Giving two murals to the University of Victoria wasn’t enough for artist Ted Harrison. Now he’s donated his personal archives to the university’s library.
His personal papers and letters, business correspondence, art supplies, some personal items, video, films and photographs will have a new home at UVic.
Two years ago Harrison, now 84, donated two murals valued at $213,000 to the university in 2009. They had hung in the hallway of the Oak Bay home which he moved earlier from that year. The murals can be seen in UVic’s Sciences and Mathematics building.
Harrison’s archives will be “a rich resource for teaching, learning and research at the university for years to come,” said Valerie Kuehne, vice-president external relations.
Born in County Durham, England, Harrison studied art and taught in England, Malaysia and New Zealand before moving to the Yukon in 1968. He developed his unique neo-expressionist style up north, painting landscapes in undulating ribbons of primary colour. He left teaching in 1980 to devote himself to painting and then moved to Victoria in 1993.
Harrison, a member of the Order of Canada, now lives in a Victoria assisted-living residence and was not available for comment.
vmoreau@oakbaynews.com
