Biography

Terri Whetstone is an interdisciplinary Canadian artist with an extensive history of studio practice and exhibition. In her late teens, she joined the "rucksack revolution," travelling across Mexico and Europe. Upon returning to Canada, she studied photography and art history before pursuing Fine Arts at the University of Alberta. There, she trained under noted Canadian painters Douglas Haynes, Robert Scott, and Robert Sinclair, graduating with a dedication to rigorous studio discipline. Ultimately, however, it was her deep reading of and commitment to Feminism that most consistently framed her interdisciplinary art practice.

While living in Edmonton after graduation, Terri was heavily involved with Latitude 53, a long-established artist-run centre, where she served on several committees and helped found the Women's Programme. Following a brief stint in Halifax—where she maintained a painting studio at the Port—she relocated to Toronto for six years. In Toronto, Terri became an active member of the Women’s Art Resource Centre (WARC), serving as a board member and contributing artist to Matriart magazine. She sustained a part-time studio practice funded by her employment in a community-based Adult Literacy program. This work provided her with a foundational education in community development, which focused and strengthened her activism and shaped her subsequent career.

In 1993 Terri relocated to rural Nova Scotia, where she quickly began contributing to both the rural women's sector and the broader arts community. She supported local women through her work with the Second Story Women’s Centre and Women’s Centres CONNECT! . Later, she energized the Halifax community arts scene through her work with the 4Cs Foundation, where she launched the Art Bikers program, organized community arts symposia and training, and hosted the Community Arts Circle until her retirement in 2016. A dedicated advocate, Terri also volunteered on numerous juries and advisory committees, served a three-year term on the Inter-Media Advisory Committee for the Canada Council for the Arts, and mentored emerging women leaders through the International Centre for Women’s Leadership at the Coady Institute in Antigonish. Most recently, she served as an active committee member developing the Arts and Culture Strategic Plan for the Municipality of Chester, where she currently resides.

After attending a local rug hooking workshop, Terri began creating her most overtly feminist art since the 1980s by integrating traditional regional craft into her studio work, culminating in her textile series Public Image and By Any Other Name.

"Employing rug hooking connects me to my adopted rural home community, where the tradition of making hooked rugs is still proudly practised by local women," Terri states. "My 'hooked' artworks are about empowerment, voice, attitude, and behavior. They are, in themselves, small acts of rebellion and resistance."

Terri maintains an active studio practice and a robust exhibition history, with numerous solo and group exhibitions to her credit. Her artwork is held in collections across Canada and the United States.