VICTORIA – Dean Heron is celebrating his fifth year with the Construction Foundation of BC (CFBC) as their Artist in Residence – Indigenous Skills.
Heron is of Kaska/Tlingit ancestry and a member of the Wolf Clan, a CFBC release said. He was adopted by a Canadian father and Scottish mother with his ancestral heritage introduced to him through trips to the museum and First Nations galleries.
Heron has transferred his experiences and skill set into his CFBC role with Indigenous workshops and programs that span across the province combining both traditional and contemporary approaches to assist and support youth entering the skilled trades, a release stated.
“Most of my work is actually bringing tools, knowledge and art to — up until now — mainly youth. Working with different schools around the Peninsula and bringing these aspects into the school -really just celebrating Indigenous knowledge as a whole,” Heron said.
Heron began his art instruction at the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art and eventually became employed by the school.
Heron was mentored by Roy H. Vickers, and assisted him in carving a totem pole for the community of Owekeeno, B.C. His serigraphs, paintings, regalia design work and carvings are featured at the High Commission of Canada in Australia, the University of British Columbia’s Aboriginal Fisheries Centre, the Norwegian Royal Family’s estate, and galleries throughout Canada, the United States, Germany and China and his work was also featured at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the release said.
Heron said he is now witnessing positive results that can occur with youth and participants of the workshops and programs.
“It’s amazing to have somebody that saw something different in themselves (because of the activities and discussions we had with them). Providing them with the resources that allowed them to actually go out and attain a goal like making money or doing a job in the community, what more can you ask for?” Heron said.
Recent Comments