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Audrey Hawthorn was born November 25, 1917 in California. She was raised in New York City, and obtained a BA in 1939 at New College of Columbia University. Her thesis entitled "A curriculum for community studies in Habersham County Georgia", was completed under the supervision of Dr. Morris R. Mitchell, Professor, Community Planning. During 1939-1941 Audrey Hawthorn finished a thesis entitled "Socio Economic Appeals in Mass and Class Media", and was granted an M.A. degree. She also attended Yale Graduate School in Anthropology from 1940-1941. In 1941, Audrey and her husband, Dr. Harry Hawthorn, were given a joint fellowship in Latin American studies for coordinating the office of American Affairs and the Institute of Human Relations, Yale. Audrey Hawthorn was also a psychiatric case worker with the Family Services Agency in Yonkers, New York, in 1946 and 1947. Audrey came to the University of British Columbia in 1947 with her husband, who was appointed UBC's first anthropologist. She was appointed to the position of Honourary Curator. Audrey Hawthorn, a specialist in primitive art, was granted a regular appointment as curator in 1956. She was the first person, and the University of British Columbia the first institution in Canada, to begin the formal training of professional museum staff. From 1948 students from the Department of Anthropology voluntarily completed most of the work in the museum. By 1955, non-credit courses were offered to these students in order that they could actively pursue museum careers. In 1963, a credit course, Anthropology 331, Primitive Art, was added to the curriculum and in 1965 Anthropology 43 1, Museum Principles and Methods. For a number of years, these two courses were the only ones of their nature in Canada. Students were able to learn a great deal about the day-to-day operation of a museum by working with staff to complete a wide variety of activities. In recognition of her teaching responsibilities, Audrey Hawthorn was appointed Assistant Professor in 1966 and Associate Professor in 1971. Her most important publications are a study of Indian Arts and Crafts, commissioned by the Royal Commission on Arts, Letters and Sciences in 1951; "People of the Potlatch, the Art of the Kwakiutl Indians" and "A Labour of Love" (a history of the Museum of Anthropology). Due to deteriorating health, Audrey discontinued her museum duties in 1977. She formally retired in 1985. Audrey Hawthorn was awarded an honourary LL.D from the University of Brandon in May of 1984; received the Order of Canada in April of 1986; and an Honourary LL.D from UBC in 1986. Audrey Hawthorn died on November 18, 2000.

Audrey Patricia MacKay Shane was born on August 27, 1922 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received a diploma in Interior Design from the University of Manitoba in 1942 and worked for the Department of Architecture and Fine Arts at the University for the next three years. In the period between 1962 and 1970, she served in voluntary roles such as secretary of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and treasurer of the Manitoba Archaeological Society. In 1974, Shane received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia (UBC). A year later, she was hired as Archivist/Librarian at the Museum of Anthropology, a position she held until she was appointed Curator of Documentation in 1979. As Archivist/Librarian, Shane was responsible for the documentation of the Museum’s collections for inclusion in the National Inventory of Canada as well as for the cataloguing of the collections.

Shane completed her M.A. in Anthropology in UBC in 1978. Her primary interest was in the art and material culture of the northern Northwest Coast, China, Japan and the Insular Pacific before the 20th century. As the Curator of Documentation, Shane’s responsibilities included ensuring the accurate permanent catalogue records were created and maintained for the Museum’s collections, interpreting the Museum’s collections to the public and students through exhibits, publications, university and community teaching, and representing the museum on a local and international level. She taught a series of laboratory sessions in the Anthropology course, Museum Principles and Methods, a course offered by UBC’s Department of Anthropology and also conducted lectures and seminars for the Museum’s volunteers. Shane has written various scholarly articles and presented many papers in numerous conferences. Her published articles include “Sensibilities: Unsuspected Multicultural Harmonies” which appeared in the March/April 1983 issue of Canadian Collector, “Power in Their Hands: the Gitsontk,” which was published in The Tsimshian: Images of the Past Views for the Present and “Networking: the Canadian Experience,” a paper published for the Western Museum Conference in 1983. Shane has also curated a number of exhibitions and served on the Acquisitions and Collections Committees within the Museum. In addition, she was active in committees formed by professional associations such as the British Columbia Museum Association Committee on Legal and Ethical Questions. She also assumed the role of Signing Expert Examiner in Ethnography for the Canadian Cultural Property Export and Import Board. Shane retired from her position at the Museum in 1987.

