First Name: Bruce

Last Name: Alfred

Full Name: Bruce Alfred

Name in syllabics: N/A

Alternative Names: N/A

Date of birth: 1950

Place of birth: Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada

Date of death: N/A

Place of death: N/A

Community/Heritage: Kwakwaka’wakw (Southern Kwakuitl), Nimpkish Band

Sex: Male

Disc Number: N/A

Website: N/A

Art Media: Carving, bent-box making

Bio: 

Bruce Alfred is a Southern Kwakiutl artist from the Nimpkish Band known for carving and bent-box making. He was born in 1950 in Alert Bay, a remote island village on the northern coast of Vancouver Island, and was raised by his grandmother, Agnes Alfred. 

Alfred studied with several prominent artists including Beau Dick, Tony Hunt, Wayne Alfred, Bill Reid and Richard Hunt. Alfred also worked with Doug Cranmer, assisting on many of Cranmer’s large-scale commissions over the years. Cranmer taught Alfred the bent-wood technique for making boxes which Alfred was to explore throughout his career and for which he achieved great recognition.

Alfred has been involved in the development and growth of the U’Mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay. He has assisted with various aspects of the museum as well as having served as an artist-in-residence. He has completed many commissions directed through the museum and has produced several pieces for the permanent collection. 

In 1996, Alfred was hired as one of four carvers to create a Northwest Coast village installation for the Dolfinerium Theme Park in Harderwijk, Holland. This included several totem poles greater than 25 feet and three house fronts.

In 1998, he joined a team of eight artists led by Cranmer to carve the posts and beams to rebuild the Alert Bay longhouse after the original building was lost to a fire. 

In 2006, Alfred went to Australia to carve a ten-foot totem pole for the Commonwealth Games that is now displayed in the forecourt of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. 

Exhibitions

• 1980: Legacy - Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Indian Art, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Awards

• 2008: BC Creative Achievement Award for First Nations’ Art