Saskatchewan Artist

Chuck Crate

Chuck Crate was born in 1915 in Weston, Ontario. He served briefly with the Royal Canadian Navy during the war (1944-1945) before working in mining and construction in the Yukon and Whitehorse. Crate then studied Education at the University of British Columbia (1963-1964), and also studied art with Gordon Smith while he was there. He taught in Alert Bay, British Columbia from 1964 to 1965. After he received his Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Victoria (1969), he went to the Blackfoot Reserve at Gleichen, Alberta to teach, and to study Native Indian art. Finally, he moved to Saskatchewan to teach at the Prairie West Community College in Biggar, Saskatchewan (1979-1983).

As an artist, Crate created collages which, as he put it, “convey emotions and ideas.” His works use images from magazines and other sources to explore themes of spirituality, popular culture, youth, labour politics, and indigenous culture. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across western Canada since the 1970s.

Chuck Crate died in 1992 in Alsask, Saskatchewan.