Sarnia artist Jessie June Rabbitt turns 100 this week. From painting as a child during the Depression to teaching Cree students in James Bay and inspiring generations in Sarnia, discover her incredible journey as an artist, teacher, and trailblazer.
Sarnia’s very own artist, Jessie June Rabbitt was born on April 27, 1926 and turns 100 years old this week. Jessie has painted her footprint throughout her life as a true artiste, but also as a progressive woman of her time, a philanthropist, and a woman who used whatever creative means she had to pursue her dream. She is inspiring to us and we are celebrating her life by sharing her story.
Jessie is known locally in Sarnia through numerous communities and art collectives. She has produced countless pieces of art in her lifetime and has a legacy story of how she became an artist and came to Canada.
Jessie June, was one of three girls, born in Battle Creek Michigan, during the Depression. When she was asked the question, “When did she know that she wanted to become an artist?”
She replied that she always knew, even as a four-year-old little girl. She remembers making a small art studio/art gallery in the corner of the family’s attic to paint and make paper dolls. Even when the paints ran out she would use the brush in the water to observe changes and used her imagination. She told everyone when she grew up, she would be a painter.
During the period of World War II, as a teenager, Jessie grew to be quite a bit taller, so with her creativity she started adjusting clothing, designing patterns and making clothes for herself. Eventually friends and family caught on and she began to make clothing for them as well, becoming especially known for her wedding dresses.
She told her parents she wanted to go to college to pursue art but her family was not going to pay for it, because people did not focus on going to college back in those days, they were lucky or rich if they did. So she started to save, working full time in high school where she and another girl shared a unit as telephone operators for Bell.
After high school, Jessie saved some money for her education, so she took courses at the Pittsburg Art Institute, and also at Carnegie Tech at the same time that Andy Warhol was a student there. For work she apprenticed under a seamstress for a local shop and modelled bras, underwear and girdles for Victoria Modelling because it paid a hundred dollars a day. She eventually moved back to Michigan to get a job at the Kellogg Post Factory where she met her first husband Benny Eitzen. She was happily married at 23 and had 3 kids: Mark, Meri, and Jennifer. At this time, her creativity was shared with her kids. Her life took a shocking turn after 13 years, when her beloved Ben tragically died by suicide leaving her widowed. This was during the era of the early 1960s, and was a transformative time for everyone.
Jessie was a single mother, worked at Sears and did continuing education that led her to Western Michigan University. The year Kennedy was shot, she entered into biracial marriage with a Porto Rican New Yorker, Robert Ozores, who also had a masters in theatre, he was a Broadway actor who later appeared in numerous films. The university recognized Jessie took so many classes through the years that she created her own program, and gave her a bachelor’s degree in art. She almost lost her degree work through a mix up at the school through a cousin also named June Rabbitt.
Jessie and Robert Ozores moved to Detroit, where they started a small performance arts company. In 1964, during the era of federal War on Poverty and just before the Detroit riots. Jessie and Bob were keeping the community’s morale up with art and drama classes.
They ended up being some of the first teachers starting Detroit’s Upward Bound program to support kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in overcoming barriers to higher education and jobs. Upward Bound went on to become one of the most successful national programs emerging from the Civil Rights Movement, promoting equal opportunity for black people. At this time, Upward Bound ended up getting a grant to take all the kids to Montreal’s famous Expo 67. Jessie and Bob fell in love with Montreal on that trip and soon thereafter immigrated the whole family to Canada.
Ever since, Jessie June has been living in Canada with dual citizenship for almost 60 years. She ended up with two master’s degrees in Art, one at the Université du Québec à Montréal UQAM and the other at Michigan State. Montreal, known as a great city, was a new chapter for Jessie to thrive as an artist. She had a successful art studio, a bonsai shop, a rooftop garden, while raising her family into adulthood. Life shifted a little bit when June and Bob ended their marriage.
Soon after, Jessie answered a newspaper ad calling teachers to go north. She moved up to James Bay Quebec for 8 years to work with the Cree as an art teacher. The community had limited resources and supplies, so Jessie used the inspiration of nature and recycling for supplies such as paper, natural paints, dyes, clay, and handmade tools. Jessie once again helped a community build morale through teaching and mentoring the students to express their creativity. She headed up art programs, theatre, music shows and helped network Cree artists to get published. CBC’s Breakaway show interviewed Jessie about this experience.
In the early 1980s Jessie moved to Sarnia. She has been involved and contributed to the community as an artist that inspired young artists. She did her last art show in Sarnia at 91. For those who know her, she remains a great conversationalist. This would be a wonderful time to drop her a line or call for a visit on this special occasion. She is in good health with the support thanks to her loving community of family, friends and caregivers. Thank you, Jessie June Rabbitt for paving the way for women artists, and pioneering through a whole century.
Written by Beth Celeste-Eitzen with the help of Jessie Rabbitt
Other articles on Jessie:
Day Caring Helps 92-Year-Old Homeowner
91-Year-Old Artist Staging Solo Show
Jessie Rabbitt – Artist Profile (Canada Council for the Arts)
