Leonard Woods (sculptor)

Leonard Woods
Born
Leonard Archibald Woods

(1919-11-13)13 November 1919
Stonewall, Manitoba, Canada
Died6 September 2014(2014-09-06) (aged 94)
Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Known forSculptor
Notable workThe Angelic Symphony

Leonard Archibald Woods (1919–2014) was a Canadian sculptor, art historian, musician, composer, and author.[1] He is best known for his sculptures The Angelic Symphony, as well as for being a co-founder of Langley Community Music School.

Biography

Woods was born on 13 November 1919 in Stonewall, Manitoba.[2] His father worked at the nearby Stony Mountain Penitentiary.[3] He studied under LeMoine Fitzgerald at the Winnipeg School of Art, where he also learned sculpture, graduating in 1940. During World War II he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force before being discharged in 1943. After his service, he further trained in sculpture with Emmanuel Hahn at the Ontario College of Art.[4] Woods moved west to British Columbia where he re-opened the sculpture department at the Vancouver School of Art.[5]

In 1946, Woods exhibited three works with the British Columbia Artists Exhibition held at the Vancouver Art Gallery.[4][6] Two years later, he created four bas-relief sculptures for the chancel of St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church in Vancouver.[7] They were entitled The Angelic Symphony.[8] Inspired by Psalm 150, the angels are represented playing modern musical instruments: a flute, a cello, a trumpet, and a pair of cymbals.[9] The three hundred pound plaster sculptures were modelled at Langley Prairie[3] and finished with five coats of shellac of varying colours.[7]

Woods stayed with the sculpture department of the Vancouver School of Art until 1954, and remained its school historian until 1969. During the latter year, he co-founded the Langley Community Music School.[5] Woods was a musician and composer. Some of his compositions included the folk opera Belbriggan Bay[10] and the ballad The Dancing Girls of Cariboo.[11] In 2005, he authored a book on Langley artist Carle Hessay, Meditations on the Paintings of Carle Hessay.[12]

Woods passed away on 6 September 2014, at the age of 94 in Langley, British Columbia.[4][5] The following year, Kwantlen Polytechnic University conferred a posthumous honorary degree on him for his role as a co-founder of Langley Community Music School.[13] Three works by Woods are in the collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Woods, Leonard A." ABC Bookworld. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  2. ^ Manitoba Vital Statistics Branch, birth registration number 1919-062083.
  3. ^ a b "City Sculptor Carves Church Figures". The Daily Province. Vancouver. 11 August 1948. p. 20. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com Free access icon.
  4. ^ a b c "Leonard Archibald Woods". British Columbia Artists. Sim Publishing. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Langley Community Music School founder passes away". Langley Advance Times. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  6. ^ Imredy, Peggy (1998). A Century of Sculpture. Vancouver: Sculptors' Society of British Columbia. p. 11. ISBN 0-9684180-07.
  7. ^ a b Gellatly, Claire (6 October 1948). "Twentieth-Century Angels Startle Church-goers". The Vancouver Sun. p. 21. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com Free access icon.
  8. ^ "Artist's Work Featured in Sermon". The Province. Vancouver. 23 October 1948. p. 19. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com Free access icon.
  9. ^ "Anglican's angel sculptures to be restored". Diocese of New Westminster. 3 November 2004. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Farewell Concert Enjoyed". Quesnel Cariboo Observer. 20 June 1963. p. C1. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com Free access icon.
  11. ^ "Danby concert drew 150 people". Langley Advance. 31 January 1979. p. 7. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com Free access icon.
  12. ^ Youssef, Marten (24 Dec 2005). "Leonard Woods documents the work of his longtime friend". Langley Times. Langley, British Columbia. ProQuest 373011189. Retrieved 29 November 2020 – via ProQuest..
  13. ^ "LCMS founders to be granted honorary KPU degrees". Langley Advance Times. 15 April 2018. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Collections search: Leonard Woods". Winnipeg Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.