Dudley C. Carter

Early life

Carter was born to a pioneer family of Scottish-descent on May 6, 1891, in New Westminster, Canada. His father was originally from Barbados, and his mother was from Quebec; they came west in 1891, shortly before Dudley was born. He was a timber cruiser and forest engineer most of his life, exploring and mapping Pacific Northwest wilderness. The chief inspiration for Carter's art was his childhood among the Kwakiutl and Tlingit indigenous people. He moved to Washington state in 1928.

Diego Rivera and City College of San Francisco

Carter was a participant during 1940, in the "Art in Action" exhibitions during the 1939–1940 Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) on Treasure Island. During that time he became a friend of Diego Rivera, who included Carter three separate times in his mural Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on this Continent and once in the Pan American Unity mural. Rivera said the following about Carter:

There are three works by Carter on the City College of San Francisco Ocean Campus, The Ram (sometimes called the Mountain Ram), Goddess of the Forest, and The Beast. Dudley had donated The Ram because he knew it was the school mascot and it had been part of the Golden Gate International Exposition's Arts in Action exhibition. The Ram sculpture stood outside on the campus periodically changing locations from time to time, students would coat it in paint with campus colors red and white. Sometimes rival schools would repaint The Ram in their own school colors. By 1980, The Ram had many layers of paint and damage and in spring of 1983 it was restored by Carter with use of a pick axe and its original, natural redwood. Currently located in the lobby of Conlan Hall, on the Ocean Campus.

The Goddess of the Forest is another redwood sculpture created during GGIE. It is very large, standing at 26 feet tall, and had a girth at the base of 21 feet. For years this piece was located at Golden Gate Park, until 1986, when it began to show distress and decay. It was then moved to CCSF, to an indoor location awaiting restoration.

Clackamas

In 1979, at the age of eighty-eight, Carter was commissioned to carve three large cedars for the Clackamas Town Center shopping mall, located in the southeastern part of the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon. The trees selected for the project came from Mount St. Helens six months before the volcanic eruption of 1980 that eliminated much of the forest. Carter lived in a small trailer on the shopping center's construction site while carving the trees. In 1981, the sculptures were moved into the central court next to a skating rink, where they remained until a major remodel of the center in 2004. The next year they were transferred to the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum.

Influence in Washington state

When ninety-six years old, Carter became the first artist-in-residence of the King County Parks and Recreation Department.

He had a home at 7447 159th Place NE, Redmond, Washington. Located in Slough House Park, the house was named "Haida House Studio".

After a brief illness the artist died in his sleep at the Slough House residence, just a month short of his 101st birthday on April 7, 1992. He is buried near Stave Falls, B.C. Slough House is now owned by the city of Redmond. The artist bequest included his art studio, fashioned in the manner of a native Haida dwelling, and a group of monumental wood sculptures of the sort that brought the sculptor to international prominence.

Upon his death, Congressman Rod Chandler honored Carter with remarks in the Congressional Record in 1992.

On September 8, 2012, the Dudley Carter Park opened at the intersection of Leary Way and 159th Place Northeast.

Personal life

Carter was married to Teresa Williams Carter (née Easthope) in December 20, 1919 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Together they had a daughter named Mavis Anne. Their marriage ended when Teresa Carter died on July 20, 1975, at age 81 in West Vancouver.

Public works

References

References

1. "Artists in Canada, Carter, Dudley Christopher".
2. Tarzan Ament, Deloris. (April 9, 1992). "Dudley Carter, 100, An Artist With Wood Who Lived Simple Life". The Seattle Times.
3. link. (August 24, 2007 , Diego Rivera Mural Project. Retrieved March 25, 2006.)
4. Schniewind, Arno P.. (1996). "Rescuing Dudley Carter's Goddess of the Forest". Wooden Artifacts Group (WAG) of the American Institute for Conservation.
5. "Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum in Stevenson, Washington".
6. (December 19, 2008). "Looking Ahead, Looking Back". King County.
7. "DUDLEY CARTER HAIDA HOUSE {{!}} Redmond, WA".
8. Lambert, Lyn Fleury. (2007). "Dudley Carter, will Redmond's Most Famous Artist Have a Park to Call Home?". Redmond Historical Society.
9. Rod, Chandler. (April 9, 1992). "Congressional Record 102nd Congress (1991-1992) In Remembrance of Dudley Carter". The Library of Congress.
10. (2012-08-27). "Dudley Carter Park opening slated for Sept. 8".
11. (26 December 1919). "Carter–Easthope Marriage". The Province of Vancouver.
12. (1940). "1940 United States Federal Census, Dudley Carter". National Archives and Records Administration.
13. (March 8, 2016). "Mavis Vaughan Obituary". The Vancouver Sun.
14. (July 21, 1975). "Obituary, Carter". The Vancouver Sun.
15. "Rivalry of the Winds".
16. (2000). "Bellevue's Pacific Northwest Arts Fair begins in 1947".
17. "Dudley Carter: An Unusual and Forgotten Artist".
18. "Lake Wilderness Lodge: Mid-Century Modern, Pacific Northwest Style".
19. (February 20, 2008). "Northgate Mall Totem Pole Restored to its Original Glory".
20. "St. Dunstan's Church of the Highlands Parish".
21. (August 30, 2020). "Dudley Carter: Tales of the Legendary Wood Sculptor". NW Wood Words LLC.
22. "Seagull On A Post".
23. "Indian Woman Weaving Basket, 1976".
24. "Dudley Carter Park".
25. Cornwell, Paige. (December 16, 2019). "After senior center closed because of mold, Redmond is without its ‘nice gathering place’". Seattle Times.
26. "Three Panel Abstraction".
27. "An artist's last work has resting place at Shilshole".