Worlds of art, education mourn loss

Page 29

Bob Boyer, a world-renowned artist and head of the department of Indian fine arts at First Nations University of Canada (FNUC), collapsed and died of a heart attack while dancing at a powwow in Nebraska on Aug. 31. He was 56.

At the funeral service on Labour Day, people paid their last respects to a man who influenced the lives of artists and students in a variety of ways.

"This facility-the department of Indian fine arts-is his legacy," said Carmen Robertson, assistant professor of fine arts at the university. "He created this like he created one of his pieces of art. He created it from his heart."

Born in Prince Albert in 1948, Boyer graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, Regina campus (now the University of Regina) in 1971 with a bachelor of education specializing in art education. While attending university, Boyer came under the tutelage of Ted Godwin, an art professor and one of the influential "Regina Five." Godwin helped Boyer to develop his artistic side.

"Ted told us that when he was teaching art history classes, he would see a sea of white faces, and then notice Bob," said Mary Weimer, owner and curator of Assiniboia Gallery, where Boyer exhibited many paintings over the years. "There weren't many Aboriginal students at the university at the time, especially in the art department."

Boyer made the first of his "blanket statement" artworks soon after graduation. These were artworks done combining traditional Aboriginal design patterns with elements used in contemporary art and used as a political statement. Blankets played an important role in Aboriginal culture in the 18th and 19th centuries, when Aboriginal people would barter with fur traders for them. Often the blankets provided would be infected with disease, such as smallpox and tuberculosis, sometimes purposely.

"Much of his early work was very political, making a lot of statements that weren't that common at that time," Weimer said. "As he developed and matured as an artist, he turned to celebrate his heritage."

Boyer also became interested in teaching the next generation of Aboriginal artists. In the late 1970s, he became a professor of Indian art at FNUC, then called the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, an academic post he held through the remainder of his life.

"It was an academic area Bob created by himself. He had taken art history classes at the [University of Regina], and realized that the voice of Aboriginal artists at the time was non-existent," Robertson said.

"He conceived of art history from an Aboriginal viewpoint, and started by creating, with the input of Elders, a series of classes and conducting courses celebrating what First Nations artists had to offer."

He was also a big promoter, behind the scenes, of the next generation of Aboriginal artists.

People within Saskatchewan's art community remember him as a warm, kind-hearted man who loved nothing better than driving his Harley Davidson from his home in Rouleau, about 15 kilometres south of Regina, to the city.

Boyer was a fixture on the powwow circuit, attending many events across North America.

Boyer is survived by his wife of 34 years, Ann, two sons and two grandchildren.