Bill Schwarz, SCA
Born and raised in Saskatchewan until he was seventeen, Bill was a child prodigy winning his first colouring contest at five years of age. However, this early burst of fame was interrupted for fifty years as he pursued his education, earning his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Toronto in 1966. Bill was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1968 and moved to Cambridge where he has built a successful and respected law practice with his business partner Bob Pettitt. The law practice continues to thrive with Carly Hills, Mike Pass and Bill.
For all of that, artistic genius was not to be suppressed. His smoldering interest in art was rekindled in 1997 when his wife, Nancy, suggested they take an art course together. Bill’s tenacity took hold and he has since pursued his artistic development with courses at the Ontario College of Art and Design, the Dundas Valley School of Art, the Homer Watson House & Gallery, the Cambridge Library and Gallery, the Georgian Bay School of Art, and by attending other artists’ workshops in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
Bill explains the role of art in his life, “Art helps me find the balance to what I was trained to do, what I want to do and what I see around me. As a lawyer, I am trained to look at facts, to study detail to find the core of an issue. Often in my practice, what may appear simple may be infinitely more complex. With my art, I want to do the opposite. The world around me – landscape, architecture, people – is a complexity of planes, texture and subtlety of colour. I want to make this intricacy simple. I feel that my art is a quest to find a balance between the detail I am trained to find and the simplicity I want to achieve.”
Bill has a personal and abiding interest in the urban landscape. This means architecture of all sorts, from buildings and boats to vehicles or machinery. He is fascinated by the effect that nature has on this architecture . . . weathering it or breaking it down to give it a unique character. Bill is captivated by the idea that when architecture is new it looks essentially the same as any other architecture in the same category . . . it is time that gives it its unique quality and characteristics.
Bill elaborates, “Studying nature’s power is the reason that I like to travel . . . whether by foot here in my home town of Cambridge, or further afield in places like Canada’s Prince Edward Island and Grand Manan; the classic beauty of Sicily off the southern tip of Italy; exciting Havana, Cuba; in Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo, Queretaro or the magnificent Mexico City or in American cities like Davenport, Chicago, New York City, Seattle or San Francisco.”
Bill draws in pen and ink and paints with oil, casein, watercolour and acrylic. His paintings have been shown on episodes of the 2018-19 CBC television sitcoms Schitt’s Creek and Workin’ Moms.
Bill’s paintings grace many public and private institutions including:
ABLE2 [ON]
Artworks for Cancer [ON]
Argus Residence for Young People [ON]
Baycrest Foundation [ON]
Bereaved Families of Ontario [ON]
Beth Donovan Hospice [ON]
Boys & Girls Club of Hamilton [ON]
Boys & Girls Clubs of Ottawa [ON]
Cambridge Memorial Hospital [ON]
CHEO – Children’s Hospital of Central Ontario [ON]
Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington [ON]
Cornwall Community Hospital [ON]
Dryden Regional Health Centre [ON]
Dunville Hospital and Healthcare [ON]
Extend-A-Family [ON]
Gallery Stratford [ON]
Grand Manan Art Gallery [NB]
Grand Manan Museum [NB]
Grand River Hospital [ON]
Greenway- Chaplin Community Centre [ON]
Guelph General Hospital [ON]
Heart of Hastings Hospice [ON]
Heartwood Place [ON]
Hill House Hospice [ON]
HOPE House [ON]
Hospice Prince Edward [ON]
Hospice Renfrew [ON]
House of Friendship [ON]
Innisfree House Hospice [ON]
Langs [ON]
Lisaard House Hospice [ON]
Law Society of Upper Canada (Osgoode Hall) [ON]
Luther College [SK]
Maison McCulloch Hospice [ON]
Marillac Place [ON]
McMaster University, David Bradley Health Service Centre [ON]
McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences [ON]
