Born
in Nice, France, 1943, some 28 years after his parents had escaped Ottoman
oppression, Gerard Paraghamian immigrated with his Armenian family to Canada
in 1955. Graduating from the Ontario College of Art, 1967, this future
mixed-media artist was a successful art director in advertising until the
mid-1980s when he decided to paint full time. Official artist of Toronto’s
SkyDome, as well as Expo 86, Gerard Paraghamian is viewed in this scene,
extreme left, October 1993, with future Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
and Syrian-born Sarkis Assadourian, who, in 1993, became the first Armenian-Canadian
to be elected to the House of Commons, representing the riding of Don Valley
North. Re-elected in 1997, Mr. Assadourian, formerly Executive Director
of the Armenian Community Centre, North York, now represents Brampton Centre
in Ottawa. [Photo, courtesy Gerard Paraghamian]