Spotlight on: Niki Patterson

At the WKP Kennedy Gallery we take pride in displaying works from our Permanent Collection as often as possible. We love rotating works around the building in order to fully display the beauty of our entire collection. Today has been no different, as we’ve updated the painting in the front window of the gallery with a work titled “Forever Amber” from one of our artists from the collection, Niki Patterson. If you’re walking through downtown North Bay, taking a glance into our front window is always worth your time. Though for the next few weeks you may need to peer through shad flies, the glimpse of the gold embellishments in this particular piece of art is worth the look.

Dorothy Elizabeth Patterson, known to most as Niki, was born in Noranda Quebec, but later came to settle in North Bay and later passed away in 2017. Niki was someone who spent her life as an artist; it’s said that she had drawn and painted for as long as she could remember. Her formal training was limited to an incomplete graphic arts course in the late seventies and occasional life drawing courses, but none of that stopped her from creating unique pieces. Typical of many of the artists working in Northern Ontario today, it is because her work evolved away from the mainstream that it is unique and with individual qualities. Niki’s style is uniquely her own, and we are very proud to say that four of her pieces remain in our Permanent Collection.

Written by Majelle Legros