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Canadian Society for Creative Leathercraft
1950–2026
CSCL·People·People of the Society·Bea Austin
The Society’s Records

Bea Austin

← People of the Society · on record 1961–1997

Everything the Society’s own records say of Bea Austin — the offices held, the standings conferred, and the awards won — gathered on one page. Where the records are silent, so is this one.

This is the Society’s own record of Bea Austin. A biography: Who’s Who in Leathercraft · Summer 1980 →

In memoriam · mid-summer 1999

A former long-time member of the Executive and one of the original members of the Hamilton Guild; a long-time Fellow of the Society. She judged by running her fingers over the edges of a piece and deciding at once.

From Fall 1999, page 3.

Also recorded as B. Austin

Standing

Life Member 1989 · Honourary Life Member 1997

Branch

Hamilton

Certification

  • Associate of the CSCL 1965
  • Fellow of the CSCL 1980

Of the Hamilton Branch. She began leathercraft in 1947 and joined the Society in 1956; her teachers included Mrs. Whetstone, Nora Huyck, Don McKinnon, Bob Muma and Fred Longten. She taught in community programmes and gave private instruction at her home, served on the Hamilton Branch executive and for many years on the Society’s Executive Council, won Salon and Craftsman ribbons at International and Annual meetings, and exhibited in the Society’s biennial shows. She served on the Society's Executive Council in 1963 and again in 1980. Moulding and laminating leather were her specialty. She showed three pieces in the Society's exhibition at the Craft Gallery and Resource Centre of the Ontario Crafts Council, 346 Dundas Street West, Toronto, 2-28 March 1976; her article in Canadian Leathercraft of June 1977 described a moulded purse made without any stitching or lacing; she received the Best Craftsman award in 1978 and showed three pieces at Leather '78, the Society's exhibition at the Etobicoke Civic Centre, 550 Burnhamthorpe Road, November 1978; she received her Fellow’s certificate at the 1980 Annual Meeting in Belleville; and she showed five pieces at Leather '82, the Society's exhibition at the City of Brampton Library and Art Gallery, Bramalea, 3 July to 1 August 1982. She made a square for the CSCL Leather Quilt. A Fellow of the Society and one of the Hamilton Guild’s three Fellows in 1992, she was a Director of the council in the early 1990s.

From Summer 1980, page 1; Spring 1992, page 2; 38th Annual Meeting 1988 — programme, The Royal Resort, Rosedale, page 10; Summer 1963, page 8; Fall 1998, page 2; Exhibition catalogue 1976 — Craft Gallery of the Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto, page 5; Leather ’78 — exhibition catalogue, Etobicoke Civic Centre, page 5; and Leather ’82 — exhibition catalogue, Brampton Public Library and Art Gallery, page 4.

Served the Society as

  • Council 1961–1988
  • Executive Council 1963–1975
  • Membership Chairman 1972–1983
  • Member-at-Large Fees Contact 1973
  • Executive Council Member 1980
  • Director 1982–1994
  • Membership 1983

Honours

  • Life Membership 1983
    Presented by Jean Newton at the 33rd Annual Meeting, Fenelon Falls, 29 April–1 May 1983. The Society’s own contemporary account (p4) says she "joined in 1952"; her own "New Life Members" profile in the same issue (p10) says she "joined CSCL in 1956" and gives her Associate standing as 1965 (matching her Certification entry above) and her Fellowship as 1980. Both are contemporary and from the same issue; both are kept.

Awards

  • Bramalea Ribbon, Leather '82 1982
  • CSCL Award 1980
  • Craftsman Award, 11th International Assembly 1965
  • Craftsman Ribbon 1977–1990
  • International Assembly Craftsmanship Ribbon 1964
  • International Assembly Salon Exhibit 1961
  • Irva Ford Award 1982–1987
  • Leather '76 Craftsman Award 1976
  • Leather '78 Award 1978
  • Leather '78 Honourable Mention 1978
  • Leather '82 Honourable Mention 1982
  • Leather '84 Honourable Mention 1984
  • Salon Award 1979
  • Salon Ribbon 1978–1989

Demonstrations given

Where this comes from

This name in the index of people →