The renowned Jasper artist and founder of Mountain Galleries is sharing decades of collected works—including original paintings, Inuit prints and Canadian art treasures—in a rare Studio Sale.
For more than four decades, Wendy Wacko has surrounded herself with art.
Of the works she discovered while championing Canadian artists through Mountain Galleries, many carry stories of friendships, travels and the remarkable people she met over a lifetime devoted to art.
Now, she’s ready to let some of them go.
Beginning next week, Wacko will host a Studio Sale from her Jasper workshop, offering more than a hundred original paintings, sculptures, pottery, jewellery and private-edition prints to the public. An advance, by-appointment preview will give collectors first access, but Wacko says the sale isn’t just for seasoned buyers.
She’s hoping fellow Jasper residents—especially those rebuilding after the 2024 wildfire—will find pieces that speak to them.
The collection reflects a lifetime immersed in Canada’s art world.
Alongside a few of Wacko’s own paintings are Inuit hand-pulled prints; original works by celebrated Canadian artists including painter Doris McCarthy; and other carefully collected pieces accumulated over decades. McCarthy’s work holds particular meaning for Wacko, who developed a close friendship with the legendary Ontario landscape artist after first meeting her in the 1960’s at art School. Their relationship became one of mentorship, admiration and lasting friendship.
For years, many of these works remained tucked away in storage. The Studio Sale is an opportunity to share them.
It’s also a chance to create space.
Wacko has spent the past two years rebuilding more than a home.
She and her husband lost their Jasper house in the 2024 wildfire—a place they had lived in for 40 years and one that held countless irreplaceable artworks and memories.
“We had a good 40 years in that house,” she reflected.
Since then, they have divided their time between Georgian Bay, Ontario, where they found some peace after the fire, and Italy, where Wacko took immersed herself in painting over a three month period.
Known primarily for her landscapes, Wacko travelled to Orvieto, Italy, to study figurative painting with renowned American realist Vincent Desiderio. The intensive workshop focused on anatomy and the human figure—subjects she hopes will broaden the emotional language of her paintings.
“Landscape remains as important as ever,” she said, “but I wanted to ad a human element .
The experience reflects something that has always defined Wacko’s career.
Although many know her as the longtime owner of Mountain Galleries, she has always considered herself first and foremost an artist—someone continually learning, experimenting and refining her craft.
That same spirit is shaping what comes next.
By clearing space in her industrial park studio, Wacko hopes to transform it into a creative sanctuary, complete with an artist-in-residence program. As she and her husband rebuild their home, they also envision adding a small suite where visiting artists can stay while working in Jasper.
“I want to create the dream studio,” she said.
Looking ahead has required embracing an idea she returned to repeatedly throughout the conversation: letting go.
The wildfire forced difficult choices about what could be replaced and what could not. In the end, she says, it clarified what matters most.
“It’s today and going forward that matters,” she said. “What matters is Now.“
“It’s not your possessions ” she said. “It’s the people we spend time with—our friends, family members and how we spend that time.”
In that sense, the Studio Sale isn’t about emptying shelves.
It’s about giving cherished works a new life in new homes, while making room for the next chapter of Wacko’s own artistic journey.
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
