to carve a totem at First Metropolitan Church, “right next to the pulpit,” he said. MacDonald was recently instrumental in bringing Tony Hunt Jr.
#TOTEM TRIBE GOLD FEATHERS UPDATE#
Museum is about to update its ethnology displays. New curatorships for First Nations art are part of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and Open Space, and the Royal B.C. Most schools have had visiting artists, and there are First Peoples’ buildings at UVic and Camosun College. “From selecting the wood - which now takes more of the artist’s time and resources - to designing the piece, watching it take shape and sending photos to the client as it goes along.”Īrt these days is the key to connecting First Nations and local communities. “What I love about the art is it’s an organic process,” MacDonald said. He noted a couple of large masks recently completed on commission for a Lake of the Woods lodge by Tony Hunt Jr., which required large pieces of cedar provided from contacts in Fort Rupert. “We work with artists all up the Island,” MacDonald said. If modern technologies such as sand-blasting or glass-etching are required, the gallery knows who to call. Eagle Feather is in touch with craftsmen who can provide bent-corner boxes, custom doors or wooden panels for their artists to carve, as they did for a recent commission for the Saanich Peninsula Hospital. Many people who visit the gallery start thinking about something special for their homes. For the opening of the original section, MacDonald oversaw a mosaic project, created by Joe Wilson and incorporating 4,000 pieces of Mexican glass. LaFortune is at work on yet another commission arranged by Eagle Feather, this time a carving in wood, which will be cast in bronze locally by Nathan Scott, and installed in the new section of the Uptown Centre. “It is the family that is the strength of the artist,” MacDonald said.
LaFortune’s wife Cathy is instrumental in finishing his carvings, and son Doug Horne Jr., an anthropology student at the University of Victoria, is coming into his own as a carver. Kwak waka wak’w elder Doug LaFortune is “the back bone of the gallery,” MacDonald said. Credit all goes back to the artist at the end of the day.” “We’re fortunate to be part of the process. “A family unit working together on art work, that’s the key to success,” MacDonald said with a smile. As the years went on, the artists involved their wives and children and wider family associates. Returning to Canada, Blackstar and MacDonald thought of developing an artists’ co-operative but, realizing that a co-operative was not practical, they took on the responsibility of a gallery.Ī small number of artists call this gallery home - Tony Hunt Jr., Frances Dick, Ice Bear, Mervyn Child, silversmith Herb Lancaster and a few others have loyally provided their best work, dropping by every week or so. She was inspired to create some economic development opportunities for her family by selling First Nations arts and crafts in Tokyo.
“That experience lends itself to co-ordinating commissions.”Īt that time, while living near Tokyo, MacDonald’s wife Shirley Blackstar reunited with her Cree family in Manitoba. “In Japan, I worked in project-management work,” MacDonald said. Beginning with a client’s partially formed ideas, MacDonald contacts the appropriate artist and acts as an intermediary so all goes smoothly. While retail business is always welcome, Eagle Feather has built its 15-year reputation as a conduit for commissions. The gallery is set up to feature contemporary artists, most of whom live in Victoria, regardless of tribal affiliation. I dropped in on owner Chris MacDonald in his cosy new gallery, and we talked about what makes Eagle Feather unique.
That’s good news for people who appreciate First Nations art. But the gallery hadn’t gone away - just moved around the corner to Courtney Street. Robert Amos: Gallery a bridge between Artists and ClientsĮagle Feather First Nations Artists Gallery, 21a-633 Courtney St., 25, Ī few weeks ago, I noted that Eagle Feather Gallery had closed its Gordon Street location.
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