Wilfrid Donat Perreault was born in Albertville, a small French community in northern Saskatchewan, on October 6th, 1947. While growing up, he received private art lessons from noted Saskatchewan artist Ernest Lindner. His art career began in 1964 with the Eagle Pencil Company art scholarship from the Canadian Society for Education Through Art. His interest was on representational paintings but the Saskatchewan art scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s was more focused on abstraction, so he entered university to focus on abstract sculpture. His teachers included Otto Rogers and Bill Epp, also influential Saskatchewan artists. In 1970, he graduated with a Bachelor of Art with Honours in Art from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1971, he received a Bachelor of Education After Degree, again from the University of Saskatchewan, and he moved to Regina to teach at Archbishop M.C. O’Neill High School.
He began painting the back alleys of his new city while teaching until officially retiring in 2003. All the while, he produced hundreds of pieces of art, from sculptures, to water colour paintings, acrylic paintings, and original silk screen prints. He has taught several art classes for the public and sat on numerous judicial and curatorial committees for art shows and galas. He regularly donates paintings to local charities and fundraisers, highlighting the connection he feels to his community.
His art is not just of local interest, however. His paintings and prints are found in collections all over the country, as well as internationally. Most notably, his work can be found among collections owned by Goldman Sachs and Co., New York; Petro Canada, Calgary; Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto; and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon; among many others. He has exhibited his artwork at numerous galleries in solo exhibitions in Regina, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, but has also presented as part of group exhibitions in Ireland, Toronto, Seattle, Los Angeles, Morocco, San Francisco, Chicago, and many others. Over his career, he has received many awards, including the Queen’s Jubilee Medal (2003), a Silver Medal while representing Canada at ler Jeux De La Francophonie in Maroc, Africa (1989), and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2016. Perreault was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and in 2003 retired from teaching.
Perreault married Sandra Thorpe on August 15th, 1969 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and raised a family in Regina. Their daughter, Meagan Perreault, purchased the Susan Whitney Art Gallery from Susan Whitney and renamed the space the Nouveau Gallery. Although he spends most of his time in the studio, he is an avid fan of twilight golf, stating that he goes to the studio to play and the golf course to work. Although he has been an artist for over 60 years, Perreault continues to love his work because painting brings him joy.
