PRESS RELEASE
September 10, 2025
Performer, Writer, Builder, and Visual Artist Named to Sackville Arts Wall
On Thursday, October 16, 2025, the Sackville Arts Wall will be expanded with the addition of four new members – Victor “Pinky” Dauvin (Performing Arts), Virgil Hammock (Literary Arts), Jennie Del Motte (Arts Builder) and John Hammond (Visual Arts) bringing the number of honorees to a total of twenty-six.
The induction celebration, which is open to the public, will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall (doors open at 5:30 pm), and will conclude with unveiling of this year’s plaques at the nearby Arts Wall site on Main Street, overlooking the Waterfowl Park.
Initiated in 2008, the year of Sackville’s designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada, the Arts Wall recognizes the achievements of artists in the Sackville area who have attained international, national, or regional prominence distinction in three classifications: Literary Arts, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts. It also honours, in the category of Arts Builder, a Sackville and area citizen (or group) who has made a significant contribution to the cultural and artistic development of our community.
Every two years as many as four new members (one per category) may be added to the wall, as chosen by a jury from among candidates nominated by the public. The first members of the Arts Wall were named in 2009.
Victor “Pinky” Dauvin – Performing Arts
Born in Sackville in 1946, Pinky started his journey as a rock and roll musician in 1962 as a founding member of The Continentals, regularly appearing at Sackville’s Firehall Dances and other venues across the Maritimes.
In late 1965, Pinky moved to Toronto, becoming a founding singer and drummer in The Stitch in Tyme, a band that performed throughout the summer of 1967 at Expo ’67. The Stitch in Tyme gained great popularity in Toronto and across Canada.
In 1969, Pinky became an original member and inaugural lead singer with the iconic Canadian rock band, Lighthouse. During Pinky’s tenure with Lighthouse, he appeared at many of the most important performance venues in North America, including Fillmore East, Fillmore West, the Atlantic City Pop Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival and Carnegie Hall.
An exceptional singer, percussionist and songwriter, Pinky was awarded a posthumous Certificate of Recognition from Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2023, cited for his “significant contributions in support of the Canadian music culture that has inspired generations.” Devoted to his family, bandmates and hometown until the very end, Pinky died in Newmarket, Ontario in 2013.
Virgil Hammock – Literary Arts
Born in California, Virgil has been a Canadian citizen since 1973. He had a long and successful career as a Fine Arts Professor, teaching at the University of Alberta, the University of Manitoba, and Mount Allison University, where he was the Head of the Fine Arts Department from 1975 until his retirement in 2004.
Virgil began writing art criticism in 1968 when he became the critic for the Edmonton Journal. Since then, he is prolifically published in important Canadian and International Art journals, books, and magazines. He has also been deeply involved in the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), as President of the Canadian section for eight years and eventually Vice-President International of AICA. As an Atlantic Region art critic, Virgil has written many reviews which particularly promote and highlight the work of Maritime artists including Indigenous, francophone, the “up and coming” and the “national treasures.”
In 2009, Virgil began a blog on his reflections on the nature of art, on the essence of beauty, and the importance of the creative act. The blog “Virgil Hammock: Beauty and Art”, can be found at virgilhammock.com, where his essays provide a varied and stimulating introduction to the breadth, depth, and energy of this remarkable writer.
Jennie Del Motte – Arts Builder
Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Jennie came to Sackville as a music student at Mount Allison University in 1998. Since her arrival over two decades ago, she has become an indispensable member of the local music and theatre communities as a pianist, vocalist, private studio teacher for piano and voice, university professor, song arranger, librettist, and composer.
Jennie is an accomplished and well-respected live performer. She is also especially well known as a teacher and nurturer of budding musicians of all ages. Her work has inspired musicians of diverse backgrounds in the community, and she has been a leader with many local organizations including Live Bait Theatre, the Mount Allison Department of Music, the Atlantic Ballet of Canada, McSweeney’s Dinner Theatre, and her beloved Sackville and Upper Sackville United Churches. Jennie provides structure, creative encouragement, inspiration, and rock-solid support enabling many performers, both amateur and professional, to offer high-quality productions and recitals in the community, and to grow as musicians and as people.
John Hammond, RCA – Visual Arts
Originally from Montreal, Hammond came to Sackville in 1893 as Head of the Fine Arts Department at the Mount Allison Ladies’ College, and Administrator of the Owens Art Gallery. He is a significant figure in the history of art education in Canada and influenced generations of art students.
Hammond had a lasting impact on the architectural history of the town, designing the iconic fountain in the Ladies’ College Pond, and the Hammond Gates on York St. He had several houses built in town, including Hammond House, designed by Edmund Burke, the architect who designed the Owens Art Gallery.
An exhibitor at the Paris Salon and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Hammond was considered one of Canada’s top artists during his lifetime and created a vast oeuvre of work. He was commissioned to paint the Canadian Rockies and in Japan and China for the CPR by his friend and patron, Sir William Van Horne, but his favourite subject was the foggy Bay of Fundy. An extremely well-known, well-loved, and well-respected member of the Sackville community, Hammond was a deeply religious person, who lived “simply and sincerely,” and painted prolifically because he loved to paint.