- Angus Shortt was well-known Winnipeg artist and painter of wildlife art. Due to his mother’s influence as an artist, he developed a love for sketching birds around the Silver Heights farm located near the family home. In 1926, determined to find employment as an artist, Shortt sought a position at Brigden’s, a commercial art firm. Despite his desire to become an illustrator, Brigden’s offered him an apprenticeship as a wood engraver, which he accepted. As part of the apprenticeship, Shortt was sent to the Winnipeg School of Art, where he studied under L. LeMoine Fitzgerald. Thereafter Shortt chose to work for the newly formed Ducks Unlimited Canada as an artist in the public relations department. He worked at Ducks Unlimited for thirty-four years (1939-1973). There he specialized in painting ducks and geese and donated his painting to many Ducks Unlimited fund-raisings. Angus Shortt also designed series of the Manitoba wildflower and bird paintings, series of 12 medallions featuring designs based on provincial wildflowers for Canada's Centennial, series of greeting cards depicting a variety of ducks, and sets of playing cards with wildlife illustrations for the U.S. Playing Card Co., Ohio. He illustrated Treasure of Waterfowl (1946), Birds of Colorado (1965), and Ducks and Men: Forty Years of Co-operation in Conservation (1978). He also contributed to the making of eighteen films for Ducks Unlimited. Ducks Unlimited named a lake after him (Shortt Lake) to honor his longtime work. In 1962, he designed a fifteen cent stamp for the post office department. After his retirement, Shortt continued to accept commissions for paintings into the 1990s but in his later years only painted for his own enjoyment.
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Archives & Special Collections
Archives & Special Collections is a department of the Libraries and is located in Room 330 on the third floor of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library. Since its establishment in 1978, the Archives' mission has been to acquire, catalogue and preserve university records and special research collections which further the educational aims of the University of Manitoba, and to promote and provide wide access to them. The Archives' wide-ranging collection mandate includes the acquisition of the records of the University of Manitoba, Canadian Prairie Literary Manuscripts, the Archives of the Agricultural Experience and rare books in the areas of western Canadiana, early Arctic exploration, early Native language syllabics, spiritualism, church history and philosophy, and agriculture among others.