First Name: Richard

Last Name: Hunt

Full Name: Richard Hunt

Alternative Names: Gwe-la-yo-gwe-la-gya-lis “A man that travels and wherever he goes, he potlatches”

Date of birth: 1951

Place of birth: Alert Bay, British Columbia

Community/Heritage: Kwakiutl  

Sex: Male

Website: https://www.richardhunt.com/

Art Media: carver

Bio: 

Richard Hunt was born a Kwaguilth of the Kwakuitl Nation in Alert Bay. He is the son of Henry Hunt, the grandson of Mungo Martin, and the brother of Tony Hunt. As such, Hunt is one of the rare artists who has served an apprenticeship under an old master in an unbroken chain of Indigenous art tradition. 

Hunt began carving in his early teens. By the age of twenty, he was an accomplished carver and designer. In 1973, Hunt began work at the Royal British Columbia Museum as an apprentice carver under his father. The following year, he assumed the duties of chief carver in the Thunderbird Park Carving Program. 

In 1986, Hunt resigned from the Royal British Columbia Museum to begin a new career as a freelance artist. He has since been commissioned to create works internationally, including projects in England, Scotland, Australia and the United States.

Exhibitions

• 1970:  The Legacy—Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Art, Provincial Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• 2005: Richard Hunt: The Evolution of My Time, Solo Exhibition, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Articles

Richard Hunt: Indigenous Artist and Elder by James Ellsworth, Inspired 55+ Lifestyle Magazine, October 1, 2017

Awards

• 1991: Order of British Columbia
• 1994: Order of Canada
• 2004: Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria
• 2004: Accepted into the Membership of the Royal Academy of the Arts
• 2009: BC Creative Achievement Award for Aboriginal Art
• 2012: Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal
• 2014: Inducted into the Victoria High School Wall of Fame