McMaster University, Peter George Centre for Living and Learning [ON]
Peel Memorial Hospital [ON]
Peterborough Hospice [ON]
Redeemer University College [ON]
Roger Neilson Hospice [ON]
Ronald McDonald House Charities [ON]
Ronald McDonald House Charities [MB]
Ronald McDonald House Charities [SK]
St. Paul’s Hospital [BC]
St. Paul’s Hospital [SK]
Saint Luke’s Place [ON]
Strong Start Charitable Organization [ON]
Sunbeam Community & Developmental Services
the common roof [ON]
The Salvation Army Toronto Grace Hospital [ON]
Victoria Hospice [BC]
Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region [ON]
VON Sakura House Palliative Hospice [ON]
William Osler Health System / Peel Memorial Hospital [ON]
Woodstock General Hospital [ON]
Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada [ON]
Art Bio: Exhibitions and Shows
2003
Cambridge Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
2004
Grimsby Public Library Biannual Juried Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Southampton School of Art brochure cover
2005
Art Gallery of Peel Juried Exhibition
Dundas Valley School of Art Juried Exhibition
Dundas Carnegie Library ‘Amalgamation’ Juried Show
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
McDonald Stewart Art Gallery Juried Show
2006
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
MacDonald Stewart Art Centre ‘Beyond the Frame’
Bernice Adams Memorial Awards finalist
2007
Cambridge Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts
MacDonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph ‘Beyond the Frame’
2008
City of Cambridge calendar
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
2009
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Waterloo Law Association, Law Library Solo Exhibition
Grand Café, Cambridge Group Exhibition
2010
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
2011
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Named Spaces’ Group Exhibition
2012
WalterFedy, Kitchener ‘Coalescence: Unity Through Art’ Group Exhibition
Button Factory, Waterloo ‘Nurture’ Group Exhibition
Grand Manan Art Gallery ‘Prairie Tide’ Exhibition
Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery ‘Six Degrees of Freedom’ Group Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Cambridge ‘BOX 12’ Juried Exhibition
2013
Assembly Hall Community Cultural Centre, Etobicoke ‘Six Degrees of Freedom’ Group Exhibition
WalterFedy, Kitchener ‘BOX 12 Encore’ Group Exhibition
Homer Watson House & Gallery, Kitchener ‘Watson | Varley | Schwarz | Smylie’ Group Exhibition
Gallery M, Cambridge ‘Free Expression’ Group Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Kitchener ‘BOX 13’ Juried Exhibition
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Out of the Back’ Group Exhibition
Cambridge Galleries Design at Riverside ‘Carded’ Juried Exhibition
2014
Centre in the Square, Kitchener ‘Evening of Art’ Group Exhibition
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Over Yonder’ Dual Exhibition
WalterFedy, Kitchener ‘BOX 13 Encore’ Group Exhibition
Grand Manan Art Gallery ‘1st Annual Square Foot Show’ Group Exhibition
Village Studios, Stratford ‘The Way I See It’ Solo Exhibition
The Artist’s Magazine Finalist in the 31st Annual Art Competition
Gallery M, Cambridge ‘Synthesis of Colour’ Group Exhibition
Etobicoke Civic Centre ‘Six Degrees of Freedom’ Group Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
2015
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Out of the Back’ Group Exhibition
Grand Manan Art Gallery ‘Annual Square Foot Show’ Group Exhibition and People’s Choice Award
Village Studios, Stratford ‘Three Eyes are better than Two’ Solo Exhibition
WalterFedy, Kitchener ‘Reset: Green’ Juried Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Centre for International Governance Innovation Certificate of Merit Award
McMichael Canadian Art Collection ‘Volunteer Committee 25th Annual Art Sale’ Juried Exhibition
Gallery M, Cambridge ‘Veritable Confection’ Group Exhibition
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Fragments’ Group Exhibition
2016
WalterFedy, Kitchener ‘Pulse’ Group Exhibition
The Prune, Stratford Exhibition
