Joseph Fafard (September 2, 1942 – March 16, 2019) was a Canadian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Biography

Joseph Fafard was a twelfth generation Canadian born in 1942 in Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan, to French Canadians Leopold Fafard and Julienne Cantin. Fafard is a descendant of Jacques Goulet. He received a B.F.A from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Pennsylvania State University in 1968. From 1968 to 1974, he taught sculpture at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, Regina Campus (now the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university, public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the Unive ...

). He was a visiting lecturer at the University of California, Davis in 1980–1981. He received several awards throughout his professional career including being named an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 1981, the Architectural Institute of Canada Allied Arts Award in 1987, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2002, the National Prix Montfort in 2003, and the Lieutenant Governor's Saskatchewan Centennial Medal for the Arts in 2005. He also received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from the

(1989) and

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.David Gilhooly David Gilhooly (also known as David James Gilhooly III) (April 15, 1943 – August 21, 2013), was an American Ceramic art, ceramicist, Sculpture, sculptor, Painting, painter, Printmaking, printmaker, and professor. He is best known for pioneer ...

in 1968 when he arrived at the Regina School of Art to teach pottery and sculpture. They introduced him to

Funk art Funk art is an American art movement that was a reaction against the nonobjectivity of abstract expressionism. An anti-establishment movement, Funk art brought figuration back as subject matter in painting again rather than limiting itself to th ...

and under their influence, he began making figures in clay. Throughout his career, Fafard sculpted with plaster, clay, and bronze, which was his primary medium in the 1980s. His work was heavily influenced by his Saskatchewan surroundings, and ranged in size from handheld to larger than life-sized. In 1985, he opened the Julienne Atelier foundry in

Pense, Saskatchewan Pense is a town of 603 residents (2021 census) in the southern part of Saskatchewan, Canada. Heading west from Regina on the Trans Canada Highway, Pense is the first community with services. Other communities in the area include Grand Coulee, Be ...

, where he was based for the majority of his working years. At the foundry, he worked in series, producing portraits of well-known artists and politicians, including bronzes of Canadian prime ministers

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

, and John G. Diefenbaker. Fafard's works have been shown in Canada and abroad in countries including the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan. In 2007, Terrence Heath curated the retrospective exhibition ''Joe Fafard'' for the National Gallery of Canada and

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; french: Musee d’art MacKenzie) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds e ...

in Regina. His art was featured on a series of postage stamps issued by

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in 2012. The

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

in Ottawa installed his colourful ''Running Horses'' (2007) in 2011 adjacent to the Sussex Drive entrance. He died at his home outside of

Lumsden, Saskatchewan Lumsden is a town in the Qu'Appelle Valley in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, 31 km northwest of the city of Regina. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Lumsden No. 189. The town functions as both a farming community and an u ...

on March 16, 2019, from stomach cancer at the age of 76. Fafard's work has been an inspiration to many western artists such as David Garneau.

Personal life

In 1967, Joe married Susan Wiebe, a major in ceramics also at the Winnipeg School of Art. ource: “Joe Fafard”, Terrence Heath, Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2007, p. 46Their son, Joёl, was born on November 18, 1968. Their first daughter, Misha, was born on March 23, 1970; and a second daughter, Gina, was born on December 10, 1972. “By the end of the 1980s Joe and Susan’s marriage had become strained. They began to live more and more separate lives.” p cit, p. 162Fafard divorced Susan in 1991. During this period of professional and personal turmoil in Fafard's life, he met Alyce Hamon, who came from a large French-Canadian family in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, who worked in French theatre in Saskatoon. p cit, p. 166 Joe's third daughter, Solenne, was born to Alyce Hamon on May 29, 1994. Joe's second son, Julien, was born to Alyce on June 11, 1998. Alyce Hamon and Joe were married on August 6, 2000. p cit, p. 208-9

Public works

File:Urban cows.jpg, Joe Fafard's sculptural work, "The Pasture" (1985),

Toronto Dominion Centre The Toronto-Dominion Centre, or TD Centre, is an office complex in the Financial District of downtown Toronto owned by Cadillac Fairview. It serves as the global headquarters for its anchor tenant, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, and provides office a ...

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File:Joe_Fafard_The_Pasture_01.jpg, Joe Fafard's sculptural work, "The Pasture" (1985),

File:Edmonton Paskwamostos.jpg, Joe Fafard's sculptural work, ''Paskwamostos'', outside of Shaw Conference Centre,

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

File:Joe Fafard - Nurture Nature 01.jpg, Joe Fafard's sculptural work, ''Nurture Nature'' (1993), east side of Hart House,

File:Fafard horses Ottawa.jpeg, Joe Fafard's sculptural work, ''Running Horses'' at the

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

* ''Oskana-Ka-Ashteki'' (Cree for Bones that are piled together), 800 block of Scarth Street in downtown

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city populatio ...

(1998) * ''Claudia'', along avenue de Musée entrance of Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion,

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

(2003)

Awards

* Officer of the

, 1981 * Medal in Allied Arts,

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...

, 1987 * Honorary Doctorate Degree, University of Regina, 1989 *

Saskatchewan Order of Merit The Saskatchewan Order of Merit (french: Ordre du Mérite de la Saskatchewan) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Johnson, on the advice of the Cabinet u ...

, 2002 * National Prix Montfort, 2003 * Lieutenant Governor's Saskatchewan Centennial Medal for the Arts, 2005 * CTV Citizen of the Year in 2006 * Honorary Doctorate Degree,

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Official site

''I Don't Have to Work that Big'', an NFB documentary

Canada Post - Joe Fafard
* University of Regina Archives and Special Collections. Joe Fafard Fonds. https://www.uregina.ca/library/services/archives/collections/art-architecture/fafard.html * University of Regina Archives and Special Collections. Joe Fafard Slides. http://cdm16438.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15390coll1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fafard, Joe 1942 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Canadian sculptors Canadian male sculptors 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century sculptors Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Officers of the Order of Canada Artists from Saskatchewan Canadian Métis people Deaths from stomach cancer Métis sculptors Deaths from cancer in Saskatchewan