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Contact:
Audrey Rockingham Gill, Bill Reid Foundation, 604.730.2905, agill@billreidfoundation.org
Kathryn Aberle, SFU Media & Public Relations, 604.291.3929, aberle@sfu.ca

Simon Fraser University and the Bill Reid Foundation today announced a new initiative that will bring Northwest Coast art into the academic mainstream. The partnership involves the Foundation's new president, George MacDonald, and members of the University community in the development of a proposal to create the Bill Reid Centre for Northwest Coast Art Studies at Simon Fraser University.

“I see the Bill Reid Centre's mission to be the promotion of an understanding of the history and principles of Northwest Coast indigenous art, through new research, connoisseurship and apprenticeships in the traditional arts of the region,” says Dr. MacDonald.

“We, at Simon Fraser University, have long wanted to expand our interest in the art of British Columbia to include more emphasis on Northwest Coast art,” says Michael Stevenson, president of SFU. “This partnership with the Bill Reid Foundation is a very large step along the road to developing a centre focused on the indigenous art of British Columbia.”

David Gillanders, chair of the Bill Reid Foundation says, “We are delighted to have enticed Dr. MacDonald, a world expert in Northwest Coast art, to come to British Columbia. This partnership has been made possible with the support of SFU and friends of the foundation including the Meriem Foundation, the Audain Foundation, and Rudy North, with assistance from Jennifer and Eric Martin.”

Dr. MacDonald succeeds Herb Auerbach, a driving force in the creation the Foundation, who will continue to assist in its development. Dr. MacDonald was the founding director of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa-Hull. He has also been director of Seattle's Burke Museum and of the Melbourne Museum in Australia. His seminal work, Haida Monumental Art is the result of 20 years of field work mapping the Haida villages. Dr. MacDonald holds a LLD from the University of Calgary and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.