The artists featured in the Audain Art Museum at the exhibition opening on November 23, 2024. Photo credit to Oisin McHugh Photography.
“I thought about Freda [Diesing], and how she never got her full recognition because she was female …. Ellen Neel and Freda Diesing were carving when nobody was really carving, and they were critical to continue the thread of knowledge.”
"Traditionally, women didn’t carve in our culture, but I was taught by Freda, and she was the only one that was willing to teach us, and it's important because now we're seeing results from the school. It's taken a while, but that's what it does. It takes a while for them to develop and to learn and to get better through practice, but now we're showing good results."
– Dempsey Bob, Order of Canada, master carver, and co-founder and senior advisor to the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art. Dempsey was influential in the creation of this exhibition, emphasizing the importance of giving women carvers the recognition they are owed.
Whistler, BC – Four Coast Mountain College alumni have joined other women carvers from the Northwest Coast for an exhibition at the Audain Art Museum in Whistler, BC titled CURVE! Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast. The exhibition is on display from November 23, 2024 to May 5, 2025.
Curators Dana Claxton, an artist from Wood Mountain Lakota First Nation in Saskatchewan, and Dr. Curtis Collins, the museum’s director and chief curator, selected over 125 works of art, including poles, masks, panels, bowls, and other sculptures carved between the 1950s and the present day.
Although carving has been done in many Indigenous communities on the Northwest Coast for thousands of years, the practice was nearly lost due to assimilation policies, potlatch and ritual bans, and the residential school system. Since its resurgence in the late 20th century, carving has remained largely dominated by male artists, while female artists were often attributed to other art forms such as beadwork, weaving, or painting. CURVE! aims to bring into the light the contributions of women to the art and practice of carving and the distinct femininity and spirit that they bring to their works.
Alumni Arlene Ness, Cherish Alexander, Stephanie Anderson, and Veronica Waechter completed diplomas through the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art, under the mentorship of Dempsey Bob with co-founders and master carvers Stan Bevan and Ken McNeil. All four alumni are displaying pieces alongside other iconic female carvers, including Ellen Neel, Freda Diesing, and Doreen Jensen, in the upcoming show. The Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art also loaned two masks carved by Freda Diesing to the Audain Art Museum for the exhibition.
When asked how he feels to see some of his former students being part of the exhibition, Dempsey Bob says he feels proud.
“I felt really good. I felt proud of them …. We’ve got the next generation of artists, artists that are going to continue what we gave them, and also grow the art. That’s important because now it’s part of history,” Dempsey says. “I’m very proud of the school, and I’m proud of the students.”
Arlene Ness is a member of Git Luxhl Lim Het’Wit - Wilps TsiBasaa (Giskaast of the Gitxsan Nation). She started her Northwest Coast art training at the Kitanmaax School of Indian Art and Design at K’san Historical Village, and then joined the first graduating class of the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art in 2008. Arlene currently creates and teaches carving, totem pole carving, knife-making, painting, design, and jewelry.
For as long as Arlene can remember, she has loved creating art in all forms and mediums. Looking back, she says she is amazed at the intensity with which she tackled researching Gitxsan art and learning to carve. Having access to artists and mentors such as Vernon Stephens, Earl Muldon, Ya’Ya Heit, and many others in her community was a great advantage, as they shared their knowledge and encouraged her.
Arlene reflects on the experience of seeing her artwork displayed in the exhibition:
“It is a rare circumstance for an artist that sells through galleries to know where their artwork ends up. I am very thankful to the curators of this show Dana Claxton and Dr. Curtis Collins. To see the artwork again, and to actually meet the new caretakers of the art (collectors) at the opening reception was so special. I was happy to show some first carvings and new carvings to showcase my journey as an artist. To see the array of artwork alongside the other artists, and especially the artwork of the original trailblazers, was almost overwhelming. You really need a few hours just to take it all in.”
Cherish Alexander is a member of the Gitxsan and Tsimshian Nations. She was also part of the first cohort of graduates from the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art in 2008, and again in 2010.
“I really cherish those days. The Freda Diesing School felt like a family and such a warm and supportive place to learn,” Cherish says. “I am still beside myself that Dana [Claxton] chose to do so much for me, and that she chose to have my work alongside so many amazing, hardworking, and inspiring women artists. It’s renewed me and inspired me to deepen my commitment to my art moving forward.”
Stephanie Anderson is an artist of the Likhsilyu (Small Frog) clan of the Witsuwit’en Nation. Stephanie graduated with her First Nations Fine Arts diploma in 2009, under the mentorship of master carver Ken McNeil, one of the founders of the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art. She currently lives and creates jewelry and carvings in Terrace, BC.
“I’d say I was born an artist and that the encouragement of my family allowed me to reach this point in my life. I’ve had the opportunity to work with master carvers and put their fundamental teachings to work creating the style that I carve today,” says Stephanie.
“This exhibition brought together an amazing group of women carvers, from those who are well into their developed careers to the younger generation that I am part of. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to connect and share with them, we have all walked similar paths and have shared many experiences over the distances between us.”
Veronica Waechter is an artist from the Gitxsan Nation. Graduating with a diploma from the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art in 2016, Veronica went on to Emily Carr University of Art + Design to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2018. She then graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from Ontario College of Art & Design University in 2023. Her mentors and teachers in sculpture include her father, Martin Waechter, master carver Dempsey Bob, Stan Bevan, Ken McNeil, Chuck Ya’Ya Heit, Gerry Sheena, and the trees and salmon.
Coast Mountain College extends heartfelt congratulations to the incredible artists featured in the exhibition, whose contributions to Northwest Coast art have inspired many new generations of artists, past, present, and future.
The works featured in CURVE! Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast are shown in a 160-page hardcover book available for purchase from the Audain Art Museum website.
Arlene Ness speaks to an attendee at the exhibition opening. Photo credit to Oisin McHugh Photography.
Attendees study a mask carved by Freda Diesing at the exhibition opening. Photo credit to Oisin McHugh Photography.
(From left to right) Lilly Buhler, Grace Edison, and Stephanie Anderson with Stephanie's piece "Relations" from the collection of Coast Mountain College. Photo credit to Oisin McHugh Photography.
Arlene Ness with her piece titled "Copperwoman Moon" carved in 2013. Photo credit to Arlene Ness.
Arlene Ness' most recent carving titled “Dreamer: Dance of the Cosmos”, 2024. Photo credit to Arlene Ness.
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Media Contact:
Lucy Stanford
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lstanford@coastmountaincollege.ca
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