Pierre Ayot

Life & Legacy

Pierre Ayot (June 26, 1943 – May 2, 1995) was a multidisciplinary artist, university professor and the founder of Atelier Libre 848 (1966) (renamed Atelier Graff in 1970), an art centre devoted to printmaking that provides its members with training, expertise and facilities. He also was a founding member of the group Média, gravures et multiples (1969).
Other early founders of printshops include Richard Lacroix who founded Atelier Libre (1964), the first printshop in Canada which made printmaking facilities available to contemporary artists, and the Guilde Graphique (1966) in Montreal, Jack Lemmon and Robert Rogers who founded the NSCAD Lithography Workshop in 1969, Richard Sewell and Barbara Hall who founded Open Studio in Toronto in 1970, and William H. Lobchuk and Len Anthony who founded The Grand Western Canadian (GWC) Screen Shop in Winnipeg in 1973. Ayot also was a member of the GWC Screen Shop and made prints in Winnipeg.