John Hooper, (1926 – 26 January 2006) was an English-born Canadian sculptor known for his colourful

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

d wood carvings.Sculptor John Hooper dies
,

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, 28 January 2006. His works can be found on public display in many locations throughout Canada and worldwide.

Biography

Born in England, Hooper also spent time in his youth in China, and served as a captain in the British Army in India in 1944.John Hooper
, City of Vancouver Public Art Registry. Hooper was educated at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

and Bournemouth College of Art (now

The Arts Institute at Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and The ...

),Public art finds a home at Pilgrim School
", Advertising supplement to Los Angeles Business Journal, 8 July 2002. and studied with sculptor

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produc ...

.The World of John Hooper
, announcement for a show in the Arts and Culture Centre, Saint John, New Brunswick, 19 March 1998, with a brief biographical sketch of Hooper.A Tribute to John Hooper
Bob Hinman, Reflections – A Magazine By and For Retired Teachers, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, Spring 2006. After teaching at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...

in South Africa from 1956 to 1962, he moved to

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada, where he lived for the rest of his life, for many years working as a school teacher and administrator before devoting himself full-time to art in 1974. Hooper was married to Kathy, an artist from South Africa who herself won the Strathbutler Award in 1994. With her he had four children and founded Hooper Studios, a centre for art and art education in

Hampton, New Brunswick Hampton (2016 population: 4,289) is a town in Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. Located on the Kennebecasis River 30 kilometres northeast of Saint John, Hampton is the shire town of Kings County. It functioned as the seat of county governm ...

Works on public display

Image:JohnHooperBalancing.jpg, "Balancing" outside the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a Arts centre, performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre build ...

Ottawa 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 ...

, Ontario File:Terry Fox, statue, Ottawa.jpg,

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

File:"People Waiting" Statue created by John Hooper.jpg, "People Waiting" in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

Hooper's art can be seen in Market Square and outside the

, in

Sinclair Centre Sinclair Centre is an upscale shopping mall in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located at 757 West Hastings Street between Granville and Howe streets. The centre comprises four buildings that were restored and connected by a new atri ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, at the Centennial Building in

Fredericton, New Brunswick Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

, and in several places around

,Persona non grata
,

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

, 12 April 2004. News story about the uncertain fate of Hooper's sculptures at the Saint John's post office. and at the Pilgrim School in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The

New Brunswick Museum The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back muc ...

houses several more of his works as does the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. His bronze statue of Terry Fox stands on Wellington Street in Ottawa, across the street from the national Parliament Buildings.

Awards and honours

In 1991, Hooper was the first recipient of the

Strathbutler Award The Strathbutler Award is a biennial prize awarded to a New Brunswick visual artist. It was first awarded in 1991 as an annual prize of $10,000, which increased to $15,000 in 2005. In 2011 it became a biennial award with a value of $25,000, the hi ...

For Fine Craft And Visual Arts, a $10,000 annual award given by the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation for New Brunswick artists.Sandra Flood, "Five New Brunswick Artists: Strathbutler Award, 1991–1995", Goose Lane Editions, 1997, . In 2000, he won the Miller Brittain Award for Excellence in Visual Arts from the New Brunswick Art Board.Past Award Recipients
, New Brunswick Art Board He was made a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

. On 27 April 2000, he was made 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 ...

.Investiture of the Order of Canada at Rideau Hall
, Canadian Governor-General's Office, 10 November 2000.

References

Additional sources

John Hooper, Hooper Studios. *
John Hooper's Way With Wood
(1977), an 18-minute documentary sponsored by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

, on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. * Tom Smart, "L'univers de John Hooper", Goose Lane Editions, 2001, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, John 1926 births 2006 deaths Officers of the Order of Canada English emigrants to Canada British Army officers Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 20th-century Canadian sculptors Canadian male sculptors 20th-century Canadian male artists British Army personnel of World War II