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DAVIS, Olea Marion (Montgomery)

Born
Buffalo, New York, 1899
Died
Vancouver, B.C., 1977
Biography synopsis
Davis graduated from McGill University in Physical Education before attending the École des Beaux-arts in Montreal and the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University) in Toronto. In 1939 she moved with her husband to Vancouver where she took courses at the Extension Department of the University of British Columbia, and the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design) studying with sculptor Charles Marega. From 1935 to 1949, she exhibited at the B.C. Artists Annual exhibitions held at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Davis founded the BC Potter's Guild in 1955, serving as the first president. In 1958 she collaborated on a study of B.C. clays with Hilda Ross. She was also one of a group of artists commissioned to work on the Hotel Vancouver; she did plaster models for frieze and grill work for the Hotel. She also taught at the University of British Columbia, Department of Extension, Fine Arts Division. From the early 1950s until 1969, Davis was responsible for running the UBC Pottery Hut and taught courses, along with renowned international ceramicists. During W.W.II, Davis founded the Allied Officers Guild in B.C., and later designed and promoted the "dogwood" lapel ornament as a money-making idea for a wartime women's auxiliary. In 1956, the dogwood flower was adopted as the official floral emblem of B.C.
Media used
Pottery
Sculpture
Education
Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Montreal
Ontario College of Art & Design (formerly Ontario School of Art)
Vancouver School of Art (under Charles Marega)
Memberships
British Columbian Potters’ Guild (Potters Guild of BC), 1955
Federation of Canadian Artists, 1941
Canadian Guild of Potters
Canadian Handicrafts Guild
File & Archive locations
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"Coming on Strong: CANADIAN CLAY: Our Potters have recently won Strong in Brussels, Prague and Syracuse. Globe and Mail (14 Feb, 1963): A13
"Sculpture in the Garden." Western Homes and Living 14 (Nov 1963): 12-16
Alfoldy, Sandra. "An Intricate Web(b): American Influences on Professional Craft in Canada, 1964-1974." Artichoke 13.4 (2002): 16-20
Augaitis, D., et al.. Modern in the Making: Post-War Craft and Design in British Columbia Vancouver, B.C.: Vancouver Art Gallery, Berkeley Figure 1 Publishing, 2021
Biennial Open Air Exhibition of Sculpture, et al.. Third Biennial Open Air Exhibition of Sculpture at the University of British Columbia from July 4 to August 12, 1960 Vancouver, B.C.: Biennial Open Air Exhibition of Sculpture, 1960
Cairns, Heather and Debra Sloan. "The Potters Guild of BC: the First Fifty Years 1955-2005." Fusion Magazine Volume #29 #3 2005 29.3 (2005)
Crawford, Gail. Studio Ceramics in Canada Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2005
Elder, Alan and Ian Thom.. A Modern Life: Art and Design in British Columbia, 1945-1960 Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2004
Imredy, Peggy. "A Century of Sculpture": Index to Sculpture Exhibitions Vancouver, B.C.: Sculptors' Society of British Columbia, 1998
Munroe, Doris C.. Public Art in Vancouver (MA thesis) Vancouver, British Columbia: University of British Columbia, 1972
Palette. "In The Realm of Art: Summer Show at Gallery Major Event for Art Lovers." Vancouver Daily Province 7 July 1943
Piested, Lee, et al.. From our Land: the Expo 67 craft collection/ De Notre Pays: la collection canadienne d'artisanat d' Expo 67 Charlottetown, P.E.I.: Confederation Centre Art Gallery, 2004
Tuele, Nicholas, and Christina Johnson-Dean. British Columbia Women Artists, 1885-1985 Victoria: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1985
Vaillant, Nora. Bernard Leach and British Columbian pottery: An Historical Ethnography of a Taste Culture Vancouver, British Columbia: University of British Columbia (M.A. Thesis), 2002
http://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0099660

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