Leonard Archibald Woods (1919–2014) was a Canadian sculptor, art historian, musician, composer, and author. He is best known for his sculptures '' The Angelic Symphony'', as well as for being a co-founder of Langley Community Music School.
Biography
Woods was born on 13 November 1919 in
Stonewall
Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to:
* Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction
* Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics
* Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...
Winnipeg School of Art
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.World War II he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force before being discharged in 1943. After his service, he further trained in sculpture with
Emmanuel Hahn
Emanuel Otto Hahn (30 May 1881 – 14 February 1957) was a German-born Canadian sculptor and coin designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada.
Biograph ...
at the Ontario College of Art. Woods moved west to British Columbia where he re-opened the sculpture department at the Vancouver School of Art.
In 1946, Woods exhibited three works with the British Columbia Artists Exhibition held at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Two years later, he created four bas-relief sculptures for the chancel of
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
ST, St, or St. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Stanza, in poetry
* Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band
* Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise
* Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...
in Vancouver. They were entitled ''The Angelic Symphony.'' Inspired by Psalm 150, the angels are represented playing modern musical instruments: a flute, a cello, a trumpet, and a pair of cymbals. The three hundred pound plaster sculptures were modelled at Langley Prairie and finished with five coats of shellac of varying colours.
Woods stayed with the sculpture department of the Vancouver School of Art until 1954, and remained its school historian until 1969. During the latter year, he co-founded the Langley Community Music School. Woods was a musician and composer. Some of his compositions included the folk opera ''Belbriggan Bay'' and the ballad ''The Dancing Girls of Cariboo.'' In 2005, he authored a book on Langley artist Carle Hessay, ''Meditations on the Paintings of Carle Hessay.''.
Woods passed away on 6 September 2014, at the age of 94 in Langley, British Columbia. The following year, Kwantlen Polytechnic University conferred a posthumous honorary degree on him for his role as a co-founder of Langley Community Music School. Three works by Woods are in the collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.