In Memoriam
I am very upset and quite angry about what happened to my friend Frank Williams. I wish that I was introducing you to Frank Williams and his brother Dance Williams under happier circumstances, but that unfortunately is not the case.
Frank Williams was a Class A human being (as was his brother) who cared more for others than for himself. He was his younger brother’s “care taker” and a master carver in the Ahouseht Aboriginal tradition. He embodied the higher self in all of us.
In a more advanced and caring state of “civilization” my friend would still be of this world… but that day has yet to come.
I first met Frank and his brother Dance about 12 years ago. They were a fixture on Commercial Drive here in Vancouver, always together and the living definition of caring for one another. Frank always made sure his brother had enough to eat and had proper clothing for the weather.
As our friendship grew I was able to learn more about Frank and his brother Dance. One day Frank told me that he and his brother had attended the Aboriginal Residential School System that was set up by the Canadian Government of the day and run by the Catholic Church. He also told me that the abuse he and his siblings experienced at home was worse than what he and his brother had endured at the residential school…
as both his parents were products of the residential school system and had been emotionally / sexually abused themselves.
In the summer of 2021 we learned that about 215 unmarked graves were discovered on property close to or part of the now closed Kamloops residential school, and according to one elderly eye witness survivor…”all new arrivals at the school were told (by the most holy fathers) that they first had to be ‘disinfected’. We were not told we had to wash or take a shower, but that we had to be disinfected like some diseased animal would be disinfected.”
And then once that was done they were lovingly told: “If you don’t like it here there is always the graveyard or the river…”
Just who wanted the Canadian aboriginals and their culture fundamentally euthanized in every way… including murdering many who were sent to these virtual horror camps against their will, is a story the media has yet to tell but probably never will.
Over the years I was able to buy eight pieces of Frank’s work and all of them are featured here on this website. I have a diploma in fine furniture and was part of a wood working co-op here in Vancouver named Wood Arts on Parker for about 4 years. While there I was able to develop some of my furniture ideas which can be seen here. After about two years there I had the idea to incorporate aboriginal art (carving etc) into the furniture I was making.
I explained my idea to Frank about how if I had my own shop, he and others – whose form of creativity was applicable to being incorporated into one of a kind artisanal craft furniture – could work in the shop and earn far more than selling to tourists on the street.
At that point I asked him to carve the surface of a “blank” elliptical table top I provided him with. We agreed on the price ($300) and the work he did can be viewed on the link above. Frank was quite excited about the possibility of applying his talent to the world of furniture and came up with a few possibilities I’d never even thought of. Note: If the legacy artisanal craft furniture facility becomes a reality, contributing artists (like Frank would have been) will make far more income than the $300 for the original sample piece he made for me, thousands more.
While part of the co-op I was never able to do the marketing required to launch my work globally as I am a single father and after taking care of my daughter’s daily needs I was only able to spend about 4 hours max at the shop everyday. Her mother worked full time (out of necessity), lived separately and so was not able to be around much to look after our daughter. Also, I’m a person living with untreated complex PTSD which functionally speaking is like running a race with a leg iron on. Additionally, the cost of attending a trade show was prohibitive for me.
Shortly after leaving the co-op (about four years ago) I contacted some high end furniture consignment shops in Vancouver. One of the owners is a woman named Tina Beer Hamlin who serendipitously is also a CPPA (certified personal property appraiser)… trained and certified by Sotheby’s of London England which is one of the oldest and most respected fine art auction houses on earth.
Her accreditation is respected globally and any appraisal she makes is admissible in a court of law anywhere.
Her reply to me started with, “What beautifully crafted pieces you make, they really are stunning.”
You can read the email here. I only mention this anecdote to make a point which is: if someone with her training, accreditation and innate appreciation for fine art thinks my work is “stunning”… then it’s a no brainer to assume there is definitely a market for such work. Additionally, combining the timeless design elements of yesterday’s furniture – along with with aboriginal (and non-aboriginal) creativity – will result in new and exciting creations to be sought after by those who appreciate fine artisanal craft furniture, many of which will be “one only” or a “limited production run” and signed by the artist.
And so incorporating the creative talent of others like Frank could only mean that any such furniture would be worth much more – with a substantial percentage of the profit going to the artist – and be able to reach an even larger market than my work alone.
And so about two years ago now, Frank said to me, “Write up a proposal of how much it would cost to start a shop and I will send it my people at UBC (University of British Columbia) who can then send it to my Chief (of the Ahousaht Nation) for his consideration.”
I had already made clear to Frank that any work he might create (when the shop was operative) that was intended to be part of a furniture piece would be compensated for by an an hourly wage plus a percentage of the sale price. This way all “employees” would be guaranteed to earn a very good living, much better than flogging street carvings to cruise ship tourists.
And this is especially so, considering the fact that this artisanal craft furniture will be priced accordingly from 20K and up.
And so I made up a letter explaining everything and gave it to Frank who assured me it would reach “My Chief”.
After a reasonable period of time and not hearing back from his Chief, I sent the same letter by email and then snail mail to the Chief of the Ahousaht Nation on Vancouver Island. I also sent the same letter (both ways) to a very successful former BC Aboriginal Chief businessman and to this day have never heard back from either of them.
I’m not saying that if they had decided to help fund this proposed facility in part or in whole that Frank would still be alive.
But I do know however that with the collapse of the tourist trade in the spring of 2020 on account of the pandemic – which was Frank’s only source of revenue to earn an income with his art – he was starting to spiral downward emotionally with more drinking and less hope of a better future.
I am convinced that Frank would be alive today if funding from one source or another had been realized, but this of course is now a moot observation.
I will leave you to come to your own conclusions. My intent here was to tell my story about my relationship with Frank and not to judge or besmirch the character of others.
Will establishing a high end artisanal craft furniture facility – where aboriginal street artists and other non-aboriginal artists who for one reason or another have not yet reached their commercial potential and as of now only exist on the fringe of the economy – save any lives… is also a moot question.
But one thing is for sure… they won’t have to sit on the sidewalk and hope someone comes along and buys their work for a fraction of what it would have been worth had that artist been given the opportunity to blend their talent with that of other artists, working together for the common good and profiting from that effort.
Frank’s brother Dance left this world about a month after Frank did with multiple organ failure as the cause of his death.
“Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do it just comes undone
And everything is torn apart
Oh and that’s the hardest part”
– Chris Martin / Coldplay
