Cecilia Cote

Cecilia J. Cote (Cec) juried in Clay and Sculpture, has been a member of the Saskatchewan Craft Council since 1975 as one of the many founding members. She served two terms on the Board of Directors (one as Vice-President); worked as a SCC Gallery Assistant; and since 2002, sponsored the SCC Dimensions Award for Excellence in Functional and Production Ware.  In 2016, she received an Honorary Lifetime Membership Award to the SCC. 

In addition to her long association with the Saskatchewan Craft Council, she has served on many local Art Boards, with the University of Saskatchewan, the City of Saskatoon, the Saskatoon Foundation, the Saskatchewan Society for Education Through Art (contributing articles to the Journal), the Riversdale Business Improvement District, and the Saskatoon Potters Guild.   In addition to teaching Art at the Secondary level, she operated an art gallery, Art and All That Jazz for 8 years.

Working full time now at art making, curiosity is the essential and driving force for Cecilia’s creativity whether working in clay or soapstone. The two disciplines vary in a working approach; clay consists of imposing preconceived ideas into the medium, while soapstone is about exploring the shape, reacting to images found, and developing them further. The finished products are a culmination of investigations begun in childhood into natural elements in her environment, along with a love of reading that expanded the known local borders, adding to the wealth of stored subconscious imagery. She also carries on the work of her multi -disciplined Belgian Grandfather, who after immigrating to Canada, continued to paint, carve, etch glass, do wood work, and build homes.

Cecilia has spent her life in Saskatchewan. She completed her degrees at the U of S; raised her family, lives and works in Saskatoon dividing her time now between Turtle Lake, SK and Mesa AZ