Reverend Basil Shakespeare Sutherland Hartley was ordained by the BC Conference of the United Church of Canada in 1939. Accompanied by his wife Edythe, Hartley worked in communities throughout BC, including Skidegate (1939-1940), Kitimaat (1941-1943), Windermere Valley (1944-1945), Greenwood (1946-1947), Nakusp (1948-1950). In 1951 he retired to Vancouver, and later lived in Nanaimo (1953), Castor, Alberta (1945-1955), and Rockey Mountain House (1956-1957). He died in 1973. Edythe Hartley later remarried, becoming Edythe McClure.

Beatrice ‘Beatty’ Pilon worked in Chengtu, Szechwan, China in the late 1940s and made a month-long trip into Tibet by horseback in 1948. Some objects Pilon purchased while in Tibet were later donated to the Museum of Anthropology.

Ben Houstie is a Heiltsuk artist born in Bella Bella, BC (Waglisla) in 1960. Ben’s works include: original paintings, limited edition prints, carved cedar rattles, and paddles. He has worked with Cheryl Hall, Robert Hall, David Gladstone, and Beau Dick. In 1988, Ben worked under Bill Reid painting several drums of Bill’s designs and 20 paddles for the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. Ben also painted several reconstructed artworks in 2000 for the Museum of Anthropology’s "The Transforming Image" exhibition. He is known for producing small original paintings and miniature wood masks. As a child, Ben watched master carver, Mungo Martin, working on the world’s largest totem pole, in Alert Bay, B.C. He is a survivor of the St Michael’s residential school in Alert Bay and his art serves as a form of healing and cultural connection. His great grandfather is Daniel Houstie and his son is Christopher Houstie. From: https://sa-cinn.com/ben-houstie-artcards-prints/

Ben Williams Leeson was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, UK, in 1866 and emigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1886 with his parents, Anna and Jobe L. Leeson. He began taking photographs in the Cariboo in 1887 and moved to Quatsino Sound in about 1894 where he and his father managed the salmon and clam cannery located on the opposite shore, as well as a store (J. L. Leeson & Son) selling clothes and provisions. Ben Leeson is particularly noted for his portraits of First Nations people and was fascinated by "flat-headed" Kwakiutl women.

According to the British Columbia Archives, Ben William Leeson married Evelyn May Hawkins on February 15, 1912 in Quatsino. In 1939 Leeson retired and moved to Vancouver. He died March 15, 1948.

Bertram Charles (B.C.) Binning was born on February 10, 1909 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Due to an illness at a young age, he spent much of his time drawing in seclusion. His passion for art and architecture resulted in his enrolment in 1927 at the-then Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts. After spending time in the United States, in 1933 Binning was appointed to a staff position with the Vancouver School of Art. Later in 1938, B.C. Married Jessie Wyllie, the daughter of a Vancouver businessman. In 1949, he was transferred to the University Of British Columbia School Of Architecture. Soon after, he founded the Department of Fine Arts at UBC, which he headed for over twenty-five years.

With his appointment to the department of Fine Arts came a shift in his artistic direction. Whereas pre-1948 he had established himself as an internationally recognized architect, post-1948 he felt himself drawn towards expressing his creativity in oil painting. Building upon his architectural background, Binning often painted large complementary mosaic murals for various buildings and was particularly inspired by ships, marinas and seascapes in general; these were recurring themes for most of his artistic life.

The Binnings took the first of many visits to Japan in 1958. It was there that B.C. felt particularly inspired by the Japanese art and architecture he witnessed; these were a vehicle for a new and lengthy direction for his future work. While in Japan, B.C. and Jessie forged a deep relationship with Bishop Kojo Sakamoto (1875-1969), the 37th Superintendent Priest of the Kiyoshi Kojin Seicho-ji temple. A skilled calligrapher, Sakamoto’s work was influenced by colleague and friend Tomioka Tessai (1836-1924), a talented painter and calligrapher in his own right. The Binnings’ relationship with Sakamoto resulted in over a decade of frequent correspondence between Sakamoto, his family, and other Japanese friends with both B.C. and Jessie. After Sakamoto opened a successful Tessai exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1961, B.C. convinced him to contribute his own calligraphy for an exclusive exhibit that was eventually opened in September 1966 at the Fine Arts Gallery at the University of British Columbia.

