Exhibit celebrates lifetime works of Métis artist

The memory of one of Saskatchewan’s most well known visual artists is being kept alive through an online exhibition.

The hope is that his talent will be shared with younger generations.

‘Bob Boyer: His Life’s Work’ is a virtual museum that was launched on March 5 by the MacKenzie Art Gallery and the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

“He is a very influential artist,” said Michelle LaVallee, Assistant Curator for the Mackenzie Art Gallery. “Not just (as) an artist, he was also a curator and an educator.”
The lifetime of work of Bob Boyer is celebrated through online vignettes, a photo gallery and interviews of Boyer’s peers, which are all included in a teacher’s guide that will enable the Métis artist to be a part of contemporary curriculum.

From September 2008 to January 2009, the Mackenzie Art Gallery featured an exhibition of Boyer’s artwork. Part of the exhibit, which took five years to create, was an educational program. The program incorporated workshops and activities that a handful of local schools participated in.

Now with the virtual exhibition, classrooms around the world can participate.

“Teachers that were not able to participate in the project as it was happening here with the exhibition now can work with this guide to teach,” said LaVallee.

As one of the people who has worked to create ‘Bob Boyer: His Life’s Work’ since its inception two years ago, LaValle attested to the time it took to gather the necessary information.

The virtual museum offers a personal touch with interviews of people who personally knew Boyer before he passed away in 2004. Their thoughts were recorded during their visits to the physical museum in 2008.

“We had a lot of colleagues, friends admirers, artists, curators come out for the exhibition, so it just seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk with them and include them in this project,” said LaVallee.

Boyer offered a significant contribution to the fine arts program at the First Nations University of Canada when he was the head of the department in 1978 up until his death.

He is also remembered as an activist for proper recognition of Aboriginal artists in Canada. As a board member of the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA), Boyer lobbied for the inclusion of Aboriginal art at Canadian institutions in the eighties and early nineties.

Boyer is known for one of his specific series, which features his artwork on blankets. Both the figurative and literal use of blankets throughout history allowed Boyer to express his thoughts on serious issues.

“[He] referenced the trading of blankets, or the giving of blankets, or the infestation of small pox with blankets and blanket statements by the government,” said LaVallee.

The virtual exhibition is free of charge and will be available for five years. Sixty of Boyer’s pieces are on display with 360-degree access at: www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/BobBoyer/