Jack Kenneth Harman is one of the best known artists on the Sunshine Coast, and his legacy stretches across Canada. Most of the bronze scuptures found in city centres across the country were made by him in his Gibsons foundry, and in many cases they were donated for the benefit of the arts community. Gibsons Landing has an example of his work in the form of a larger-than-life bronze of George Gibson, and a series of miniatures were also produced and donated to the town to be sold off to increase finances.

Born in Vancouver Jack Harman studied art at the Vancouver School of Art, and the Slade and Hammersmith Schools of Art in England. At first he worked in Vancouver and Toronto as an advertising artist, but in 1955 he began to sculpt in bronze, and in 1962 he held his first solo show at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He taught for 12 years at the Vancouver School of Art and the Emily Carr College of Art. He also taught at UBC’s Extension Department. He won a Canada Council grant in 1963 and several sculpture competitions.

His first foundry was established in 1962 (the first sculpture foundry in BC), and in 1982 a new one was built in Gastown casting works for a series of notable Canadian artists including Joe Faffard and John Hooper. The Gastown foundry was much larger, and provided room for other artists to work as well (up to 22 others at a time). He was the first to encourage local Native artists to try bronze casting as an avenue for their wood carved designs (it was a big step from wood carving, but thanks to Jack Harman’s skills and those of assisting artisans, famous carvers like Bill Reid managed to make the leap to bronze).

Some works which are virtually permanent features are: Bannister and Landy’s Miracle Mile at the PNE (Renfrew @ Hastings), Harry Jerome in Stanley Park, Themis Goddess of Justice and Lord Denning in the Vancouver Law Courts (Howe St), the Family Statue in front of the Pacific Press Building. Back East in Ottawa are more sculptures, including the Peace Keeping Monument at the entrance to the National Gallery, and Queen Elizabeth on horseback (1977) at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

Typically the casting process uses a method called “lost wax”. This is where a sculpture is made out of wax, and then covered in clay and fired, so the clay cooks into a mold, and the wax melts and runs out. It sounds simple, but to do a bronze cast for something life-sized or larger it has to be done in many pieces. Careful consideration has to be given to temperature, cooling, and molten metal distribution - this is visible in the form of spruing and gating where channels for the molten bronze are designed and placed. Every time a material has formed a piece the imperfections have to be removed, called wax or metal chasing. After a very long process (for some pieces it takes years) the piece is finished, cleaned, and sent off to stand for centuries, thanks to the permanence of bronze, and the modern addition of silicon.

In 1996 Jack Harman was awarded the Order of British Columbia, and his craft is continued by his son Stephen Harman and daughter Melinda Konings. Jack Harman passed away in 2001 at 74, passing his foundry on to his son, Stephen Harman, who has kept on the tradition of providing statues that will last many lifetimes. An example of his work is on display at SFU in the form of Terry Fox, an alumnist.

An excerpt from the Government of Canada Capital Region website:

“On May 28, 2000, in a solemn ceremony, the remains of an unknown Canadian soldier were laid to rest in a sarcophagus on the upper plaza on the south side of Canada’s National War Memorial. The solder died in the vicinity of Vimy Ridge, France, sometime during the First World War. The Tomb consists of a sarcophagus made of granite from the Beauce region of Quebec, with a bronze cover designed by sculptor Mary-Ann Liu of Mission, British Columbia. The casting of the bronze cover was done at the Harman Foundry of Roberts Creek, B.C. The casket in which the Unknown Soldier lies was provided by the Funeral Service Association of Canada. It is made of Canadian silver maple, and was produced by the Victoriaville Group in Victoriaville, Quebec.”

This is indicative both of the Harman foundry’s respected abilities, and their commitment to preserving Canadian memories for future generations.