| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Internationally recognized sculptor John Barney Weaver was born in Anaconda, Manitoba in 1920. John graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1946 and then, in addition to pursuing his own work, taught drawing and sculpture at the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was a sculptor for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. John came to Canada in 1966 to be a sculptor for the Provincial Museum of Alberta. After five years, he went out on his own as a freelancer. In 1977, he founded and established the John Weaver Sculpture Museum, which is an institutional member of the Canadian Museums Association.
Well known in Alberta for his statutes of Wayne Gretzky and Robbie Burns, John has an impressive range of sculpture and statues that have made him a celebrated master of his craft. John worked with variety of materials – bronze, marble, wood, plaster, epoxy – and subjects, including man-made implements, human and animal forms, and portraiture. A consummate professional, John’s pieces are authentic, detailed and aesthetically beautiful. While technically flawless, these works communicate passion and movement.
His work is held in numerous public collections, including the collections of the Capital Building in Washington DC, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, the Lincoln Museum, Edmonton Centennial Library, Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, and the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. He completed pieces for a number of commissions and fundraisers, and he was the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Alberta Achievement Award for Excellence in Sculpture in 1977 and an Honourary Doctorate of Law from the University of Alberta.
John Weaver passed away in 2012 at the age of 92. |