World
‘Class’ Sculpture in Hudson’s Hope
Editorial
by Patricia Markin
Anyone who lives in or has travelled through
Hudson’s Hope will have driven by two concrete
totem-like sculptures standing at each end of
the Peace Canyon bridge. For years I passed the
sculptures and was intrigued by and wondered
about them and so one day I stopped to investigate.
Unfortunately the art pieces were in a sad state
of neglect and disrepair with nothing to recognize
the artist. After some research I discovered
that they were created by a world-class, internationally
known artist, Gerhard Class. I began my search
at the local museum where I found a brief letter
written in response to one written by Margaret
Kyllo to the Ministry of Transportation, Communications
and Highways on behalf of the Hudson’s Hope Historical
Society. From this letter I got the name of Class
and after some Internet searching was able to
contact Richard Prince, professor and deputy
head in the Department of Art History, Visual
Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia
who sent me a dossier on Class.
After four years work and with the help of The
Arts and Cultural Society on the Edge (Hudson’s
Hope), the District of Hudson’s Hope and the
Ministry of Transportation, bronze plaques were
installed on each totem and the area around them
was spruced up just in time for Hudson’s Hope
200th birthday celebrations in 2005. A painting
of one of the sculptures hangs in the offices
of the Peace River Regional District in Dawson
Creek.
The late Gerhard Class (1924 –1997) was born
in Germany and studied in Strasbourg, Karlsruhe
and Wundiedel, Germany. He came to Canada in
1951 and taught sculpture at the Emily Carr Institute
of Art (then the Vancouver School of Art) and
at the University of British Columbia; according
to Diana E.M. Cooper, Fine Arts Reference Librarian,
Fines Arts Library, University of British Columbia.
Mr. Class “won many international competitions.”
Not only is his work at the university (a metal
tuning fork in front of the Music Building),
it is also in the Vancouver Art Gallery, the
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria collections;
on public buildings, such as the East Asiatic
Building, Vancouver; Victoria Centennial Museum
and Archives Building, Victory Square, Vancouver
and “private collections around the world” and
last but not least, the Peace River Bridge in
Hudson’s Hope.
According to records, Mr. Class was chosen specifically
by the bridge architect who requested that Class
deal with “specific subject matter,” to be completed
in October 1964. The pieces stand twenty feet
high and are made of concrete. The work was done
partly on site and partly in Mr. Class’ studio.
Unfortunately Class’ endeavour was constrained
by a limited budget and the use of concrete.
In Class’ words, “I would have liked a bigger
budget to increase the size of the sculpture
for a better relationship scale between the
bridge and the work. Weather was a problem.
Sculpture was cast in October. Frost occurred
and sculpture had to be protected until partly
cured. Sculpture is of historic interest
as it has reliefs commemorating some events
of the Peace River history.” (source: artist’s
personal letter sent to the Fine Arts Library). The
reliefs commemorate Alexander Mackenzie, Hudson’s
Hope, the Pine Pass, Twelve Foot Davis, the
Prince George Railway, Aboriginals of the Peace
area, wheat fields, oil derricks and indigenous
wildlife. ** Note this article was recently updated
by Patricia Markin and we want to personally
thank for her support for the Hudsons Hope community website.
The Hudsons Hope Web Team
 
"In the majority of Canadian communities the past is obscure; the present fleeting and the future unknown.
But not in Hudson Hope, nestled on a plateau on the left bank of the Peace River in north eastern British Columbia.
To the people there the past is written literally in the sandstones of time and in the annals of history; the present is there for all to see and marvel at and the future is secure.
Perhaps nowhere in Canada or upon the North American continent is there a place where the past, the present and the future is plainly and legibly written that all men may read and understand."
TREV SCHOFIELD
Published by
WESTERN CANADA DIRECTORIES LTD.
205 – 845 Hornby Street, Vancouver, B.C.
In co-operation with the Hudson Hope Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants of Hudson Hope.
Edited and designed by C.M. Fedosa
 
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