Tag Archives: First Nations

Visions of the West Coast: Robert Aller and his Community

: Robert Aller, Totems

February 1 – March 12, 2005 | Alberni Valley Museum

March 31 – May 1, 2005 | McPherson Library Gallery

View the online catalogue:

The online catalogue for Visions of the West Coast is available here. It features an image gallery, information about the artists and resources for teachers and students.

The Visions of the West Coast: Robert Aller and His Community website was created to accompany a Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) Program exhibit and research project. Community partners for this project include the Rollin Art Centre, the Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, and the Alberni Valley Museum. The CURA Program, in the Department of History in Art at the University of Victoria, is funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

In 1965, Robert Aller, George Clutesi and others formed the Community Arts Council of the Alberni Valley to bring together the growing number of cultural groups which had been forming in and around Port Alberni. The Council has since hosted a number of festivals and annual arts events. This exhibition seeks to highlight the work of some of these accomplished artists, and to emphasize Robert Aller’s roles as an artist and a benefactor.

Nk’Mip Chronicles: Drawings from the Osoyoos Museum

February 23 – April 6, 2004

Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery

Curated Dr. Andrea Walsh, Professor in Anthropology at UVic

This exhibition documents a moment in the evolving relationship between First Nations people and European settlers through children’s eyes. While occasionally expressing a deep sense of wonder at the modern age, these drawings predominantly record vital aspects of traditional Okanagan culture.

In 1931, Anthony Walsh (no relation to Andrea Walsh), an Irish immigrant arrived at the Inkameep Day school near Oliver, B.C. to teach children from eh Osoyoos Indian Band. Walsh encouraged his students to depict the world around them and their way of life. He allowed the children to create freely, in their own style, without the constraints of either classical European representation or traditional aboriginal styles.

The Williams Legacy

: Myfanwy Spender Pavelic, Blue Sky [Pierre Trudeau]

August 25 – October 10, 2003

Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery

View the online catalogue:

The Williams Legacy – Catalogue

The exhibition introduced in this catalogue provides a fascinating first glimpse of the extensive art collection bequeathed to the University of Victoria by the late Michael Collard Williams, and gives us an insight into the tastes and interests of that discerning collector.

Michael Williams Legacy in Vancouver:
Selected works from the vast Michael Williams collection of West Coast art on display at the Pendulum Gallery (HSBC Building) in Vancouver from March 8-19, 2004. Hosted by the UVic Alumni Association Vancouver Branch, in conjunction with the UVic Co-operative Education Program and the Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery.

Visit the archived website for the Vancouver showing of The Williams Legacy here

Ceremonial Furniture:
Six magnificent pieces of art representing the collaborative work of Northwest Coast artists. The ceremonial furnishings were a gift from Michael C. Williams. This website was created in conjunction with the University of Victoria’s centennial celebrations and the Michael Williams Legacy Exhibit, August 25 – October 10, 2003.

Holy Dog: Paintings by Karen Whyte

April 26 – May 25, 2003

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

This was an exhibition of acrylic paintings by Karen Whyte. The title of the show is drawn from a quote by John Fire Lame Deer, of the Lakota Sioux First Nation (1903 – 1976), who said “We had no word for the strange animal we got from the white man – the horse. So we called it sunka wakan, ‘holy dog.'”

Horses have long figured in the human imagination. The image of the horse is a powerful symbol of death and creativity in many mythologies, but there are few examples of contemporary artists focusing on horses as content. Holy Dog explored the physicality of horse in both portraits and in more abstracted images.

Karen Whyte completed her masters at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education before studying art at the Victoria College of Art. At the time of the exhibition, she worked with UVIc in the Arts & Writing Co-op Program.

The Art of the Ainu

July 14 – August 16, 2001

Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery

An exhibition featuring art and craft works of the Ainu people of Japan and will include a selection of musical instruments, textiles and jewellery. The Ainu culture is believed to be one of the oldest and perhaps the original culture group living on the islands before people began migrating there from China and Korea. Over the past century the Ainu have struggled vehemently to resist assimilation into Japanese society and to maintain their own culture and traditions.

Twelve Ainu artists have recently come to Canada to participate in this year’s Tribal Journey project with the Kwaguilth and Esquimalt Nations. Together they are carving two 50-foot traditional canoes. The canoe carving represents the restoration of Aniu culture as well as a keeping with the tradition and the strengthening of an identity.

Millennium Mural

: James Richard Rivet, Journey No. 51

May 31, 2001 – Present

David S. Strong Building, University of Victoria Campus

The Millenium Mural online catalogue is available here. It features images of the finished mural, information about the artist Rick Rivet, and a gallery of Rivet’s works that are in UVic’s collection.

