Hartman's paintings, drawings and photographs have been exhibited in solo and group shows for over 40 years locally, and internationally. She is a member of Toronto's artist-run Gallery 1313 and of the visual arts organization CARFAC Ontario.
Hartman's work is informed by history, travel, and lived experiences. Biographical areas
of note are set out below, with recent exhibits and Artist Statement found
here.
1973 Int'l Festival Women & Film [Jim Lang]
1974 gates of Osgoode Hall [Nelson Adams]
Moving to Toronto in 1969 for art school, Hartman became immersed in its local art scene and bohemian counterculture through her involvement with Rochdale College and Coach House Press.
In the early 70s, Hartman was active in consciousness-raising during feminism's second wave, co-founding Liberation Media/WIP, to broadcast and distribute shows made by, for and about women. She then joined the organizers of Toronto's 1973 International Women and Film Festival archived in A Feminist Lens: the 1973 women and film international festival selecting and gathering videos by women exploring this new medium.
This pursuit of justice led to law school and work in human rights and administrative law, first as poverty advocate and then as independent adjudicator appointed with tribunals, provincially and federally. Throughout this freelance work, she continued her art practice, raising her children and exploring the world independently on a shoestring budget.
A 1989 wilderness photography trip to the edge of an Arctic ice floe restored Hartman's painting muse, and she returned to formal art study with a 3 year post secondary fine arts diploma from Central Tech's Art Centre and began the series work shown in this portfolio.
Lancaster Sound off Baffin Island
Anonymous and Proud
In addition to photographs in group and other exhibits, Hartman's photography featured in solo exhibits as part of Toronto's month-long CONTACT Photography Festival focussing on its particular theme for the year:
In May 2007 for Constructed Image, her photos of Bob Dylan taken in 1965, and of him at 65 in 2006, explored image and identity in the exhibit bob65,.
In May 2010 for Pervasive Influence, her candid photos taken on streets around the world of people (common and royal) explored ideas of privacy and anonymity. As commentary on the emerging use of covert perpetual video surveillance in public places, in the exhibit L.E.N.S - Looking Everywhere, No Secrets, visitors were notified on arrival that their presence was being captured on video throughout. As a nod to anonymity, some donned the proverbial black bar on offer to pose for a 'mug shot' for the post-show digital poster titled Anonymous and Proud.
In August 2019, Hartman revisited the 2010 Anonymous and Proud poster and the subject of surveillance, privacy and identity in a solo exhibit at Gallery 1313 titled What is T.Ruth?
In May 2021 for Contact's 25th anniversary, held virtually that year due to the pandemic, her exhibit Camera Solo explored human impermanence and earthly fragility, reflecting back on her many decades of pressing the analog camera shutter with a selection of 25 photos.
Studio #1 26 Lennox interior [Sheila Whincup]
26 Lennox St exterior [Fumiko Maehara]
Lennox Street Studio | Hartman Studio Gallery
The artist's second floor studio, which converted to Hartman Studio Gallery for exhibits, was her base for over 15 years. The studio building in Mirvish Village was demolished in 2018 leaving walls of the former studio as a corner facade in the Mirvish Bloor/Bathurst redevelopment.
Celebrating the arts in community and community through arts has been a constant focus. Hartman's 26 Lennox Street studio/gallery was frequently opened to the public for interactive exhibits as part of Toronto's annual Artsweek Festival and also in the annual Bathurst Annex Studio Tour, which she co-founded from 1998 to 2004. In 2006 in a Yorkville Zone exhibit "Foyer", she was part of Toronto's inaugural nuit blanche. The artist continues the art/community interaction through exhibits and community volunteering.