LOCAL ARTIST PROFILE
Marcia Pensa by Peri Hayes Marcia Pensa enthusiastically introduces her background in art: “As an Honour Fine Arts grad from University of Guelph and with a Bachelor of Education, I worked as a high school art teacher — as well as a department head — for 30 plus years in a variety of school boards in Ontario and Manitoba.” During her abundant career, Marcia taught art history, clay sculpture, drawing, Elements and Principles of Design, mixed- media 3-D, perspective skills, printmaking methods and more, along with acrylic, oil and watercolour painting. Marcia proceeds, “I taught silkscreen, photography, industrial design and the history of architecture throughout the ages.” In addition to organizing an array of field trips to the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Marcia coordinated opportunities abroad for her students: travelling to Greece and Italy; visiting the ancient Greek and Roman artifacts; touring Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance artworks and architecture. Reflecting on her career thus far, Marcia shares that the pieces of which she feels particularly proud are the paintings that hold special meaning. “It is hard to let them go,” she admits, “I have a connection to them, in terms of the subject matter or the time period in my life when I painted them. A good example is one that features a family pet we had to put down a few years ago.” Presently, Marcia’s preferred medium is painting with oil on canvas. While detailing what inspires her work, Marcia reveals
with whimsy, “I love painting during the afternoon. When I close the door of my studio and put on my music, I am in painting mode.” This passionate artist is undeniably outspoken about celebrating local creativity: “There are so many fine artists in our community of Port Stanley, and there are a lot of artists out there bringing awareness to their creativity in many ways -- in many places in town! In an age when people can source cheap prints and ‘Home Sense’ their homes with mass-produced ‘art as décor’, I feel it is important to keep reminding people of the value of a one-of-a-kind piece, created by an artist. There are untold hours of work involved and very thoughtful, creative decisions made when an artist undertakes a painting.” Currently, Marcia has pieces available for purchase at the Art Emporium, Port Stanley Dentistry and the Port Stanley Festival Theatre. She occasionally has work featured at The Art & Soul Café. Most recently, she participated in the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre’s Miniature Show and Sale.
Page 10 Port Stanley Villager • Jan-Feb 2026
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