Irene F. Whittome is a contemporary artist of national and international repute with over 35 solo exhibits to her credit and 130 group exhibitions that have been held throughout Canada, Europe and the U.S. A critically acclaimed exhibit of her work was held at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal in 1997; the exhibit brought together works acquired over the years by the MAC as part of its permanent collection as well as two new works: Gymnasium: Outfit of the Soul (1997), and Château d'eau: lumière mythique (1977). Another important exhibit is slated for 1998-99 at the Canadian Centre for Architecture and in the year 2000, the Musée de Québec will hold a major retrospective of her work which will then travel throughout Europe.

In the autumn 1977, Irene F. Whittome was awarded the prestigious Prix du Québec's Paul-Émile Borduas prize, and is the first woman in 10 years to be so distinguished for exemplary achievement in the category representing the visual arts, architecture, crafts and design. Several years later, in 1992, she was awarded the Gershon Iskowitz prize for excellence in the arts in Canada.

Prior to taking up residence in Québec, the Vancouver born artist attended the Vancouver School of Art and spent another 5 years of study in printmaking at the Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter in Paris, France. Almost immediately upon her return to Canada in 1968, Irene F. Whittome began her teaching career at Concordia. In 1974, she created the innovative "Open Media" programme to accommodate developing artists at both the undergraduate and graduate level at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Concordia whose work sidestepped the boundaries of more traditional disciplines. Made full professor in 1995, Irene F. Whittome continue to teach Open Media and Painting at the graduate level as well as courses in numerous visual arts disciplines at the undergraduate level. Her own revolution as a artist has been interdisciplinary, beginning with explorations and creative work in printmaking, painting, drawing, then moving into the areas of installation in her more recent work through her use of architecture, lighting and sound.

In an interview with Bernard Lamarche of Le Devoir (December 8, 1997). Irene F. Whittome stresses the importance of teaching as an integral part of life of the artist. It is through teaching, she explains, that the artist remain connected to her or his social environment. Education, in turn, provides a venue through which the essential nature of things are transformed. Similar to the dynamics that are set into motion between the artist and her work, the artist/teacher likewise enters into a relationship with her students by which both can revivified. "it is they," she confides, "who teach me."

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