Grand Manan Art Gallery ‘Annual Square Foot Show’ Group Exhibition
Village Studios, Stratford ‘A New Meaning to Transparency’ Solo Exhibition
McMichael Canadian Art Collection ‘Volunteer Committee 26th Annual Art Sale’ Juried Group Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Secret Cache’ Group Exhibition
2017
Grand River Transit ixpress buses, ‘Art That Moves You’
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Out of the Back’ Group Exhibition
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Varied Together’ Dual Exhibition
Grand Manan Art Gallery ‘Annual Square Foot Show’ Group Exhibition
Village Studio, Stratford ‘Red-dy Set Go’ Solo Exhibition
Society of Canadian Artists 49th International Open Juried Exhibition
Kloepfer Gallery, Guelph ‘ALLSORTS; not candy but still sweet!’ Solo Exhibition
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Quest to Simplify Intricacy’ Online Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Harrison Galleries, Vancouver Solo Exhibition
The Walper Hotel, Kitchener Out of the Box Meet Art$Pay Group Exhibition
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Secret Cache’ Group Exhibition
2018
Art$pay, Cambridge ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ Juried Exhbition
WalterFedy, Kitchener ‘Let’s Go!’ Group Exhibition
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Out of the Back’ Group Exhibition
Village Studios, Stratford ‘Out to See’ Solo Exhibition
Grand Manan Art Gallery ‘Annual Square Foot Show’ Group Exhibition
Society of Canadian Artists ‘A Showcase of Abstraction’ Elected and Associate Members’ Juried Online Exhibition with Honourable Mention
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Catalyst 137, Kitchener, ON, Art$pay Annual Juried Show
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Secret Cache’ Group Exhibition
2019
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Surreality’ Dual Exhibition
Paint Ontario, Grand Bend, ‘The Places and Faces of Ontario’ Juried Art Competition Exhibition
Grand Manan Art Gallery ‘Annual Square Foot Show’ Group Exhibition
Village Studios, Stratford “It Takes a Village …” Solo Exhibition
Society of Canadian Artists 51st Open International Juried Exhibition
Society of Canadian Artists Elected Members’ Juried Exhibition
Orillia Musuem of Art & Hisitor Carmichael Canadian Landscape Juried Exhibition: Tradition Transformed
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show and Honourable Mention
Art$Pay Member Annual Juried Exhibition
2020
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘Out of the Back’ Group Exhibition
Society of Canadian Artists International Open Juried Online Exhibition
Paint Ontario, Grand Bend, ‘The Places and Faces of Ontario’ Juried Art Competition Exhibition
Village Studios, Stratford, ‘Small Packages’ Solo Exhibition
WalterFedy, Kitchener, Juried Group Exhibition
Society of Canadian Artists Elected Members’ Juried Exhibition
Society of Canadian Artists 52nd International Open Juried Exhibition
N3XTCANADA, Toronto, National Juried Competition – Top 10 Finalist
Earls Court Gallery, Hamilton ‘The Gallery Artist’ Group Exhibition
2021
Paint Ontario, Grand Bend, ‘The Places and Faces of Ontario’ Juried Art Competition and Sponsor Choice Award
Society of Canadian Artists International Open Juried Online Exhibition
Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Juried Exhibition
Kefi Art Gallery, Toronto, Juried Group Exhibition and Honourable Mention
Society of Canadian Artists 53rd International Open Juried Exhibition
Art$Pay Member Annual Juried Exhibition
Village Studios, Stratford, Gallery and Virtual Exhibition
2022
Society of Canadian Artists 65-year logo collaboration project
Paint Ontario, Grand Bend, Juried Art Competition and Sponsor Choice Award
WalterFedy, Kitchener ‘The Little Things’ Group Exhibition
Village Studios, Stratford, Solo Exhibition
Cambridge Centre for the Arts Juried Art Show
Homer Watson House & Gallery Annual Juried Art Show and Honourable Mention
Art$Pay Member Annual Juried Exhibition and Honourable Mention
2023
44 Gaukel St, Kitchener, “Window to Waterloo Region” Art$Pay solo exhibition – April