Tillsonburg artist featured in Ontario Legislature

Stella Jurgen’s painting Autumn Leaves, which depicts Lake Lisgar, will hang in the Ontario Legislature dining room in 2026 after she was successful in a competition. The painting was also the subject of an art class she taught at the Station Arts Centre. (Contributed Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Not only will a Tillsonburg artist have her art hanging in the Ontario Legislature for 2026, but the town’s most noted landmark will be on display as well.

Artist Stella Jurgen’s work “Autumn Leaves” was selected to be part of the 2026 Art à la Carte program at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Queen’s Park). Her work will hang in the legislative dining room for the remainder of the year.

Autumn Leaves depicts Lake Lisgar on a misty fall morning, with a canoe in the foreground. She likes hiking and kayaking on the lake.

“I love watching the leaves turning colour, the warm colours in contrast to the cool colour of the fog,” she said.

One other neat fact about Autumn Leaves is that it was the topic painted in a landscape class that Jurgen taught at the Station Arts Centre.

Jurgen entered her painting last August and just found out in late January that she was accepted. She was one of 80 artists who were accepted.

Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman was thrilled to see paintings of his riding in the Legislative dining room.

“It is great to see the work of Oxford-based artist Stella Jurgen displayed in the Queen’s Park dining room, where people gather every day,” he said. “Featuring her work here is a meaningful way to recognize Oxford’s local creativity and the people behind it.”

Jurgen was thrilled to learn her art had been accepted.

“I was quite proud of that. I didn’t use to paint landscapes until I came here, until Tillsonburg,” she said, adding her husband Norm was encouraging her to paint landscapes for several years before she started.

Although relatively new to landscape painting, Jurgen has quickly become known for her depictions of local scenes around Tillsonburg. She painted the mural on the wall at the Tillsonburg Airport and has three pieces on permanent display in the Tillsonburg Town Centre, with more to come in a display to be unveiled this month. Her first work was painting a mural on the library wall.

“I really enjoy capturing the landscape of Tillsonburg,” she said.

Although Jurgen is new to landscape painting, she is not new to painting. She was born in Argentina and began painting as a child.

“There was just art and me, and I wanted to draw and paint all the time,” she said.

When she was nine, her family moved to Portugal, and she took fine arts at university for a short time, but had to give up her studies when her family moved to Canada.

Eventually, she signed up for a commercial arts course at George Brown College and completed it. She made her living as a graphic designer and continues in that profession.

“My skill has always been in use one way or another,” she said. “That’s why I became versatile in many fields is because I was creative.”

After working in the advertising industry in Toronto, she opened her own business 27 years ago with her husband, a web designer. The company, 17 Designs, did well, completing branding for both large and small companies, and receiving awards for its work along the way.

The couple moved a couple of times in the GTA before settling in Tillsonburg three years ago. The beauty of the Canadian landscape struck her immediately.

“My husband has been saying to me for years, ' Why don’t you try painting landscapes? ” she said, explaining her main subject previously was the human figure.