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Artist Database
MORGAN, Judith Phyllis
- Born
- Kitwanga, British Columbia, 1930
- Died
- Hazelton, British Columbia, 2016
- Biography synopsis
- The paintings of Judith Morgan represented the life, stories and legends of her people, the Gitxsan First Nations. She studied painting at the Alberni Residential School with artist George Sinclair in the late 1940s and was granted an arts award from the British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society for a residency at the Provincial Museum in 1947 and again in 1948. After a 1949 exhibition at the British Columbia Provincial Museum where five of her works were acquired, the exhibition was shown at various galleries across the country, concluding at the National Gallery of Canada. Morgan studied art education, obtaining a B.A. degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. She taught in elementary and secondary schools in Kansas, and in 1983 returned to her traditional territory of Gitwangak where she continued to paint, illustrate Gitxsan stories, and taught the Gitsenimx language. In 2004 she earned a master’s degree in First Nations Studies from the University of Northern British Columbia. Her paintings affirm a message of cultural resilience representing the colonial relations of Indigenous and settler communities. In 1993 her works were exhibited at the University of Victoria.
- Media used
- Painting
- Education
- Kansas City Art Institute, ? - 1976
- University of Northern British Columbia, ? - 2004
- File & Archive locations
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- British Columbia Archives
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
- Vancouver Public Library, BC - Fine Arts and History Department
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Tillicum Club: Talented Young Artist." Vancouver Province, 17 Jul 1947
- Miss Judith Morgan Feted.” Victoria Daily Times 11 Jun 1951
- “2 Young Indian Artists display Paintings Here.” May 6, 1950. Edmonton Journal, 6 May 1950
- “Announcing Art Show and Handicraft Exhibit.” Houston Today 18 Mar 1992
- “Art Displayed.” The Interior News 14 May 1986
- “Artist Pursues Vision in Kitwanga Gallery.” The Interior News 14 Jue 1995
- “Indian Artist May Be Sent to University.” Star Phoenix 21 Mar 1950
- “Indian Paintings on Display Here.” Victoria Daily Times 9 Jun 1947
- “Judith Morgan’s Works Put on Display Today.” The Ottawa Citizen 5 Aug 1949
- “Modest 20 Year Old Girl Winning Fame as Artist.” The Times Colonist, September 23, 1950. 23 Sep 1950
- “Morgan Art on Display.” The Interior News 4 Jun 1986
- Cooper, Ruth. “Victoria Gallery shows Gitksan Life and Events.” The Interior News 28 Jul 1993
- Crosby, Marcia. “Judith Morgan.” Ruins in Process: Vancouver in the Sixties. Vancouver, B.C.: Belkin Gallery - University of British Columbia, ?
http://vancouverartinthesixties.com/people/70#container - Harrington, Lyn. “Two Years - Two Scholarships.” October 16, 1948. The Vancouver Sun 16 Oct 1948
- Johnson, Audrey.. “Judith Morgan’s Work Featured in Gallery.” Victoria Daily Times 1 Jun 1950
- Lee, Kat. “Local Elder Receives Masters for Artwork.” Terrace Standard 15 Jun 2005
- MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009
- Roberts, Rebecca.. “Distinguished Gitxsan Woman Paints History.” The Interior News 21 Jul 2004
- Sterritt, Angela. "Gitxsan Artist defied Assimilation with Art and Cultural Leadership." CBC News 18 July 2016
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/gitxsan-artist-defies-assimilation-art-1.3682515
Writings by- Morgan, Judith Phyllis. Git Skee'een Niidiit (People of the Skeena River) Prince George, British Columbia: University of Northen British Columbia, 2004
