Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880.

History

1880 to 1890

The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General of Canada, the Marquess of Lorne, was its first patron. The painter Lucius O’Brien was its first President.

The objects of the Academy as stated in the 1881 publication of the organization's constitution were three-fold:
*First - the institution of a National Gallery at the seat of Government;
*Second - the holding of Exhibitions in the principal cities of the Dominion;
*Third - the establishment of Schools of Art and Design.

In the same publication, two levels of membership were described: Academicians and Associates. No more than forty individuals could be Academicians at one time, while the number of Associates was not limited. All Academicians were required to give an example of their work to the collection of the National Gallery. They were also permitted to show more pieces in Academy-sponsored exhibitions than Associates.

The inaugural exhibition was held in Ottawa and the first Academicians were inducted, including the first woman Academician, Charlotte Schreiber. Through the next 10 years, the Academy held annual exhibitions, often in cooperation with regional artists' societies. Exhibitions in Toronto were a joint project of the Academy and the Ontario Society of Artists, while those held in Montreal were held in partnership with the Montreal Artists Association. Exhibitions were also held in St. John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Additional academicians and associates were added each year until the membership had more than doubled by 1890. Members were drawn from all areas of the country and included anglophones and francophones. Men continued to out-number women and those female members were identified as painters not as designers or architects.

As Academicians joined, they donated an example of their work to the National Gallery of Canada, building the collection of the as-yet unincorporated institution. A temporary home was found for the collection in a building next to the Supreme Court of Canada and the first curator, John W.H. Watts, RCA was appointed to begin organizing exhibitions.

The third objective—to encourage the teaching of art and design in Canada—was found to be more challenging to address with the limited financial resources available to them.

1891 to present

Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was elected as an associate, became a full member and later became president of the Academy.

The centennial year of the Academy was honoured by a 35 cent, 3 colour postage stamp. The stamp features an image of the original centre block of the Parliament Buildings and the text "Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1880–1980", with the name "Thomas Fuller", a member of the Academy and the Dominion Architect of Canada who had designed the original building.

Members

The Academy is composed of members from across Canada representing over twenty visual arts disciplines. This list is not inclusive. See also :Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

1880 to 1890

Academy membership in 1907

Academicians

Associates

Inducted in 1973

* Armand Tatossian, painter

Inducted in 1974

* John Max, photographer

Inducted in 1976

* Richard Gorman, painter
* Ruth Gowdy McKinley, first potter elected to Academy

Inducted in 1991

Inducted in 1999

Inducted in 2002

Inducted in 2004

* Scott Plear, painting

Inducted in 2006

Inducted in 2007

Inducted in 2008

* Catherine Farish, printmaking
* Susan Collett, ceramics

Inducted in 2009

* Sara Diamond
* Marius Dubois
* Christian Eckart
* Faye Heavyshield
* Garry Neill Kennedy
*Rita McKeough
* Mary Scott
* John Will
* Justin Wonnacott

Inducted in 2010

Inducted in 2011

Inducted in 2012

* Andre Bergeron
* Sandra Bromley
* Tara Bryan
* Ginette Caron
* Sean Caulfield
* Naomi London
* Sarah Maloney
* Jean Pierre Morin
* Nadia Myre
* Anna Torma
* Eva Lapka, ceramics

Inducted in 2013

* Clarence Dick
* Christos Dikeakos,
* Charles Elliott
* Lynda Gammon
* Rusdi Genest
* Chief Tony Hunt
* David MacWilliam
* Les Manning
* Barbara Paterson
* Susan G. Scott
* Andrew Wright

Inducted in 2014

* Diane Bisson
* Marc Boutin
* Luben Boykov
* Karen Cantine
* Donna Clare
* Cora Cluett
* Gene Dub, architect
* Frédéric Metz
* Louie Palu, photographer
* Claude Provencher
*Russell Yuristy

Inducted in 2015

* Claude Cormier, landscape architecture
* Jacques Fournier, bookbinding
* Libby Hague, printmaking
* Tanya Harnett, interdisciplinary
* Wesley Harris, metalsmithing
* Peter Jacobs, landscape architecture
* Lew Yung-Chien, photography
* Amy Loewan, installation, mixed media
* Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, interdisciplinary
* Marie-Christiane Mathieu, interdisciplinary
* Alexandra McCurdy, ceramics
* Nancy Petry, mixed media
* Alan Stein, book design
* John Taylor, photography

Inducted in 2016

* Shuvinai Ashoona, drawing
* David Blatherwick, painting
* Ricardo L. Castro, photography, architecture
* Alan R. Collyer, architecture
* Rosalie Favell, photography
* Les Graff, painting
* Andrew Gruft, architecture
* James Hart, sculpture
* Helen Kerr, industrial design
* Alain LeBrun, illustration, graphic design
* Marian Penner Bancroft, photography, video art
* Frank Shebageget, sculpture, installation
* Allyson Simmie, jewellery design
* Brendan Lee Satish Tang, sculpture
* Peter von Tiesenhausen, sculpture, installation
* Ian Wallace, photography, painting
* Elizabeth Zvonar, collage, sculpture

Inducted in 2017

* Yael Brotman, printmaking
* Diana Dean, painting, sculpture
* Keith L. Graham, architecture
* Barrie Jones, photography
* Royden Mills, sculpture
* Craig Richards, photography
* Jean-Daniel Rohrer, painting
* Marie Saint Pierre, fashion design

Inductees for 2018

* David T. Alexander, painting
* Noel Best, architecture
* Anne Carrier, architecture
* Pierre Coupey, painting
* Shayne Dark, sculpture
* Lucy Hogg, painting
* Katherine Knight, photography
* Gary Pearson, painting and drawing
* Udo Schliemann, design

Others

* Rebecca Belmore (1960-), performance and installation work
*Sheila Butler
* Luc Courchesne ((1952-) (inducted 2010 by way of the RCA Nomination process), interactive art
* George Cuthbertson (1929-2017), yacht designerG+M: "Designer George Cuthbertson crafted sleek, speedy sailboats"
, 20 Oct 2017
* Robert Wakeham Pilot
* Leslie Reid (artist) (1947-), inducted 1977, painter and printmaker
* John A. Schweitzer (1952-), collagist
*Philip Surrey (1910-1990), painter
* Campbell Tinning (1910-1996), painter
* Gentile Tondino (1923-2001), painter

See also

*List of Canadian organizations with royal patronage

References

External links

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, official site

{{Authority control

Canadian art
Organizations based in Canada with royal patronage
Arts organizations based in Canada
Arts organizations established in 1880
1880 establishments in Canada