Ondaatje, Kim

Persona

Ondaatje, Kim

• Kimbark, Betty Jane
• Jones, Kim
• Kimbark Jones Ondaatje, Betty Jane
• Jones, Betty J. K.

1928-

Kim Ondaatje was born Betty Jane Kimbark in Toronto on October 2, 1928. Betty Jane took the name Kim after the death of her brother. Ondaatje studied painting under Yvonne McKague Housser from 1943 to 1947 at which point she began her studies as the Ontario College of Art. She then refocused her studies on literature at both McGill University (BA 1952) and Queens University receiving (MA 1954). Until 1964, Ondaatje served as a part-time lecturer at Wilfred Laurier University and Sherbrooke University. In the early 1960s, she returned to the visual arts and by 1965 was painting full-time. During this time Kim was working with London-based artists Jack Chambers and Tony Urquhart to found Canadian Artists Representation (CARFAC) in 1967. In 2009 Ondaatje along with Urquhart received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts for this important work promoting artists' rights.

Ondaatje taught in the arts throughout her career, working for the London Public Gallery, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and for the outreach program of the Emily Carr College of Art in British Columbia and the Yukon.

There have been many exhibitions of her paintings and prints in Canada and abroad, she has received national and international recognition. Her work has also been the subject of major retrospectives, including the University of Toronto Art Centre’s Kim Ondaatje: Paintings 1950-1975 (2008), and Kim Ondaatje Museum London (2013), as well as comprehensive exhibitions at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (2014), the Agnes Etherington Art Centre (2015) and the Art Gallery of Ontario (2021). Ondaatje’s paintings and prints can be found in numerous collections, including The National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, among many others.

In addition to her artistic career, Ondaatje lived at her Blueroof Farm residence for over 40 years in Verona, just north of Kingston, Ontario. She called her home her “longest-running project... carefully tending to the land and animals living there". It was at Blueroof where Ondaatje bred Dalmations, had a wedding venue business, and hosted amny a retreat.

She was married to the poet D.G. Jones, and later was married to the writer Michael Ondaatje. She has six children.

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