Memory, Myth, and the Prairie: William Kurelek’s Pioneer Women

In this illustrated talk, we explore William Kurelek’s Pioneer Women series, an important and widely circulated visual account of prairie settlement, created from the perspective of immigrant women.

Commissioned by the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada (UWAC) in 1965, the series reflects the first three decades of Ukrainian settlement in Canada—a foundational era for Ukrainian Canadians reimagined through community memory, cultural values, and a desire to honour the lives of immigrant women.

This lecture will consider the history behind the commission and why it mattered so deeply to UWAC, while also opening up broader questions about how the past is remembered and represented. These are not neutral records of the past, but carefully constructed images that reflect how a community understands—and wants others to understand—its own history.

We will look at the Pioneer Women series in the context of William Kurelek’s broader career, and consider how these images shape our understanding of prairie life.

Presented by Dr. Jen Budney, Executive Director & CEO of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada.

No registration required. Free for members / $7 for non-members