Haida artist James Hart wins $100,000 Audain Prize for Visual Art
The hereditary chief is renowned for his totem poles, jewellery, prints, and more
Jim Hart. Photo courtesy SFU.
JAMES “JIM” HART, A hereditary chief of the Eagle Clan of the Haida Nation, has received the 2021 Audain Prize for Visual Art.
The award carries a cash prize of $100,000 from the Audain Foundation. The prize is managed by Whistler’s Audain Art Museum, where Hart's The Dance Screen (The Scream Too) is on permanent display.
Hart was born in Masset, and his mother, Joan Hart, is the granddaughter of master carver Charles Edenshaw. In 1978 he apprenticed with master carver Robert Davidson, and from 1980 to 1984 he worked as an assistant to Bill Reid.
Adept across carving, jewellery, and printmaking, Hart works in metals like silver, gold, and bronze, and is renowned for his totem poles, such as Ottawa’s The Three Watchmen, which sit in collections throughout the world. Other accomplishments include Frog Constellation; installed on the campus of Simon Fraser University, restoring an old Haida pole for the Smithsonian in New York City; and overseeing the construction of Haida house in the Canadian Museum of Civilization. He holds an honorary doctorate from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University.
“It is a real honour to make this award to one of B.C.’s greatest living artists – Jim Hart,” Audain Foundation chair Michael Audain said in the ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver today. “Mr. Hart is a carver in a long line of Haida artists.”
The Audain Foundation also funds five $7,500 travel grants for students in university-level visual arts programs. This year the students are: Pip Dryden at University of British Columbia Okanagan; Carly Greene at University of Victoria; Erick Jantzen at Emily Carr University of Art and Design; Homa Khosravi at Simon Fraser University; and Romi Kim at University of British Columbia.
The Audain Prize was established in 2004 to honour BC's most distinguished artists. Past recipients include Ann Kipling, Edward J. Hughes, Eric Metcalfe, Gordon Smith, Jeff Wall, Liz Magor, Robert Davidson, Rodney Graham, Paul Wong, Susan Point, and Stan Douglas.
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