CULTURAL GROUP:
Tahltan/Tlingit

BORN:
1948

BIRTHPLACE:
Telegraph Creek, BC

Dempsey Bob is from the Wolf clan. He began carving in 1970, and studied with late Haida artist Freda Diesing when he was just starting out. Dempsey was encouraged by Freda to apply to the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art at 'Ksan in Hazelton, BC, and he studied there between 1972 and 1974. Dempsey is primarily a wood carver, but has also branched out to bronze casting and jewellery. He has been included in numerous shows, beginning with the early People of the Cedar travelling exhibition that was organized by the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, QC, in 1977. More recently, he was included in the successful Totems to Turquoise exhibition, which travelled throughout North America in 2005. Dempsey's work is highly sought after, and his pieces can be found in the collections of such public institutions as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the National Museum of Ethnology in Suita, Japan, and the Hamburgisches Museum fur Volkerskkunde in Hamburg, Germany. Dempsey has also become involved in Pacific Rim artist exchanges, and travelled to New Zealand in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. In June 2013, Dempsey Bob was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.