Myfanwy Pavelic
“This area is truly a special place with a spirit and quality of life not found elsewhere in the world. I have chosen to lend my support to this project because I feel our Community and Cultural Centre should reflect the sense of pride those of us living here feel. I also consider it a priority to nurture the cultural development of my community”
Myfanwy Pavelic was an Island Girl. She was born as Myfanwy Spencer in Victoria, on April 27, 1916 and passed away in 2007. Her grandfather, David Spencer, opened the first dry goods store in Victoria; and his home was donated by Myfanwy’s aunt to become the present home of the Greater Victoria Art Gallery.
Myfanwy was one of Canada’s best known portrait artists. She had done portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Trudeau, plus many famous musicians, and others who were close to her during her life. She also completed several self portraits, the first of which she drew when she was just 8 years old. This was the same age that she met the artist Emily Carr who became a close friend and mentor.
“She is a very acute, perceptive, empathetic, strong, sensitive, artist” ~ Pat Bovey, past director of the Greater Victoria Art Gallery
In addition to her love of art, music was also a love of Myfanwy’s and she became an accomplished pianist. With her heart rooted in Sidney, she traveled the world to study both music and art. New York eventually became her second home and it is here that she met and fell in love with her husband, Nikola Pavelic. Nikola was a Doctor of Law, and the son of a former Prime Minister of Yugoslavia. They married in 1948, and moved to Sidney in 1950 where they had their daughter Tessa. In 1956 they moved to New York again, and for the next 13 years divided their year between New York and their home in Sidney. With her husband’s continuing strong interest in and support of her work she built her “dream studio” on their ‘Spencerwood’ home site in 1969.
She joined a significant group of Victoria artists during the 1970’s called the Limners. In 1975 she became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, and in 1984 received both an honourary Doctorate from the University of Victoria and the Order of Canada. This was followed by the Order of British Columbia in 2001.
In the year 2000 Myfanwy Pavelic generously donated 50 pieces of her art to help support both the Victoria Symphony and the dream of constructing the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. She combined her love of music and her love of her community for a tremendous fundraising effort. Some of her admirers and supporters of the Mary Winspear Centre bought 4 of her works and donated them back to the Mary Winspear Centre to be hung in a separate glass fronted room complete with a board room table and chairs next to the Myfanwy Pavelic Gallery. What a memorable place to hold a meeting- surrounded by art works of a truly great and generous artist.
Myfanwy Pavelic had many philanthropic activities. She supported the Sanscha Hall (Mary Winspear Centre) in Sidney, the Victoria Symphony, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Metchosin Summer School of the Arts, Sooke Fine Arts Organization and the University of Victoria.