Friends of the Cline House
Spanning the Generations
‘Lest We Forget- About My Mother’ Exhibit opened MAY 8 and continued through MAY 31, 2025. The exhibit featured the work of Cynthia Van Frank who uses visual expression and narrative to record and share her journey with her 93-year-old mother. Through a series of 43 paintings, Van Frank explores the meaning of love, caregiving, connection and the memories accrued during this journey. Although a deeply personal record of her experience, the paintings resonated with viewers, many of whom are currently or have experienced dementia in their aging parents or family members. This exhibit demonstrates the power of art in expressing feelings and emotions that are otherwise challenging to express.
Lest We Forget – About My Mother
Cynthia Van Frank has captured a journey many of us have experienced in her deeply personal and poignant portrayal of her ongoing journey with her mother who is slowly fading into the world of dementia. As I sat with Cynthia during the opening, visitors interrupted us, some in tears, all deeply moved by the simple images that capture a complex array of memories and feelings.
Betty Healey
“I love how you captured the journey, the simplicity, your choice of colour and style”
“what a beautiful tribute to your mother”
Cynthia Van Frank – Artist Profile
Hailing from the St. Henri area of Montreal, Cynthia shares that she engaged in art at an early age to help her navigate the waters of change and to understand a world which often confused her. Painting became her way of expressing non-verbal feelings. In her most recent work Lest We Forget, she found herself best able to deal with her thoughts and feelings about life, death and her mother-daughter relationship through her art. She admits that the paintings may have revealed more about her than her mother, increasing her compassion for her mother’s failing state of mind and integrating the new story/relationship that was developing.
Cynthia shared that at the age of five, rather than having a neighborhood lemonade stand, she built an art making stand, an indication of the life that developed from that point. She is well known in Montreal circles for her work: paintings, oil pastels and works in clay. She tends to be a ‘serial artist” preferring to create works of art around a theme. She created a series during COVID dedicated to the urban forests of Montreal and after moving to St. Henri, completed a series of art works dedicated to her new neighborhood. Her series Lest We Forget began with a number of writings as she tried to integrate this new life experience. As Cynthia shared, “the process is organic as I try to capture the essence of my mother, triggered by what is meaningful, I don’t always know what is important until it comes out of me. Although the narratives explain the journey, the paintings are more powerful than the words , open to each person’s interpretation.”
Cynthia graduated from Concordia University in the Arts. She has been an art educator for many years and continues to teach part time at the high school level. Previously she worked at the Visual Arts Centre for 20 years. Later this year her art will be exhibited at the McClure Gallery in Montreal.
Steeped in Love: Celebrating the Art of Connection and Care, a collaborative Venture between Cline House and the Alzheimer Society. With Cynthia Van Frank’s paintings and stories as a back drop, this event, held to raise essential funds for the work of Alzheimer’s Society, highlighted the role the Society plays in supporting families experiencing the losses and changes created by dementia.
