Irena Schon

grew up in Toronto and studied theatre and cinematography before earning a BAA in Film and Photography, Ryerson University, Toronto (1981). Before specializing in photographic art she was a dancer, actress, filmmaker and photojournalist. Over the past fifteen years, as an artist, writer and curator, she has volunteered in Toronto artist-run photo organizations, and served on the Board of Inverness County Council of the Arts, Cape Breton. Currently she chairs the magazine committee of Visual Arts Nova Scotia and has been involved as an adjudicator with organizations such as Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage, the Nova Scotia Art Bank, the Toronto Photographers Workshop and Photo-Eclipse. Schon’s curatorial credits include Hands Dancing, the Miner’s Museum, Inverness; and Rare Earth (VANS Far and Wide series), Acadia University, Wolfville.

She has exhibited her photographs in Canada, the USA and Portugal and is represented in the Nova Scotia Art Bank collection. She has received several Nova Scotia Arts Council grants. Schon moved to Nova Scotia in 1996 and now divides her time between Cape Breton Island and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

MSVU exhibition