Frieda Creighton Creelman (1900-1967)

This view of Charlottetown would have been familiar to Frieda Creighton Creelman in a period when the great towers of St. Dunstan's Basilica dominated the skyline. While living through the period when the automobile had become dominant - she has chosen to capture a time slightly earlier - capturing a period before machines of various sorts had become omnipresent in the life of the town.

A brief biography of Freida is included in the finding aid to a collection of her correspondence and memorabilia located in the Dalhousie University Archives.

Creelman (née Creighton), Frieda, 1900-1967

Biographical history Born on September 22, 1900, Frieda Creighton was educated at Halifax Academy, Dalhousie University (B.A. 1921), and the Nova Scotia College of Art where she studied under Elizabeth Nutt. In 1926, she married Dr. Prescott Creelman. The couple initially resided in Newfoundland but moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1928. Frieda's interest in art continued throughout her life, and she continued to study and/or take courses in Boston, New York, Nova Scotia, England, and Spain. She also helped found, and was a member of, the Prince Edward Island Art Society. Frieda and Prescott Creelman had three children: son Robin and daughters Lorna and Carol. She died on March 4, 1967 in Prince Edward Island.

Recently (2017) Island historian Georges Arsenault sent me a copy of a photograph taken by Lumina Poirier MacDonald who had served as matron at the Sanatorium, working with Frieda's husband, Dr Prescott Creelman. The photograph was taken from the area of the Provincial Sanatorium in Charlottetown, looks south towards Highland Ave. from McGill Ave is also the view that Frieda saw out her own windows while she lived on McGill Ave. The winter scene with a box sleigh, a grouping of small houses, and the steeples of the town in the distance are the same elements she combined in the painting. Family have indicated that the painting was the scene outside her window.

Frieda Creighton Creelman - Charlottetown Watercolourist

The art of Frieda Creighton Creelman (1900-1967), have long had a special place within our family. Living in the same neighbourhood that she had, may be part of the interest. The fact that she was a close family friend of a prior generation of the family meant a number of her paintings are now found in various family homes. Her Island scenes capture another time and preserve aspects of Island heritage that would have been lost had she not captured them in living colour.

The painting of The Pump House, recalls an area much changed from when it was painted. Located on the banks of Governor's Pond in an area at the beginning of Fitzroy Street in Charlottetown - the building has been replaced with a modern structure known as a "lift station". The watercolour on loan from a family collection was part of the 2005 show assembled for the 150th Charlottetown anniversary, hosted by Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum.

An article on Frieda originally hosted on the Government of PEI website has disappeared but a version survives on the Internet Archives site.