Dempsey Bob, (born 1948) is a Northwest Coast woodcarver and sculptor from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, who is of

Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahan ...

and

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

First Nations descent. He was born in the Tahltan village of

Telegraph Creek Telegraph Creek is a small community located off Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek. The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to approximately 250 members of ...

on the

Stikine River The Stikine River ( ) is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and ...

in northwestern B.C., and is of the

Wolf clan The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey ...

Career

Dempsey began carving in 1969, studying with the

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

carver Freda Diesing in

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

, B.C. In 1972-1974 he studied at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art ('Ksan) at Hazelton, B.C., in

Gitksan Gitxsan (also spelled Gitksan and Kitksan) are an Indigenous people in Canada whose home territory comprises most of the area known as the Skeena Country in English (: means "people of" and : means "the River of Mist"). Gitksan territory encom ...

territory and then taught there for many years. In 2006, he helped found and is a senior advisor of the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Arts in Terrace, B.C., to carry on Diesing's legacy and guide the next generation of First Nation artists. His apprentices have included the Tahltan carver Dale Campbell and Tlingit carver

Keith Wolfe Smarch Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Keith (gamer), American professional ...

. He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2013 for his work as a carver, teaching the next generation of carvers and his dedication to Talhtan-Tlingit cultural preservation. He also received an honorary degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in 2014. His works are included in many museum and gallery collections such as the

Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...

; the

Royal British Columbia Museum The Royal British Columbia Museum (or Royal BC Museum), founded in 1886, is a history museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The "Royal" title was approved by Queen Elizabeth II and bestowed by Prince Philip in 1987, to coincide with a ...

; the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology; the

Audain Art Museum The Audain Art Museum is a 56,000-square-foot private museum located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, that houses the private art collection of Michael Audain. Designed by Patkau Architects and opened to the public in 2016, it holds a compr ...

; the Columbia Museum of Ethnology; the Aboriginal and Northern Affairs art collection in Ottawa, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

; National Museum of Ethnology in Japan; and the Hamburgisches Museum fur Volkerskkunde in Hamburg, Germany. Major commissions include the Vancouver Airport Authority, the Museum of Northern B.C.,

; and the Owase Community Cultural Centre, Japan. Bob's preferred medium is wood, although he uses many different materials in his work. He carves bowls, masks,

totem pole Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...

s and other works, mostly in the

style. The first time his work was shown at the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

was in 1992. He was included in the landmark exhibition ''Land Spirit Power'', the first survey exhibition of First Nations contemporary art to be held at the

NGC NGC may refer to: Companies * NGC Corporation, the name of US electric company Dynegy, Inc. from 1995 to 1998 * National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, a state-owned natural gas company in Trinidad and Tobago * National Grid plc, a former nam ...

. Since then he has had many solo and group exhibitions in Canada and around the world, and his works have been widely collected in major public and private collections. Themes of his artwork include developing ideas from traditional West Coast First Nations stories, with frogs being one of his preferred subjects.

Exhibitions

Dempsey Bob's solo exhibitions include: * 1989: ''Tahltan-Tlingit - Carver of the Wolf Clan'', The Grace Gallery, Vancouver, BC * 1993: ''Myth Maker and Transformer'', Vancouver Centennial Museum, Vancouver, BC * 2014: North, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC * 2017-2018: New Work, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC * 2022: ''Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob'',

, Whistler, BC

Awards and honours

* Aboriginal Art Lifetime Achievement Awards, 2007 * Officer of the Order of Canada, 2013 * Hon. Degree from UBC, 2014 * Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts Artistic Achievement Award, 2021

References

Bibliography

*. *. *. *. * Hill, Greg A.(2015), Acquisition Proposal for Dempsey ''Bob's Eagles North'' and ''Wolf Warrior Helmet'', accession #46710 and #46711, Curatorial File, National Gallery of Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Bob, Dempsey 1948 births 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations artists Artists from British Columbia First Nations woodcarvers Canadian woodcarvers Living people People from the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine Tahltan people Tlingit male artists Tlingit artists Officers of the Order of Canada Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners