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For decades, the paintings of Marion Campbell Hinton sat quietly in family hands.
Many captured Prince Edward Island landscapes painted by the Summerside school teacher, who turned to art later in life.
But Hinton didn’t believe her work was good enough. She left most of her paintings unsigned and untitled.
Now, more than 50 years after her death, those works are finally stepping into the spotlight, and inspiring a new generation of Island artists in the process.
Hinton’s niece and nephew, Catherine and Bill Callbeck, have decided the time has come to give their aunt her first solo exhibition. The show, A Nod to Aunt Marion, is a small but intimate display in the lobby gallery at the Eptek Art and Culture Centre in Summerside, running until Sunday.
“My brother Bill and myself have for some time been thinking we’d like to recognize her in some way for the role that she played in our lives,” said Catherine Callbeck, former premier of Prince Edward Island. “And so this is it.”
Bill and Catherine Callbeck with a landscape painting by their aunt Marion Campbell Hinton. (Eptek Art and Culture Centre)
Hinton, who died in 1973, spent much of her life as a school teacher in Summerside and Tyne Valley. Later, she devoted herself to community volunteer work.
“My aunt Marion was a very special person. She was fun-loving, creative, stylish, loved to curl, play bridge,” Callbeck said. “It’s through my aunt Marion that I developed a love for the arts.”
Callbeck said Hinton’s artistic journey began in her late 40s when she joined the Barton Art Club, organized by internationally acclaimed Island painter Georgie Read Barton, known for her realistic oil landscapes.
“She did a lot of nature and flowers, and she spent a lot of time at their summer home in Stanley Bridge, and many of the paintings she did from the cottage,” Callbeck said.
Despite that creativity, Callbeck said Hinton herself was unconvinced her paintings mattered.
“She didn’t sign many of her paintings, because she didn’t think they were good enough, but I always loved them and enjoyed talking to her about them.”
Marion Campbell Hinton and her husband, Richard Hinton, on their wedding day in July 1934. (Eptek Art and Culture Centre)
At the Eptek Centre, site director Nikkie Gallant said Hinton’s story sounds a lot like the imposter syndrome she often hears about from artists, especially women.
“A lot of things that women did were often seen as less valued,” Gallant said.
“That gets internalized… in the past especially, where maybe if the men were doing it, it was considered high art, and then when the women do it, it’s just considered like a fun little hobby.”
Gallant said visitors to the exhibit have been struck both by Hinton’s story and the quality of her work.
“It’s fascinating to see people come in and they hear her story about not being confident in her work, and they’re like, ‘How? Like, look at this, there’s so many beautiful pieces,’” Gallant said.
Inspiring new generation of artists
The May exhibition is just the beginning.
Gallant said A Nod to Aunt Marion will serve as the launch point for an Island‑wide visual art call, inviting artists across P.E.I. to engage directly with Hinton’s work.
Throughout May, artists can visit the exhibition to learn about Hinton’s life and paintings, then create a landscape or still-life work inspired by her art.
A Nod to Aunt Marion will serve as the launch point for an Island‑wide visual art call, inviting artists across P.E.I. to engage directly with Hinton’s work. (Eptek Art and Culture Centre)
Those submissions will form the basis of a juried exhibition called The Voice of Marion, planned for Eptek’s main gallery from January to March 2027. Catherine and Bill Callbeck have also donated prize money for selected works in various categories.
“We have so many wonderful artists on the Island, and this is another opportunity to display a painting for the public to see, and also they can put a price tag on it if they wish, and sell it,” Callbeck said.
Artists interested in participating are invited to submit an expression of interest by Nov. 1.
Gallant said artists can contact the Eptek Centre to receive a submission package, including images of all the paintings featured in A Nod to Aunt Marion, allowing them to study the works from home before creating their own response pieces.