Terrace’s own Kari Morgan has been recognized as the 2025 Crabtree McLennan Emerging Artist Recipient in the Polygon Awards, a milestone she said was her first award of this size and one that meant a lot to her.
“It’s my first award of this magnitude,” Morgan said. “It’s such an honour for the people who nominated me and the people who chose me, because I believe it was a panel of artists that had to choose the recipients this year.”
Morgan, who is of Nisga’a (House of Kw’isk’ayn), European, and Métis heritage, is a sculptor, painter, and designer. Her art mixes tradition with fresh ideas, something she’s been shaping since her days at the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art, where she learned from master carvers Dempsey Bob, Stan Bevan, and Ken McNeil.
She said the moment she found out she had won was “quite a shock.”
“I was very happy, very surprised… I didn’t expect to get it this year either,” she said. “The ladies who were telling me over the Zoom meeting were so happy to tell me about my award and what it all meant. It was lovely.”
Her portfolio is wide ranging, carving sculptures from wood, painting on different mediums, creating murals, designing logos, working with textiles, and even making jewellery. She also teaches art to all ages, including a three-dimensional carving course in Port Townsend, Washington, at the end of August.
Morgan describes her style as “sharp yet still fluid,” with a minimalistic approach meant to be calming to the viewer.
“I hear people tell me all the time that it is very calming and eye catching,” she said.
She hopes the award will help more people discover her work and, in turn, her home.
“It’s really good recognition for myself as an upcoming artist,” Morgan said. “Hopefully people will come and see my traditional territory more and see how beautiful it is when I explain it all the time.”
On a personal level, she said the recognition is still a bit surreal.
“It really makes me feel happy to be seen and that people really love my art,” she said. “I’m always honoured, it’s still almost unbelievable.”
Looking ahead, Morgan will keep working on her carvings and paintings. She is also preparing for the November award ceremony and the artist gallery that will run alongside it, and she is thinking about creating a couple of new pieces specifically for the show.
