| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Considered to be one of Canada’s leading studio potters, Ed Drahanchuk was born in Calgary, and earned his Diploma in Ceramics and Fine Arts at the Alberta College of Art (1963); during his studies, he earned nine scholarships and awards. His career highlights include participation in nearly ninety gallery and government exhibitions that have been mounted in over thirty countries.
Drahanchuk began working at Design Associates as a full-time ceramicist (1962), but after the business dissolved, he established Drahanchuk Studios, Ltd. in Bragg Creek, Alberta. While rising to fame as a ceramicist, Drahanchuk created metalwork, batiks, and prints. Numerous observers have praised his work; in the book Alberta Clay Comes of Age it is said, “Drahanchuk [created] the most successful production studio in Canada.”
Drahanchuk’s commendations include the Excellence of Art Achievement Award from the Government of Alberta, two Design of Excellence Awards from Design Canada, and the Canadian Design of Merit Citation. His work dwells in the permanent collections of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Confederation Art Gallery and Museum in Charlottetown, NB. Many organisations have commissioned him to produce murals, including Hudson’s Bay Oil and Gas for their Calgary building, the Fort McMurray Hospital and Mercantile Banks in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Regina.
He and his wife and fellow artist Ethel Drahanchuk live on Quadra Island, British Columbia, where they have relocated their studio.
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