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Russell Yuristy was born in Goodeve, Saskatchewan in 1936. In 1959 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and a Master of Science in Art from the University of Wisconsin in 1967 with a major in painting and a minor in graphics.

He taught drawing and painting at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus from 1967 to 1971 and was an administrator of the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops from 1968 to 1970. From 1971 to 1981 Yuristy was known for his large animal playground sculptures which he built in Ottawa, Spokane (Washington), Churchill (Manitoba), Vancouver (for Expo ’86) Swift Current, Saskatoon and Regina. He was also painting, drawing, making prints and ceramic work during this time as well.

In 1984 Yuristy created Saskatchewan Rain for the CBC Building in Regina, in 1992 Fish was created for the new City Hall in Ottawa and in 1994 Switch Hitter was created for the Ottawa baseball stadium (now Jetform Park). Since then Yuristy has concentrated on painting, large woodcuts, drawings and print mediums. He has shown in many public and commercial galleries. In 1986 he moved to Ottawa and taught classes at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa School of Art. He moved to Montreal in 1993 and back to Ottawa in 1998.

Jan Gerrit was the second son of farmer, Harmen Otto Wijers and Johanna Kets, he was born on July 20, 1888 at Emmer, a community within the Municipality of Steenderen, 16 kilometers northeast of Arnhem, in the Netherlands.

At the age of 12 Jan had to quit school to work on the family farm. In 1913, Jan and three friends left home for the United States. Working through North and South Dakota threshing on various farms, he got the idea to rent a farm but discovered that would be too expensive. Wyers came to Canada with a thousand other immigrants as the Canadian government was actively promoting settling western Canada.

He acquired 1/4 section of land near Windthorst in 1916. During the 1930’s Wyers became the area bootlegger and “did time” in the Correctional Centre in Regina for defaulting on a $200.00 fine for being in violation of the liquor act. Wyers was an inventor of sorts, - on March 11 Wyers filed an application for a patent on an animal trap “particularly adapted to catching gophers and other rodents” when there was a bounty of one-half cent for each gopher tail.

Jan started painting while convalescing after surgery on a ruptured appendix in 1937/38, in the winters he would paint and in the summer he would farm – until 1960, when he quite farming at the age of 72.

In 1969 Windthorst’s new library named a portion of the building the Jan Wyers Arts Centre and in October 1970 Jan Wyers moved to the Willowdale Lodge in Kipling and continued to paint in watercolor despite being crippled from arthritis, in 1973 he moved to a nursing home in Regina where he died on July 4, 1973.

Dr. Peter Woroby was born in Starhorod, Ukraine to parents Dmytro and Warwara (Muzychuk). He began teaching in 1939 and attended university in Berlin where he received a Diploma in Economics in 1944 and from 1948 he received a Doctoral degree in Economics, magna cum laude, while at the University of Goettingen.

In 1948 he married Nadia Cherniak before immigrating to Canada where he took a position at the University of Manitoba in 1949 until 1951. In 1952 Woroby became Director of Economic Research for the Saskatchewan Power Corporation and in 1957 attained a Master of Science degree in Economics from the University of Manitoba. Woroby was interested in the area of resource economics; those involving energy, water and agriculture, he was also interested in urban research and in 1965 Woroby began teaching at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus as a Professor in the Department of Economics specializing in Urban Economics.

Woroby wrote numerous scholarly publications and was a contributor to two royal commissions, in 1963 he founded the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Club, Regina Chapter, and served at the executive and national levels of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Woroby was fluent in five languages and an active member in organizations such as the Ukrainian Free Academy of Science, the Canadian Association of Slavists, both the Canadian and American Economics Association and was appointed special advisor to the government of Saskatchewan on Ukraine from 1990 to 1995 and traveled internationally to lecture on economic reform or to consult with government or with academic institutions. Closer to home Perter was very involved in his community holding positions on Boards for the City Planning Commission, the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Regina Welfare Council. Woroby is also credited with initiating significant opportunities for Canada and the Ukraine to work together on various projects.

At the University of Regina the Dr. Peter Woroby Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a student who is registered in a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Economics with a combined/double major in Economics.

Woroby became Professor Emeritus in 1987 and passed away in May, 2002.

Bernard Wilhelm was born in Switzerland in February 1927. In 1950 he obtained a degree in Secondary Education from the University of Neuchatel in Berne and a Doctor of Letters degree in 1966 from the University of Berne. Wilhelm married Rita Marie Wilhelm (Finnerty) in August 1953 and had three children. With 15 years of teaching experience in Switzerland, Bernard moved the family to Regina in 1967 when he became employed at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Modern Languages. He became an Associate Professor in 1970 and was Acting Director of the Bilingual Center from 1970 to 1972, a pioneer of French distance education teaching at the University and attained the rank of full professor in 1978, also serving as Director of the Bilingual Center until 1981.

