West Vancouver's James Harry joins six BC winners of Fulmer Award in First Nations Art
The BC Achievement Foundation prize recognizes artists behind totems, murals, beadwork, and more
The 2020 Dreamweaver mural by James Harry and Lauren Brevner.
Artist James Harry.
THE BC ACHIEVEMENT Foundation has just announced the six recipients of the Fulmer Award in First Nations Art from across the province.
A local winner is West Vancouver-based Squamish and ‘Namgis artist James Nexw’Kalus-Xwalacktun Harry, an Emily Carr University of Art and Design graduate who’s made a name for pushing carving by using 3-D computer technology. He’s perhaps best known for Xwemelch’stn, the stunning aluminum-and-light sculptural ode to the Capilano River that stands as public art in West Vancouver, and his culture-crossing collaborations with Lauren Brevner—including a brilliant red Vancouver Mural Festival painting called Dreamweaver at 1000 Everleigh Street downtown, depicting two women cloaked in a Salish blanket, and the wall-filling Rememory at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Vancouver Special: Disorientations and Echo exhibit on view now.
Other recipients of the Fulmer Awards include Haida and Kootenay artist Sgaanjaad Sherri Dick, from Masset; Heiltsuk artist Dean Hunt, from Sechelt; and ‘Namgis artist Shawn Karpes, from Alert Bay.
Tahltan, Tlingit, and Tsimshian artist Stan Bevan. of Terrace, meanwhile, has earned the Award of Distinction; celebrated for the totem poles he’s carved, Bevan is credited with helping to lead the revival of Tlingit art and design.
Stan Bevan’s Raven Beauty woodcut.
A closeup of Crystal Behn’s moosehide purse from I Am My Father’s Daughter, October 2018.
Elsewhere, Prince Georgie-based, Dene and Carrier artist Crystal Behn has received the Crabtree McLennan Emerging Artist Award for taking forward the intricate traditions of beading and moccasin-making.
Each Fulmer recipient is awarded $5,000 and presented with a medallion and pin designed by BC Indigenous artist Robert Davidson. The artists will be celebrated through an online campaign called #shinethelightbc, along with a film honouring their excellence in traditional, contemporary, or media art.
The award winners are chosen by an independent jury, including Maynard Johnny Jr., Meghann O’Brien, and Connie Watts.
The Fulmer Award in First Nations Art is made possible through the support of the Vancouver-based Fulmer Foundation, while the indepdendent BC Achievement Foundation was established in 2003 to celebrate community service, arts, humanities, and enterprise.
You can read more about the recipients and watch the inspiring and often moving films about their art and lives here.
Related Articles
