Making a Lasting Imprint on Ottawa’s Art Community 

In 2024, the OAG received an endowment fund from the estate of artist and printmaker, Pamela Claughton. The fund was created to support the Ottawa Art Gallery and uplift artists from the Ottawa-Gatineau region. The Ottawa Art Gallery is deeply honoured to carry forward Pamela’s legacy by nurturing her enduring love for the arts with everyone who walks through our doors. 

Finding and building a rich artistic community was central to Pamela Claughton’s life.  Growing up in Ottawa, Pamela had a quiet and reserved childhood. At a young age she cultivated an interest in capturing the world around her through drawing and painting. It was her cherished aunt, who was an exceptional fine photographer, who saw the talent within Pamela and greatly encouraged her to pursue an artistic career.  

With her aunt’s encouragement, Pamela enrolled in Algonquin College’s 3-year print-making program. Upon graduation, she had a printing press installed in her home studio on Bayswater Ave. in central Ottawa. In her home garden she observed Ottawa’s flora and fauna with a keen sensibility, turning them into the subjects of her photography and prints. She favoured making studies of floral, photographs of still life, and intimate prints of her immediate family. Pamela truly found her vocation through her print practice which she graciously shared with all those around her.  

Pamela’s passion for the arts shifted towards her community as she became an active member and devoted leader. In the early 1980’s she joined Art Lending of Ottawa (ALO). Her prints were rented by many fortunate borrowers and were purchased by avid collectors who saw great meaning in her contemplative prints. Soon after, she joined the ALO executive team and successfully took on the Presidency for a couple of years with quiet and steady leadership. During her term she established avenues to share information about the process of print making with fellow printmakers.  She also was a diligent member of the Ottawa Art Association where she continuously won the printmaking prize at their annual juried show for many years. She joined a social group of female artists of various stripes who called themselves “The Group of 9”. They lunched together to support and encourage each other’s artistic endeavours. 

“She was an excellent photographer and captured her subject matter very professionally. She became very skillful and produced prints of extremely high quality,” shared Pamela’s dear friends and ladies of The Group of 9, Anne Thompson and Elizabeth Potvin.  

Pamela spent the last decade of her life bravely battling Parkinson’s disease. Her greatest challenge was having to sell her beautiful home and beloved printmaking studio. Despite this, artmaking was the light of her life. Pamela’s generosity and artistic excellence touched everyone from her family and friends to Ottawa’s community of artists.