Health problems prevented Binning from actively contributing to the art community in the early 1970’s, but by this time had built up a solid repertoire of pieces that have made their mark on the Canadian art scene. After his death on March 16th 1976, Jessie continued her role as a voice and representative for her husband’s work until her own death on May 25th, 2007. Her last public presence was as a consultant for an exhibit of B.C.’s work at the Vancouver Art Gallery that ran from January through April 2007.

Eva Beverley Brown (nee. Mason) was born March 11, 1930 in Bella Bella, B.C. For seven and a half years beginning in 1937 or 1938, she was a student at the St. Michael’s Residential School in Alert Bay. After leaving St. Michael’s in 1944 or 1945, Beverley attended Langley High School. In 1949, she married Wallace Percy Brown, another former student at St. Michael’s. They lived in Bella Bella until 1960, when they moved to Vancouver.

Bill Holm was an American art historian, Kwak'wala language speaker, and author, focused on Indigenous Northwest Coast art. He created artworks, and taught Northwest Coast style, including form line design. Bill and his wife, Marty, had a close friendship with Mungo Martin and were well respected by the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples and his family members were given Kwakwaka'wakw names. He was Professor Emeritus of Art History, and Curator Emeritus of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, and occasionally lectured at the University of Washington in Seattle. Holm is recognized internationally as one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field of Northwest Coast Native art history.

Holm's 1965 book "Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form" has for decades been the standard introductory text in the field. The 18th printing, the 50th-anniversary edition, was published in 2014 with new commentary.

Bill Mackay is the Skipper of the Naiad Explorer. As of 2022, he is affiliated with Mackay Whale Watching, a family owned and operated whale watching business located on the coast of Northern Vancouver Island in Port McNeill. The

William Ronald Reid (Q'adasru qiirawaay, Raven Clan of T'anuu) was born in 1920 in Victoria, B.C. His mother, Sophie Gladstone, was from the Kaadaas gaah Kiiguwaay, Raven-Wolf Clan of T'anuu (Haida), but she was educated at the Coqualeetza Residential School. His father was an American of Scottish-German descent. At twenty Reid began his career in broadcasting, as a radio announcer. From 1948 to 1958 he worked for the CBC in Toronto and Vancouver. Also, while in his twenties, he decided to emulate his maternal grandfather, Charles Gladstone and become a silver and goldsmith. Gladstone was trained by Charles Edenshaw, a master Haida artist. In conjunction with his grandfather's training, Reid analyzed many pieces held in museum collections. He also trained in traditional European jewellery techniques in Toronto, Ontario and London, England and applied those techniques (eg. repousse) to Northwest Coast metal work. When Reid returned to the West Coast he began seriously to pursue Haida imagery in both jewelry and sculpture. His works, known for their superb craftsmanship, range from exquisite carvings in precious metals and argillite to monumental sculptures in bronze and cedar. They have been collected and exhibited all over the world. Some of his most acclaimed sculptures include The Raven and the First Men at the Museum of Anthropology, and The Spirit of Haida Gwaii (1991), castings of which are located at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Vancouver Airport. Other celebrated pieces include Chief of the Undersea World at the Vancouver Aquarium, and Lootaas (Wave Eater), a cedar canoe that has been shown in Paris, and is now at home in Haida Gwaii. Bill Reid was the first living artist to have his work displayed in the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, in an exhibition celebrating the works of ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. It can be said that Bill Reid's work forms a link between ancient and contemporary artistic styles, and was instrumental in the revitalization of the northern Northwest Coast artistic tradition. Reid received many awards in his lifetime, including the Canada Council Molson Award, the Bronfman Award for Excellence in Crafts, the Vancouver Lifetime Achievement Award, the Royal Bank Award for Outstanding Canadian Achievement, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Lifetime Achievement. UBC awarded Bill Reid an Honorary degree in 1976 for his contribution to the cultural life of Canada. He died on March 13, 1998 after a 30-year battle with Parkinson's disease.

