Emily Carr University hosts event marking new Pacific Song of the Ancestors totem pole, September 29

The art installation, eight years in the making, is created by Master Carvers Dempsey Bob, Stan Bevan, and Lyonel Grant

SPONSORED POST BY Emily Carr University

Installation of the Pacific Song of the Ancestors totem pole. Photo credit Perrin Grauer

Emily Carr University invites the public to experience a breathtaking new art installation by Master Carvers Dempsey Bob, Stan Bevan, and Lyonel Grant, now part of the university’s permanent collection.

In recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Pacific Song of the Ancestors totem pole and accompanying exhibition articulating the pole’s journey will be open to the public on September 29 from 7:30 am to 8 pm.

The collaborative work by Bob (Tahltan-Tlingit), Bevan (Tahltan-Tlingit and Tsimshian), and Grant (Māori and Pakeha) began nearly a decade ago. It embodies the spirit of community building, interrelationships, and reverence for the diverse Indigenous cultures within B.C. and beyond.

“The artists will tell you this is the most sculptural pole they’ve ever created—a refined work of art,” says Brenda Crabtree in a release, recently retired director of Aboriginal programs, and special advisor to the president on Indigenous initiatives at Emily Carr University. “For Emily Carr University to house this masterpiece that will inspire the public and generations of students, well, it’s simply priceless.”

Master Carver Bob Dempsey. Photo credit Perrin Grauer

The project is rooted in a longstanding connection between the Aboriginal Gathering Place at Emily Carr University and communities in northern B.C., which began when Crabtree oversaw the creation of an articulation agreement with the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art. This agreement allows Indigenous students to ladder into a degree program at Emily Carr University, Canada’s top-ranked school for art and design.

Along with artist Ken McNeil (Tahltan-Tlingit and Nisga’a), Bob and Bevan founded the Freda Diesing School in 2006. They named the school after Dempsey’s late mentor, Haida artist Freda Diesing, who studied at Emily Carr University (then known as the Vancouver School of Art). Bob envisioned the Pacific Song of the Ancestors totem pole as both a tribute to Freda, and a way to honour Emily Carr University’s ongoing commitment to outreach work in rural and remote areas of B.C.

The totem pole will be on display from September 29 onward as part of Emily Carr University’s permanent art collection. The pole’s accompanying exhibition will close on September 29.

More information on the event can be found here.

Post sponsored by Emily Carr University.