Carey Newman (Ha-yalth-kingeme)
Board Advisor
Carey Newman (Ha-yalth-kingeme) is a multi-disciplinary Kwagiulth and Coast Salish artist, master carver, filmmaker, author, former opera singer, and well-known speaker about the spirit of reconciliation.
His most influential work is the Witness Blanket, a powerful monument to the impact of the residential school era. Commissioned by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Witness Blanket is now part of the collection at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Carey is also co-creator of the book Picking Up the Pieces, which documents the creation of the Witness Blanket and calls on readers of all ages to bear witness to the residential school experience, an important piece of Canada’s history.
Carey’s work Mind Body and Spirit is a 1000 sq.ft. acoustic ceiling canopy that he created and donated for Wingate Studio in Pacific Opera’s Baumann Centre. The piece, combining a hand-hewn central medallion and waves of fine cedar planks, integrates with the Studio lighting and serves to acoustically enhance the space for music making. The artist designed this gift specifically for this space to channel sound and light into something both useful and beautiful.
As a master carver, he follows in the footsteps of his great great grandfather, father and great aunt – all renowned wood carvers. Newman was selected as the master carver of the Cowichan 2008 Spirit Pole, a journey that saw him travel across British Columbia sharing the experience of carving a 20-foot totem. He created the “Dancing Wind” installation for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Carey studied piano at the University of Victoria and voice at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. He won several awards in both piano and voice and has performed with Pacific Opera Victoria. He sang at the Indspire National Aboriginal Achievement Awards and through his role as a Pacific Opera Victoria board member, was part of developing and bringing to stage the opera Missing, which honoured murdered and missing Indigenous women.
Carey has received the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal and in 2018 was named to the Order of British Columbia. He has also received the 2018 Regional Arts Award, the Seventh Generation Club Award, the Muskrat Magazine Indigenous Hero Award, and the Sooke Fine Arts Show Award. He is the Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices at the University of Victoria.