Peter Shostak - Artist Directory

Much of Shostak’s art reflects his memories of growing up on the prairies during the late forties and fifties. Two publications, When Nights Were Long and Saturday Came But Once A Week, reveal some of his personal history. In 1997, he collaborated with Vancouver writer, David Bouchard, on the book Prairie Born. His latest book Hockey…under winter skies was released in the fall of 2000.
Shostak’s most ambitious project, to which he devoted five years of painting, was completed in 1991 with the unveiling of his series “For Our Children”. These fifty large oil paintings, which portray early pioneer settlement in Western Canada (based on Ukrainian pioneer experiences), have been exhibited across Canada. All fifty paintings, along with background stories gleaned from Shostak’s many years of research, are reproduced in the coffee table book For Our Children. In the introduction to this book, W.D. Valgardson states, “In his life and his art, Peter Shostak depicts what it means to be Canadian. He honours the memory of all our past lives.”