1945

Here's something I haven't done in a while. Today, I am taking a look at events in 1945 that helped shape this beautiful city.

In January of 1945, Charles Cotterell - a CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) assistant general manager since 1934 - became president of the Vancouver Board of Trade. Sadly, he died February 15, 1946.

Good news for families. On February 20, 1945, the first family allowance cheques were mailed by the federal government.

Emily Carr, artist and writer, died in Victoria on March 2, 1945 at the age of 73. I am not going to go over her long career in this entry because I wrote on her in December of 2011. Here's Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

On March 6, 1945, the freighter Greenhill Park exploded in Vancouver harbour. Eight men were killed and hundreds of windows in downtown buildings were broken. Can you imagine being at work in an office and that happening? I was going to write on this event for a later post but then realized I already have an entry on that.

On April 6, the Dutch city where Captain George Vancouver was born, Coevorden, was liberated from Nazi forces by Canadian forces. April 6 also happens to be the City of Vancouver's birthday.

On April 18, writer and publisher Howard White was born in Abbotsford. White went on to make his name with a regional journal entitled Raincoast Chronicles. BC Bookworld describes Howard as “one of the key figures in the evolution of British Columbia culture.”  And Barry Broadfoot - Canadian interviewer and history writer  said, “Howard White and his Harbour Publishing have done more for regional writers, the history of the West Coast, its people, its character, its fast-fading uniqueness, than any other publisher in North America—hell, in the world.”

April 18 was also the day that a pre-school for deaf children began at Lord Tennyson School.

April 25. The United Nations began operations in New York City.

April 30 was the day that fire destroyed the Capilano Stadium. Vancouver firefighters battled the blaze, which raged past midnight into May 1. The stadium was quickly rebuilt and renamed Nat Bailey Stadium in 1978.

On May 7, Vancouverites were woken at 7:04 am by air raid sirens blaring. The sirens were announcing VE Day (Victory in Europe). Now attention was given to conquering Japan.

Thanks goes to The History of Metropolitan Vancouver website for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Emily Carr Part Three

As you know this week I have been writing on Emily Carr - painter, writer, Canadian icon. Today I am just going to inform you of some of her works and a bit of her legacy.

I found a list of seven books credited to her. The first is one I mentioned on Wednesday, Klee Wyck. This is a collection of anecdotes that tell of Carr's interaction with the First Nations' people and of her experiences while travelling to paint.

The second one tells of her life as a child and is entitled The Book of Small.

The House of All Sorts which related Emily's experiences as a landlady and then there is the book Hundreds and Thousands which is a recounting of Emily's journals. Her autobiography is entitled Growing Pains.

The Heart of A Peacock is a collection of short stories and vignettes especially about her pet monkey Woo. Pause: A Sketchbook is contains sketches and stories from her time in a sanatorium.

The Complete Writings of Emily Carr contains all her writings and was published in 1997.

To list all of Carr's paintings would take more room than I have here but some of her more famous are The Big Raven, Scorned as Timber and Beloved of the Sky.

Lawren Harris once asked Emily what was going to be done with her paintings after she died. Carr's response reportedly was "Give them to the old folks' home. I suppose they would put them in the basement, and there they would rot."

I think artists everywhere are glad that didn't happen.

If you visit Victoria you can go to the Emily Carr House which was a childhood home of Carr's. Now it is a National Historic Site of Canada where artists can display their work.

Carr's name has been used for education as well. There is the Emily Carr Secondary School in Woodbridge, Ontario; Emily Carr Elementary School in Vancouver, BC; Emily Carr Middle School in Ottawa, Ontario and there are Emily Carr public schools in Oakville, Toronto and London Ontario. And, of course, there is the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver.

In 1994 a crater on Venus that is approximately 31.9 meters in diameter was named the Carr crater by the International Astronomical Union. I think Emily would have gotten a kick out of that.

But I think she would have been honoured when a sidewater of the Chapplet Inlet on the North Coast of British Columbia was named the Emily Carr Inlet.

This is my last entry for 2011. I will start posting again on January 2, 2012 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my readers and to wish you all the best of the holiday season. May the next two weeks be filled with love and happiness. And may you all stay safe.

As always, I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Emily Carr, Vancouver, DVBIA, schools, art, Chapplet Inlet, British Columbia

Emily Carr Part Two

This is Always Wishing You Were Somewhere Else by Louisa Tsui.

As promised, I am going to show you more of the decorated electrical boxes on Granville and tell you more about Emily Carr.

When I finished Monday Emily had felt that she wasn't being appreciated for her artwork and had spent fifteen years doing little painting and running a boarding house.

But Ms. Carr's work was coming to the attention of some influential people like a prominent ethnologist by the name of Marius Barbeau who persuaded the Director of Canada's National  Gallery, Eric Brown, to visit Emily in 1927.

You are looking at All The Possiblities by Roberta Chang.

At Brown's invitation Carr sent 26 oil paintings along with samples of her pottery and rugs with indigenous designs east to be included in an exhibition of West Coast Aboriginal Art that the gallery was having. This exhibit  which included works by Edwin Holgate and Group of Seven founder, A.Y. Jackson traveled from Ottawa to Toronto and Montreal. Carr visited the exhibition in the spring and timed her journey so that she was able to meet members of the Group of Seven who at the time were Canada's most recognized modern painters. This encounter changed the direction of Carr's artistic life.

This is Bird's Eye View by Brenna Randlett. There may be something at the top but I am too short to see!

I haven't shown this side of the electrical boxes because they are all the same. A little of the artwork with the 'wrap' logo and the name of the artist and title of the piece.

The encounter with the Group of Seven ended Carr's artistic isolation of the previous fifteen years and reinvigorated her sense of purpose. It may also have assisted Carr with her spiritual side. Emily's 'distrust for institutional religion' pervades much of her art and at this time, like many artists of her time, she became influenced by Theosophic thought. She began to view God as nature and led a spiritual way of life, rejecting the Church.

Sylvia Chan created 'Wiring Problem'.

This meeting led to more support for Carr and her art but one person stood out. Artist and Group of Seven member Lawren Harris told Carr "You are one of us". An important statement to an artist who not only had a self-deprecating manner but who had also just about given up on her passion.

New Vancouver + Old Vancouver by Sarah Wilson.

During the late 1920s and 1930s Emily Carr continued her journeys to places like the Queen Charlottes and other First Nations' settlements. Her work was finally being recognized and shown in places like London, Paris, Washington and Amsterdam as well as major Canadian cities.

In 1939 Emily Carr suffered a severe heart attack and was forced to move in with her sister Alice. She shifted her attention from painting to writing and with the help of her friend Ira Dilworth, who was principal of Victoria High School, Carr was able to see her first book Klee Wyck published in 1941. A year later Carr was awarded the Governor-General's award for non fiction for her debut literary work.

On March 2, 1945 - shortly before she was to be awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of British Columbia - Emily Carr died in the James Bay Inn in Victoria, British Columbia.

How Electrifying! By Jocelyn Chan

I want to thank the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, the DVBIA and the art students for inspiring these last two entries. Friday I will mention some more on Emily Carr and her works.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Emily Carr, Vancouver, DVBIA, Lawren Harris, art, Group of Seven, A.Y. Jackson