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Howard Leyton-Brown was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1918. He began violin lessons at the age of seven and at twelve, obtained a three year university scholarship, eventually graduating with a Diploma of Music form Melbourne University. In 1937, Leyton-Brown moved to England with his mother and sister, where he continued to study the violin. He also went on to study in Germany and Belgium.

With the advent of the Second World War, Leyton-Brown joined the Royal Air Force, spending time in Estevan, Saskatchewan as an instructor as well as flying with the bombing command, which led to his receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1948, Leyton-Brown joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as deputy concertmaster, eventually becoming concertmaster.

Doubts about the future of the London Philharmonic brought Leyton-Brown back to Estevan where he began to search for employment in Canada's music world. In 1952 he became head of the string department at the Conservatory of Music in Regina. In 1955, he became Director of the Conservatory, a position which he occupied until his retirement in June of 1986. His activities within the Department of Music at the University of Regina led to a Full Professorship in 1966.

Leyton-Brown has been an integral part of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, conducting the Symphony from 1960 to 1971 and becoming concertmaster in the mid-seventies. In 1971, Leyton-Brown completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts and Musical Performance at Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the same time Leyton-Brown had been appointed to the Canada Council for a four year term (1971 to 1974) and was also actively involved with the Saskatchewan Arts Board as a member from 1966 to 1972, and as Director in 1967

Leyton-Brown also taught at the American Congress of Strings in Cincinnati in 1984 and Dallas in 1985 and in 1986 he conducted the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra during its tour of China and Japan. During his career, Howard Leyton-Brown has been broadcast as a soloist with orchestra and in recital on CBC radio as well as in Australia, England, Iceland and Switzerland. He has appeared on numerous television programs, including two years of weekly chamber-music programs for CKCK TV in Regina.

Leyton-Brown was invested into the Order of Canada on April 29, 1987 and retired professor emeritus from the University of Regina in 1988, he received the Lifetime Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1991, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1996, and in 2002 was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal.

Howard Leyton-Brown passed away in 2017.

William (Bill) Lobchuk was born in Neepawa, Manitoba in 1942. He received a Diploma of Art from the University of Manitoba in 1966. In 1968 he opened the Screen Shop at 50 Princess Street in Winnipeg and by the early 1970s he had operated the Screen Shop, the Printmakers Gallery as well as the Sunnyside Sign Company. In 1973, with partner Len Anthony, he formed the Grand Western Canadian Screen Shop. This screen shop became a focal point for other Winnipeg artists like Ted Howorth, Chris Finn, Don Proch and Tony Tascona; from Saskatchewan David Thauberger, Vic Cicansky, Joe Fafard and Russ Yuristy; and from Quebec Pierre Ayotte.

Lobchuk is not only an artist but also a facilitator for other artists and their work. From 1972 to 1975 he was President of the Canadian Artists’ Representation, Manitoba, and National Representative of Canadian Artists’ Representation from 1976 to 1978, and the National Director from 1978 to 1980. Bill Lobchuk was a member of the Manitoba Arts Council from 1974 to 1976, President of the Canadian National Committee of the International Association of Art, (1977 to 1980) and was on the Advisory Committee to the Gallery Oseredok.

The work of Lobchuk and the others produced out of this Winnipeg screen shop have received much notoriety in Canada; these works of art have been exhibited in Poland, Yugoslavia, Holland, Norway, Japan and France. The Great Western Canadian Series ’78 and Series ’80 were significant co-operative efforts that were typical of this screen shop.

Kenneth Lochhead was born in Ottawa in 1926. His major art training came from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia (1945-1949). At the same time, Lochhead studied at the Barnes Foundation, Merlon, Pa., from 1946 to 1948. Several scholarships allowed him to study in England, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and western Canada. After several short assignments, Lochhead was hired by the University of Saskatchewan, Regina College, in 1950 to direct the School of Art. He was also charged by Dean Riddell to develop what became the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery.

Under Lochhead's guidance, both the School and the Gallery flourished, attracting vibrant personalities and generating excitement. At this time Lochhead developed a distinctive style, producing such notable works as "The Kite" (1952), "The Dignitary" and "The Bonspiel" (1954). As well, he began to win major commissions, completing an enormous wall mural at Gander Airport in Newfoundland in 1957-58.

It was Lochhead's influence on the Emma Lake Artists' Workshops, however, that attracted the most attention to the prairie region. With the summer series led by such New York artists as Herman Cherry, Barnett Newman, Kenneth Noland, and Jules Olitski, international attention was suddenly focused to the north.

With Art McKay, Ron Bloore, Ted Godwin, and Doug Morton, Lochhead displayed his paintings at the National Gallery of Canada in 1961 in the show "Five Painters from Regina". In 1964, however, he was the first to leave Regina, accepting a teaching position with the University of Manitoba. He did not stay there, but went on to York University in Toronto and finally to the University of Ottawa.