This project is an initiative of the Maltwood Art Museum & Gallery at the University of Victoria and is sponsored by the Canada Millennium Partnership and the British Columbia 2000 Program. The project consists of a mural by B.C. Metis artist Rick Rivet to enhance the newly dedicated David F. Strong Classroom Building.

Juncture: An Exhibition at the Crossroads of Time

Inspiration, Susan Point, 2000

April 6 – May 3, 2000

Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery

Curated by Jim Galvao and Caroline Riedel

An exhibit that forms part of the University’s week-long Millennium Festival, April 1 to 7, celebrating the outstanding achievements of University of Victoria honorands such as Michael Snow, Pat Martin Bates, Ed Harris, Myfanwy Spencer Pavelic, Susan Point, Henry Hunt and Ted Harrison.

This exhibition is about more than just artwork, it is a tribute to the lifelong pursuit of excellence and those individuals who embody that pursuit: the honourary Degree recipients of the University of Victoria.

-Jim Galvao, 2000

Honouring Place, Honouring Self: The Art of Francis Dick in Retrospective

Comes A Woman, Francis Dick, 1993

March 15 – April 5, 2000

Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery

Curated by Andrea Naomi Walsh

View the online catalogue:

Honouring Place, Honouring Self – Catalogue

Francis Dick is a member of the Nimpkish Band of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation and a UVic Alumna. The exhibit will feature 24 of her prints, demonstrating Dick’s connections to her extended family, and how those ties allow her to create piece that relate to legends and other rights and prerogatives belonging to her family.

This exhibit forms part of the Millennium Arts Festival (April 1 – 7), which focusses on the strong relationship between the University of Victoria and the community.

Haida: Spirits of the Sea

Thunderbird and Man by Charles W. Elliott

Charles W. Elliott, Thunderbird and Man

Online Catalogue

The online catalogue of Haida: Spirits of the Sea is available here. It features a game centred on First Nations art, a gallery of artworks, and information on the SIx Nations.

More About the Exhibition

The University of Victoria’s Maltwood Museum and Art Gallery is proud to present its collection of Northwest Coast First Nations prints. Having 2000 prints in their collection, this website was established to make a small sample of this art globally accessible.

The goal is to present these images in a stimulating and informative manner through SchoolNet. The user will encounter the art in the form of a game: It is an educational art game. It will test the user’s learning of the Northwest Coast First Nations peoples and their art.

The First Nations of the Northwest Coast of B.C. are a diverse group of peoples. Even within a Nation, the villages differ from each other in history and customs. These peoples have strong art traditions. This site focuses on innovative artists who are strongly rooted in their cultures. As First Nations people have endured major societal changes, it is natural to think that the artwork would reflect that. Art is an expression for individuals and also an expression of the culture. First Nations art is more than pretty pictures – there is meaning rooted in the history, family, stories, beliefs and traditions of the peoples. There is life to the art.

In the above website you may access more specific information about the cultures, or play a game based on First Nations art. The game is a journey through the six nations. Your aim is to complete the journey in the fewest number of days possible and most importantly, have fun!

First Nations Women Artists

January 30 – February 21, 1997

Maltwood Art Gallery

Twenty five prints from the University of Victoria’s Northwest Coast print collection.

Artists displayed are: Colleen Cutschall, Connie Dickens, Frances Dick, Freda Diesing, Ramona Gus, Shirley Hall, Janice Halliwell, Roxana Leask, Susan Point, Rose Spahan, Susan Sparrow, Val Stickings, and Jody Wilson.

Arts from the Arctic

September 11 – October 30, 1994

Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery

Curated by Abraham Anghik Ruben, Canada’s international committee representative.

Arts of the Arctic features contemporary aboriginal art and craft works from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Lapland, and Russia. The exhibition and its international planning committee were seed funded by UNESCO in recognition of the World Decade for Cultural Development. The purpose of the exhibit program is to present arts of the Arctic people to all of its regions and to other people in the world. There are currently several versions of the exhibition travelling throughout the participating Polar countries.

Arts of the Arctic presents to the public the fascinating diversity of traditional and contemporary arts as they are now practiced. the Ravenstail weavings of Yukon’s Ann Smith vie with colourful prints from baffin Island and decorated knives of the Lapland Sami. The monumental modern bronze forms of Abraham Ruben can be compared to traditional soap stone carvings from Alaska and the small ivory figures from Siberia.

Judith P. Morgan

August 4 – August 31, 1993

McPherson Library Gallery

An exhibition of works by Judith P. Morgan, a Gitskan Indian from Kitwanga. Her artwork stands apart from most current Native art because she creates her own experiences through painting.

About the Artist:

Judith P. Morgan was born and raised in Kitwanga. Her early career began under the guidance of George Sinclair. She went on to study at the Institute of Art in Kansas City, USA, and later completed her art degree at the University of Kansas.