Kathryn Bridge (born in 1955) is a Canadian writer, curator, archivist and historian who lives in Victoria, B.C. In 1978, she began to work at the British Columbia Archives (now called 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 ...

(RBCM)) where from 2012 to 2015 she was a Deputy Director. In 2017, she retired and was honoured as Curator Emerita.Kathryn Bridge biography, Kathryn Bridge file, National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives Bridge has made and is still making an important contribution to writing and curating exhibitions about British Columbia's history and artists, particularly about its best-known painter

Emily Carr Emily Carr (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist who was inspired by the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia. She also was a vivid writer and chronicler of life in her sur ...

. Her writing about Carr and editing of Carr in her many publications on Carr has been called by her peers "superb". She specializes as well in the history of Canada, with monographs on pioneering women, and the

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

; and western artists including Sophie Pemberton. As an independent curator and writer, her emphasis is on Canadian women’s history and art history, as well as children and childhood in 19th century western Canada.

Biography

Bridge was born and grew up in Victoria, B.C. She received her BA in Art History, an MA in History (1984) and her PhD (2012) from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

(UVic). From 1978 to 1997, she served as Archivist at the British Columbia Archives (BC Archives), as Manager, BC Archives (now

(RCBM)) (1997-2012), and Manager, Access Initiatives, RCBM (2010-2012), as well as Curator of History and Art, RBCM (2015-2017) and a Deputy Director and Head of Knowledge and Academic Relations (2012-2015). From 2014 to 2017, she served as an Executive team member for UVic's Landscapes of Injustice project, a 7-year Social Science and Humanities Research Council funded Partnership Grant which focusses on the dispossession of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. She was made a member of the Adjunct Faculty, Department of History, UVic. In 2015. In 2017, she retired from the RBCM to work as an independent curator and historian and was appointed Curator Emerita.

Curating and writing

Bridge curated ''Emily Carr: Artist, Author, Eccentric, Genius'' (RBCM, 2000) which the

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it fall ...

said gave Carr the "royal treatment", ''The Other Emily: Redefining Emily Carr'' in which Bridge paired paintings by the contemporary portrait artist Manon Elder with the work of Emily Carr (RBCM, 2011) (RBCM made a documentary about it) and ''Unexpected: the life and art of Sophie Pemberton (1869-1959)'' (

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) is an art museum located in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Situated in Rockland, Greater Victoria, Rockland, Victoria, the museum occupies a building complex; made up of ...

, (2023)) about which she said:

"Unexpected is learning about a significant Canadian artist in our midst whose actions we now see as inspirational, who with a few others, led the way for Canadian women artists overseas, challenging gender barriers within the profession".

She co-curated ''Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing. Modernism and the West'' (

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 ...

, 2018) as well as compiling a draft catalogue raisonné for the Emily Carr material in the RBCM/ BC Archives. Bridge's many publications (she is called "prolific") are thoughtfully written and cast new light on their subjects. She said of one of her many books on Carr, "Emily Carr in London, 1899-1904":

"My motivation in writing this book was to flesh out these years and to use today's technologies-websites and digitized archival records-to learn the true identities of people she made anonymous in her writings through the use of fictional names.... I was able to make connections and decipher identities, to create a much more accurate chronology of her whereabouts and interactions, and to make connections between Carr and her peers."

At the RBCM, she served as lead or team member for many other exhibitions such as ''El Dorado: Gold Rush in British Columbia'' (2015) as well as giving talks and writing papers on a variety of subjects, including "Emily Carr in England" and at a symposium opening the international exhibition of ''Emily Carr: From the Forest to the Sea'', at the

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination f ...

, London UK (2014). In 2023, she wrote ''Sophie Pemberton: Life & Work'' for the Art Institute of Canada, available online.

Selected publications

*''Henry & Self, the Private Life of Sarah Crease, 1826 - 1922'', Sono Nis Press, 1996. Second edition published by Royal BC Museum, 2019. *''By Snowshoe, Buckboard & Steamer: Women of the Frontier'', Sono Nis Press, 1998. *''The Lost Klee Wyck'', introduction to ''

, Klee Wyck'', Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver and Toronto, 2004. *''Extraordinary Accounts of Native Life on the West Coast; Words From The Huu-ay-aht Ancestors'', Altitude Publishing, Canmore, Alberta, 2004. *''A Passion for Mountains: the Lives of Don and Phyllis Munday'', Rocky Mountain Books, Calgary, Alberta, 2006. *Foreword and afterword for ''Wildflowers by Emily Carr'', Royal BC Museum, Victoria, 2007. *Foreword and afterword for ''Sister & I: From Victoria to London by Emily Carr'', Royal BC Museum, Victoria, 2011. *With Kevin Neary, ''Voices of the Elders: Huu-ay-aht Histories and Legends'', Heritage House, Victoria, 2013. *''Emily Carr in England, 1899-1904'', Royal BC Museum, Victoria, 2014. *Everyone Said Paris Was the Top of Art': Emily Carr’s French Journey to Modernism'', in ''Fresh Seeing. French Modernism and the West Coast'', Figure.1 Publishing, Vancouver and Audain Art Museum, Whistler, 2019. *Preface, Introductory Essay and annotations for ''Unvarnished. Autobiographical Sketches by Emily Carr'', Royal BC Museum, 2021. *''Sophie Pemberton: Life & Work'' for the Art Institute of Canada, available online.

Awards

*B.C. Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing, 1998. *Runner-up VanCity Book Prize, 1999. *Finalist Banff Mountain Book Festival, 2002 in two categories; Mountain Literature Award and Rocky Mountain Book Award. *Honorable Mention for Historical Writing, BC Historical Federation, 2002. *Runner-up for the VanCity Book Prize, 2003. *Recipient, SSHRC Canadian Graduate Student Doctoral Scholarship, 2006–2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge, Kathryn 1955 births Living people Canadian art historians Canadian women non-fiction writers University of Victoria alumni Canadian women art historians Canadian art curators Academics from Victoria, British Columbia Canadian women curators Historians of Canada 20th-century Canadian historians 21st-century Canadian historians Canadian archivists Women archivists Writers from Victoria, British Columbia