, an acclaimed Indigenous artist. She also worked as a commercial artist, creating fashion illustrations for Eaton’s in Winnipeg in the 1950s and later for Nordstrom in Seattle in the early 1960s. She was also an illustrator for a series of Ukrainian children’s books.
She began her formal training at the University of Manitoba’s art department, where she first met her husband, the celebrated ceramicist Jack Sures. They relocated to Regina in 1965, where Jack established the ceramics department at the University of Regina — around the same time the Prairie art scene was gaining recognition through the Regina Five and Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops. Uman-Sures traveled with her husband to Japan to work alongside master potters, and furthered her own education with studies at the Sorbonne in Paris in the 1960s, supported by the Canada Council. She later earned a master’s degree in illustration from Syracuse University in the late 1980s.
Her teaching career included positions at Red River Community College in Winnipeg, where she taught advertising art, and at the Ontario College of Art & Design University from 1993 until her retirement in 2003. She currently resides in Cobourg, Ont.
For more information about the exhibition, visit www.ganaraskart.com.
Opening reception
Friday, May 2 from 5–9pm
Join curator Graeme Steel, artist Deborah Uman-Sures, and Ben Sures in the opening celebration of People Watching.
Address and hours
Ganaraska Art & Framing
37 Walton St, Port Hope, ON L1A 1N2
Tuesday–Sunday: 10am–5pm
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
