Tim Paul

Nuu-chah-nulth

Tim is a Nuu-Chah-Nulth artist born in 1950 and raised in Esperanza Inlet on Vancouver Island, B.C. He is currently living, making art, and seeking community change from Port Alberni, B.C.

He has held the position of First Carver at the Royal British Columbia Museum, where he oversaw numerous commissions for totem poles for international sites such as Wakefield Park and Yorkshire Park in England, Stanley Park in Vancouver, and in Auckland. He left that position to oversee a program focussing on Native education for the Port Alberni School Board and Vancouver Island. In his position there, he developed student workbooks, teacher guides, etc. He has since left that role and is now focused on setting up and Educational Cultural Language Library. In a recent interview with The Steinbrueck Gallery in September 2022, he said, "I've learned that I need to do as much as I can to keep our culture alive. I've realized if I don't do it now, so much of my family will be losing too much."

He is part of the Legacy collection and the Out of the Mist—Treasures of the Nuu-chah-nulth Chiefs collection of the Royal British Columbia Museum and the “Down From the Shimmering Sky” traveling exhibition that opened at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He has a vast knowledge and understanding of tradition and history, which has influenced his work as an artist, environmentalist and teacher.

His creative process: “I grew up in nature, among the green, and learned all about plants and berries. I was given that gift. I draw [my inspiration] from my upbringings from way, way back.”

Tim is very community oriented and is always giving back. “You put so much of yourself into your art that is comes alive. A reminder to young artists: you gotta understand that art has roots; a house; a story.”

At the end of the interview he said, "I like to remind young folks that the greatest art of all is the art of giving."