Cambridge Celebration of the Arts

Vanessa is a graduate from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Music from 2008. She also holds a Diploma of Applied Arts in Vocal Music from Mohawk College from 2006. Vanessa is classically trained in both voice and piano through the Royal Conservatory of Music along with college and university. She also has vocal training in jazz, pop/rock and musical theater styles.  

Vanessa has performed KW Philharmonic Youth choir and Symphony 2001 – 2002 as well with The Roanoke Symphony Choir, The Roanoke Opera 2009 – 2011 in Virginia, USA. A former member of Brantford based Vanessa was choral scholar with St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waterloo from 2013 - 2018. She is a former member of Brantford based choir Arcady Ensemble, and was one of their 2016/2017 Emerging Young Artists.

Vanessa has starred in several local musicals including The Secret Garden, Grease with Believe Musical Theater, and more recently Kitchener Waterloo Musical Production’s (KWMP) Titanic, Lost and Found Theater’s Hello Dolly, JM Drama’s Evita and KWMP’s Jesus Christ Superstar. 

Vanessa holds several Kiwanis Festival Awards in both Voice & Piano. Vanessa takes much pride and joy in teaching music to a variety of age groups for over 19 years. She has been teaching voice and piano at Sherwood since 2012 and is now the lessons manager/coordinator. She lives by the quote “Music is not what I do, it’s who I am.”

Patricia Helen Oliver was born in Abercraf, Wales. She has a Master’s degree in Health with a minor in English from the University of Western Ontario. She lives in Cambridge, Ontario. 

Recipient of The Bernice Adams Legacy Award (2023)

Literary Arts Juror - Cambridge Celebration of the Arts (2018 - Present)

Contributing writer and story editor - CBC Gem series, "I Hate People, People Hate Me" (2023)

Two Pearls (short story) - published in Dark Winter Literary Magazine (2023)

The Gynesaurs (novel) Longlisted for the 2018 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour (top 10 in Canada) (2018) Longlisted for the 2018 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour (top ten in Canada)

Columnist:  Patricia Delicia's Titbits and Tattles - Cassmates Alumni Newsletter (2016 - present)

Life in a Nutshell - personal essay, published in the Globe and Mail (2018)

Eden Mills Festival - member of the opening night reading panel (2019)

Never a Dull Moment - column, Leacock Matters Newsletter, Gala Edition (2018)

Writer’s Undercover Anthology - Cambridge Writers Collective – prize winner and contributor(1994 - 2000).

A Grand Gift of Laughter Anthology – contributor, Musings of a Frog Prince, Ground Zero, Bacchanalia (2000).

A painting is not only a tribute and a remembrance; It is a testament to how we loved and lived.  The Figure was my first love - The human landscape.  My goal is to connect with the subject and show the many aspects of them. I will often paint the same model (human or other), multiple times, in a series.

I work mainly with acrylic paints but also love to draw in ink.  When travelling, I bring my pen and watercolour travel kit and always come away with some great little pieces; memories, painted en plein air.

I enjoy developing new pieces from my own ideas and observations.  It is truly a beautiful world.

Tania has studied studio art and art history at The University of Waterloo and continues to learn through workshops, courses, experimentation and one on one with fine artists.

Tania was Nominated for the Beatrice Adams Award in 2017.

2013 Cambridge Celebration of the Arts, Juried show

2013 Grand Cafe, Solo Show

2013 The Many Faces of Cambridge Project

2014 - 2018 Visual Arts Coordinator for CMCA

2014 Installer, It Starts Here: Art Fair "Delightfully Diverse", Clay and Glass Museum, Kitchener

2014 Artline Salon, Waterloo Belmont Village, Solo Show

2014 & 2016  Gallery M, Group Show

2016 Robertson Gallery, Group Show

2016 Cambridge Centre of the Arts, Juried Show

2017 Live painting and auction, Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Best Bites Event

2017 A Day in the District Event, Cambridge Gas Light District Pop up Gallery

2017 & 2018 Cambridge Studio Tour

2018 Solo Show Monogram Cafe

2018 Button Factory Juried Show

2021 9 Alone Show, The Chapel Studio, Roseville

2019 Best Media Magazine Profile Story