Simon Dick

Simon was born in Alert Bay in 1951. Raised in Kingcome Inlet, Simon Dick is a

Kwakwaka'wakw traditionalist carver and Kwicksutaineuk chief, fluent in the Kwakwala

language, dance, and teachings. A maternal and paternal descendant of grandfather

chiefs, Dick was tutored by both, and apprenticed with acclaimed carver Tony Hunt and

studied language and music with Chief Sam Henderson. A master canoe carver, Dick

assisted Bill Reid in carving a seven-metre canoe, and with the Heiltsuk Nation of Bella

Bella, a ten-and-a-half metre canoe. His third canoe was commissioned by the Museum

fur Volkerkunde in Berlin. The artist's massive 18 metre fib reg lass sculpture Kolus, won

an award for stage design at Expo '86 and travelled to Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia,

before its purchase by the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. An initiate

into the prestigious Hamatsa secret society, Dick has also performed internationally. He

held his first potlatch in 1983. He started prodcuing limited edition prints in 1995.