Bob Kingsmill is a professional potter and ceramics instructor who lives and works near Vernon, BC. Born in Vancouver, Kingsmill trained in ceramics under Muriel Guest in Winnipeg before returning to British Columbia and establishing his own pottery studio in Kelowna in 1967. Kingsmill later moved to Bowen Island, where he compiled his first book A Catalogue of British Columbia Potters (published 1978). In 1979, Kingsmill opened a studio on Granville Island in Vancouver, which he continues to operate alongside his studio near his current home in Vernon.

Bob Kingsmill produces a wide variety of stoneware and raku-fired ceramics, including wall murals, masks, and functional pottery. Besides his artistic endeavours, Kingsmill has led many pottery workshops throughout BC and has taught at Capilano College, Malaspina College, and for Emily Carr College of Art and Design’s Outreach Program.

James Cook was a British naval captain, navigator, and explorer who sailed the seaways and coasts of Canada (1759 and 1763–67), and conducted three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean (1768–71, 1772–75, and 1776–79), ranging from the Antarctic ice fields to the Bering Strait, and from the coasts of North America, to Australia and New Zealand. It was during his third voyage that Captain Cook sailed into the waters of what is now known as British Columbia. He spent a short period in the Pacific Northwest along what is now Vancouver Island during an expedition to find the fabled Northwest Passage. He never located the Passage, but paved the way for others to make a tremendous impact by establishing a British presence in the Pacific Northwest - he particularly influenced George Vancouver, who would sail as a midshipman with Captain Cook during his Pacific voyages.

When mapping the west coast of Vancouver Island, Cook gathered and recorded a vast amount of information about the Indigenous peoples of the area and their cultures. Cook also established a trading relationship with the Mowachaht Nation and their Chief Maquinna. The knowledge gathered by Cook contributed significantly to future expeditions, which eventually led to the European settlement and colonization of British Columbia. Cook died on February 14, 1779, on the Island of Hawaii.

Carol Elizabeth Mayer was a curator at the Museum of Anthropology (UBC) from 1987-2022. She is a Canadian citizen. Her educational background includes a Diploma in Arts & Sciences (honours) from Vancouver City College in 1972. In 1974 Carol completed a Bachelor of Arts (honours), majoring in Anthropology, at the University of British Columbia. In 1976 she received a Certificate in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University in Cambridge, UK and in 1996 she received a Ph.D. from the University of Leicester, UK in Museum Studies.

Carol began working at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology (MOA) in 1987 as Curator of Collections and held that position until 1990 when she was appointed the Curator of Ethnology/Ceramics, a position she held until 2005. In 2005 she was appointed Curator of Africa/Pacific, and Curatorial Department Head. As of 2016, she is Curator of Oceania & Africa. In 1993 Carol also became an Instructor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. She was the co-founder and the Director of the Museum Studies Certificate Programme for MOA and the Department of Continuing Studies in 1996 and 1997. She has participated in several committees at MOA such as the Acquisition Committee, Collections Committee, Research & Teaching Committee, Executive Committee, and the Renewal Project Team. As Head Curator she is responsible for researching her area of specialty, publishing and presenting papers, representing the Curatorial Department on committees, constructing and overseeing departmental budgets, developing exhibitions and collections, and developing acquisitions policies.

Outside of UBC Carol is an instructor at the University of Victoria in the Faculty of History of Art (1989 to present), and at Emily Carr College of Art and Design in the Visual Arts Department and Art History Department (1993 to present). Previous to MOA Carol worked at The Vancouver Museum where she held several positions from 1975 until 1987.

Carol Mayer has published internationally on curatorship, exhibition, design and ceramics. She is active in provincial, national and international museum associations and has served on boards at all these levels. She has chaired and organized BC Museums Association Conferences as in the year 2000 where she was on the Planning Committee. The Canadian Museums Association awarded her in 1984 with the National Award of Merit for Curatorship and in 1991 with the National Award for Outstanding Achievement. In 2009 she received the International Council of Museums Canada International Achievement award. Many of her exhibition projects have involved collaborative work with communities and their artists, whether they be local or far afield.