Wilhem has been broadcast on radio and has published several books in the French language, among them: Anthologie littéraire fransaskoise et de l'Ouest canadien in 2000; S.V.P.: Racontez-nous votre vie / récits recueillis et présentés par Bernard Wilhelm published in 2001; Saskontario: projet de communication a distance en vue du developpement communautaire de deux localities francophones en milieu isole in 1982; and Zenon Park: un village en Saskatchewan in 1976. Wilhelm has also published with writing partners Pierre-Yves Mocquais and André Lalonde on Colloque du Centre d'études Franco-Canadiennes de l'Ouest (3e : 1983 : Regina, Sask.) Langue, la culture et la société des francophones de l'Ouest, preparing text for the publication released in 1984.

Wilhelm passed away in November 2016.

Mark Wihak was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. He made his first short film The Ballad of Don Quinn, which was cited by Cinemascope Magazine as one of the top-ten Canadian short films of the 1990s. His experimental documentary, (stories from) The Land of Cain won the short film prize at the Vancouver International Film Festival and he has gone on to make films in a variety of approaches: Dramatic, broadcast documentaries and film-based installation. He is a faculty member in the Department of Media Production and Studies at the University of Regina.

Clifford Donald Wiens was born into a Mennonite family in April 1926 on their farm near Glen Kerr, Saskatchewan where self-reliance was largely encouraged and growing up he became skillful in general construction principles metalwork and mechanics.

Interested in art and design, Wiens studied painting at the Banff Centre for Continuing Education with A.Y. Jackson; he studied agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon under a Wheat Pool Sponsorship Program for young farmers and machine tooling at the Moose Jaw Technical School. In 1949 Wiens was accepted into the Rhode Island School of Design on a full scholarship, graduating in 1954 and in 1957 started his own architectural firm in Regina. In 1958, he began work on his first important project, namely St. Joseph’s Church at Whitewood, Saskatchewan. In 1965 Wiens started what was to be a major project, the renovation and restoration of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, taking some fourteen years to complete.

With a career spanning over 40 years, Wiens is considered one of Canada’s best architects. His diverse body of architectural work can be found throughout Saskatchewan and includes designs for the construction of schools and hospitals, chapels and churches, motel and apartment buildings, private residences, buildings for corporations and health spas, dairy creameries in Regina and Saskatoon, a Trans-Canada Highway campground near Maple Creek, an artist’s studio in Lumsden, and on the campus of the University of Regina, the award winning heating and cooling plant which, in 2011, also won the Prix du XXe siècle from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Wiens belonged to several professional organizations,including: the Saskatchewan Association of Architects, serving as president in 1970; the Regina Chapter of Architects from 1960 to 1969; the Canadian Department of Public Works' Advisory Committee on Art for Public Buildings from 1974 to 1981. Wiens was an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

In 2005, Wiens was celebrated with a 40 year retrospective of his work ranging in date from 1955 to 1995. The Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon organized and circulated this exhibition that travelled nation-wide. Entitled “Telling Details: The Architecture of Clifford Wiens” was curated by Trevor Boddy. The exhibition included more than 170 examples of Wiens’ work including architectural models, drawings and photographs. Exhibition events also included a one-day symposium entitled “Homemade Modernism: Prairie Architecture Since 1955,” and a performance piece by Wiens’ daughter Robin Poitras of New Dance Horizons (Regina).

The Saskatchewan Communication Network (SCN) also highlighted the architects' creative problem-solving skills articulated in and by his clever building designs in a television documentary series called “Edifice and Us”, Wiens' portion included background for the University of Regina Heating and Cooling Plant, the Silton Valley Chapel and a personal residence located in Regina.

Buildings designed by Clifford Wiens include John Nugent’s Studio (St. Mark’s Shop) in Lumsden (1960); the University of Regina's Heating and Cooling Plant (1968), the Qu’Appelle Silton Summer Chapel (1967); the Regina CBC Broadcast Centre (1983); the Prince Albert City Hall (1984) and many, many others.

Wiens was a visiting professor or lecturer at several post secondary schools in both Canada and the United States, including: the University of Arizona and the Arizona State University; the University of Manitoba; the University of Calgary; the University of British Columbia; the University of Saskatchewan; and, the North Dakota State University.

Wiens closed his practice in Regina in 1994 and moved to Vancouver where he continued to practice, completing an important project for family in Denver, Colorado.

Wiens has written several books regarding growing up in Saskatchewan, his work and his family. Of this Clifford penned:
"When I started writing needs clarification, as the record can be misleading. In my Architectural Memoirs I quote Abe Rogatnick, where he defines me as Canada’s Poet Architect. I took this as a complement, understanding that Abe meant that my architectural work was poetic. Indeed I was most pleased that he should think so. It is true that very early in my life I was given to writing limericks but I did not start writing more seriously until the end of my architectural career. My career as an Architect required clarity in communication. A long life communicating with clients, authorities and contractors developed skill and ease in saying what I meant. It was the cancer that assailed me that put an end to an active practice that moved me to write my memoirs that in the end turned my focus to philosophy and poetry. Patricia, with her dementia, slowly left me leaving me alone with my writing"