Home > Artist Database > Bio-bibliographic Database > DEAR-HESSON, Audrey

Artist Database

DEAR-HESSON, Audrey

Born
Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1929
Biography synopsis
In 1951 Audrey Dear-Hesson was the first black Canadian to graduate from the Nova Scotia College of Art (NSCAD). She got her start as an artist when her ninth-grade teacher, artist Elizabeth Tolson, submitted her name for high-school art classes at the Nova Scotia College of Art where she was awarded a full time scholarship. She studied at NSCAD from 1947-1951, majoring in crafts (jewellery, metalwork, woodcarving, and pottery). Dear-Hesson was not only among the first graduates of the college's new Art Education program, she was one of the top-graduating students of her class. A highlight of her time at NSCAD was being commissioned to make a Moroccan leather case for a commemorative booklet that was presented to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on their visit of the war cruiser the HMCS Ontario.
Media used
Ceramics
Jewellery making
Metalworking
Pottery
Sculpture
Wood carving
Education
Nova Scotia College of Art, 1947 - 1951
File & Archive locations
CBC Digital Archives
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"Black History Month to be celebrated with Local Event Series." Chronicle Herald (Halifax) 04 Feb. 2017: D3
Alumni Profile: Audrey Dear-Hesson NSCAD University Halfx, Nova Scotia: NSCAD University, 18 Mar. 2013
http://nscad.ca/audrey-dear-hesson/
Barnard, Elissa. "Hesson shattered Racial Barriers as NSCAD Grad." The Chronicle Herald (Halifax) 31 Jan. 2013
Chisholm, Colin. A Trailblazer for African Nova Scotia art speaks. The Chronicle Herald Halifax, Nova Scotia: 2013.
http://web.archive.org/web/20180326203413/http://thechronicleherald.ca/community/dartmouth/1123602-a-trailblazer-for-african-nova-scotia-art-speaks
Shapones, Chris. "In This Place: Black Art in Nova Scotia.” VisualArtsNews April 19, 2017
http://visualartsnews.ca/2017/04/in-this-place-the-lasting-impact-of-nova-scotias-first-exhibition-of-black-artists-work/
Smulders, Marilyn. Art of the Heart: the Cherished Work of More than 40 Black Artists comes together in a Monumental Exhibit." The Daily News 19 Feb. 1998

Search by: