The late Esther (Dakai) Rice’s paintings hang in Italy, France, Austria, England, Hungary and various parts of the United States and Canada. Esther was born and raised in Whitney Pier, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. The family moved to Sydney River in 1955. In 1963 she began attending Home and School art classes at Sydney Academy that were taught by widely known and recognized Whitney Pier artist and graphic designer John Tynski. Her natural talent for painting came as a pleasant surprise to Esther and before long it developed to a point where she became the teacher, teaching both at home and at the Cape Breton School of Crafts. “I never had a student who did not do well,” Esther was quoted as saying in a 1974 Cape Breton Post interview. Esther’s talents did not stop at painting. She sewed, embroidered, did leather craft, weaving, knitting, crochet, quilting and pottery, and in her “spare time” she coloured black and white photographs.
Esther died in 1985 at age 73, leaving behind a rich legacy that we ware privileged to share in today. The Whitney Pier Society for the Arts would like to thank Betty Polegato for her assistance in putting together this exhibition of her mother’s work.