Kwakwaka'wakw artist Kevin Cranmer (b. 1968) was born in Alert Bay, BC, but has lived all but four years of his life in Victoria. As a small boy, Cranmer watched his father and other artists at work in Tony Hunt’s original Arts of the Raven Gallery. His first formal instruction came in 1980, under the tutelage of George Hunt Jr. About a year later, Cranmer approached master carver,
Tony Hunt Sr., to further his understanding of traditional Kwakwaka'wakw design.
Kevin spent a year and a half at the Raven Arts workshop. Cranmer observed and worked alongside such renowned artists as Tony Hunt,
Calvin Hunt,
Tony Hunt Jr.,
John Livingston, and
Patrick Amos. Cranmer first worked on smaller pieces such as plaques and figures, before eventually moving onto masks. Cranmer taught art classes at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, and demonstrated carving at several Greater Victoria public schools. He has also been initiated as a Hamatsa, the most important of the complex dance societies of the Kwakwaka'wakw.
Kevin Cranmer's introduction to larger monumental sculpture began in 1988, when he began to work alongside renowned Nuu Chah Nulth artist
Tim Paul in Thunderbird Park at the Royal British Columbia Museum. Cranmer's credits include several large co-operative projects: a 40-ft totem pole that stands in Stanley Park, Vancouver; a 30-ft Nuu Chah Nulth pole on display at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa; and a 36ft pole carved for the closing ceremonies of the 1990 Commonwealth games in Auckland, New Zealand.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
1995 Tribal Miniatures: Dreams of Silver and Gold, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
1996 , annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
1997 Tribal Miniatures '97, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
1998 Tribal Miniatures '98, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
1999 Killerwhale and Crocodile- showcasing artists from the Northwest Coast and Papua New Guinea
1999 Tribal Miniatures '99, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
2000 Tribal Miniatures '00, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
2001 Tribal Miniatures '01, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
2002 Tribal Miniatures X, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
2004 Tribal Adornments, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
2004-2005 Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewellery Arts of the Northwest and Southwest, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
