(Published with permission from the Community Foundation)
A Legacy of Art, Generosity, and Opportunity
The story of Barbara and Don Ring is one of creativity, compassion, and an enduring belief in young people.
In 1979, Barbara Ring opened the Ring Gallery of Art on Prince William Street in uptown Saint John. Alongside her husband Don, Barbara helped shape the city’s artistic landscape for decades. Their gallery became more than a place to view paintings… it became a gathering place for artists, collectors, and dreamers.
Barbara had a passion for nurturing talent. She believed art should not only be appreciated, but supported. Through exhibitions and mentorship, she encouraged emerging artists to pursue their craft and share their voices with the community.
Over the years, the Rings assembled an extraordinary private collection of fine artwork featuring many celebrated regional artists, including Fred Ross, Miller Brittain, Jack Humphrey, Anthony Flower, and others whose work helped define New Brunswick’s artistic identity.
When Barbara passed away in 1982, and later Don in 2009, their legacy could have quietly ended as a treasured private collection. Instead, it became something far greater.
In 2011 and 2012, Stephen and Pamela Ring, continuing the family’s deep commitment to the arts, partnered with the Peter Buckland Gallery and the Greater Saint John Community Foundation to transform that collection into opportunity for future generations.
Through a special exhibition and sale of pieces from the Ring Collection, proceeds were used to establish The Barbara & Don Ring Memorial Bursary Fund at the Greater Saint John Community Foundation.
The fund was created to support graduating students from Saint John High School and Harbour View High School who wished to pursue post-secondary studies in the arts.
The initiative reflected everything the Rings believed in: that creativity matters, young people deserve encouragement, and the arts strengthen a community.
One newspaper article from the time described the collection as featuring “high-end pieces of work,” drawing attention from collectors and art lovers throughout the region. Another highlighted Barbara Ring’s philosophy that artists needed opportunities not only to create art, but to make a living from it.
At the launch of the fund, Stephen and Pamela Ring presented a cheque for $50,825 to Dr. Stephen Willis, then Board Chair of the Greater Saint John Community Foundation, officially establishing the memorial bursary.
For students pursuing careers in visual arts, music, theatre, design, and other creative disciplines, the bursary represented validation, proof that their ambitions mattered and that their community believed in their potential.
More importantly, it ensured that Barbara and Don Ring’s passion for the arts would continue inspiring new generations long after the gallery doors had closed.
Today, the Barbara & Don Ring Memorial Bursary Fund remains a meaningful example of how philanthropy can preserve culture, honour family legacy, and invest in the future of young people.
As the Greater Saint John Community Foundation celebrates 50 years of community impact, the story of the Ring Collection reminds us that generosity takes many forms… sometimes it looks like a scholarship. Sometimes it looks like a community coming together around art. And sometimes, it looks like a family turning a lifetime of creativity into opportunity for generations to come.
