{{Short description|Canadian artist (1957–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Joe Average | honorific_suffix = <small>{{postnominals|country=CAN|CM|OBC|RCA|size=100%}}</small> | image = Joe Average (209758070).jpg | landscape = yes | caption = Average in 2006 | birth_name = Brock David Tebbutt | birth_date = {{birth date|1957|10|10|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Victoria, British Columbia]], Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|24|1957|10|10|df=y}} | death_place = [[Vancouver]], British Columbia, Canada | occupation = Artist | website = {{Official website|https://www.joeaverage.ca}} }} [[Image:DavieVillage-1.png|frame|Banners designed by Joe Average decorate the [[Davie Village]] [[Gay village|gaybourhood]].]]
'''Joe Average''', {{postnominals|country=CAN|CM|OBC|RCA|size=100%}} (born '''Brock David Tebbutt'''; 10 October 1957 – 24 December 2024) was a Canadian artist who resided in [[Vancouver]], British Columbia. Diagnosed [[HIV|HIV+]] at age 27, Average made the decision to commit the rest of his life to art, and to challenge himself to live by his art.<ref name=catie>[http://www.visionpositive.ca/e/V7I1/Average_e.htm Not Your Average Joe : Pop icon and artist Joe Average on his most challenging masterpiece — his health] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706212437/http://www.visionpositive.ca/e/V7I1/Average_e.htm |date=6 July 2011 }}. ''The Positive Side'', Spring/Summer 2005.</ref>
Average was born in [[Victoria, British Columbia]], Canada on 10 October 1957.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vandopgallery.com/artists/dsp_artist.php?ArtistID=9 |title=Van Dop Gallery: Joe Average |access-date=14 June 2009 |archive-date=29 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129144304/http://www.vandopgallery.com/artists/dsp_artist.php?ArtistID=9 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He frequently donated work to charitable causes, such as Vancouver's annual Art for Life auction benefitting the Vancouver Friends for Life Society.<ref name=catie/> His work was used for such projects as A Loving Spoonful (a charity which provides meals to people with terminal illnesses) and the [[Davie Village]].<ref name="aidswalkforlife.ca">[http://www.aidswalkforlife.ca/AboutTheArtwork2007.htm The AIDS Walk for Life: About the Artwork] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824110329/http://www.aidswalkforlife.ca/AboutTheArtwork2007.htm |date=24 August 2009 }}</ref> Average was also selected to judge submissions for Vancouver's AIDS memorial and anti-homophobia posters.
Average was known for his cheerful, colourful, cartoon-like work, including images of flowers, animals and insects, and people. He received many awards and honors, including civic merit awards, the Caring Canadian Award (1998) and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Silver Medal for Outstanding Community Achievement (2002). Vancouver mayor [[Philip Owen]] issued a civic proclamation to designate 3 November 2002 as "Joe Average Day" in the city.<ref name="aidswalkforlife.ca"/>
Average was honored as one of two grand marshals of Vancouver's annual [[gay pride parade]] in August 2006. In 2011, he had [[HIV-associated lipodystrophy|lipodystrophy]], a side effect of antiretroviral therapy.<ref>Pamela Post, [http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2011/01/16/giffords-shooting---joe-average---friederich-hayek/ "The Incredible shrinking Man"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410214019/http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2011/01/16/giffords-shooting---joe-average---friederich-hayek/ |date=10 April 2011 }}, CBC Radio, ''The Sunday Edition'' (documentary), 16 January 2011</ref>
On 23 April 2019, the [[Royal Canadian Mint]] released a coin with art by Average,<ref name=BCGov123024/> said to symbolize the progress lesbian, gay, transgender, queer and two-spirited people have achieved in Canada as well as the work that still needs to be done.<ref>[https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/commemorative-loonie-marking-progress-for-lgbtq2-people-unveiled-in-toronto/ "Commemorative loonie marking progress for LGBTQ2 people unveiled in Toronto"] . [[CTV News]], 23 April 2019.</ref> He died at home in Vancouver, on 24 December 2024, at the age of 67.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Cheryl |date=27 December 2024 |title=Vancouver artist, humanitarian Joe Average dies on Christmas Eve: 'He was anything but average' |url=https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-artist-joe-average-obituary |access-date=28 December 2024 |website=[[Vancouver Sun]]}}</ref>
==Honours== * Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award (1998)<ref name=BCGov123024>Government of British Columbia (December 30, 2024). [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/celebrating-british-columbia/honours-and-awards/order-of-bc/members/a-b Members of the Order of British Columbia: A–B: Joe Average* ].</ref> * [[Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal]] for Outstanding Community Achievement (2002)<ref name=BCGov123024/> * Joe Average Day, November 3, 2002, proclaimed by [[Philip Owen|Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen]].<ref name=BCGov123024/> * [[Royal Canadian Academy of Arts]] (2004)<ref name=BCGov123024/><ref name=RCA1880>{{cite web|title=Members since 1880 |url=http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp |publisher=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts |accessdate=11 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526215339/http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp |archivedate=26 May 2011 }}</ref> * British Columbia Medal of Good Citizenship (2019)<ref name=BCGov123024/> * [[Order of British Columbia]] (2021)<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021IGRS0023-001503|title=B.C.'s highest honour recognizes 16 British Columbians|date=2 August 2021|publisher=Government of British Columbia|access-date=17 August 2021|archive-date=18 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818021131/https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021IGRS0023-001503|url-status=live}}</ref> * Order of Canada (December 2024)<ref>Ditmars, Hadani (January 3, 2025). [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/01/03/joe-average-canadian-artist-aids-activist-obituary Joe Average, Canadian artist and AIDS activist, has died, aged 67]. ''The Art Newspaper''.</ref>
==References== <references/>
==External links== * {{Official website|https://www.joeaverage.ca}} * {{discogs artist|Joe Average (4)}} * {{imdb name|3565376}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Average, Joe}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:2024 deaths]] [[Category:Canadian gay artists]] [[Category:Gay painters]] [[Category:Canadian LGBTQ painters]] [[Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts]] [[Category:Members of the Order of British Columbia]] [[Category:Members of the Order of Canada]] [[Category:Artists from Vancouver]] [[Category:Artists from Victoria, British Columbia]] [[Category:People with HIV/AIDS]] [[Category:Canadian male painters]] [[Category:Canadian currency designers]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian painters]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian painters]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian male artists]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian male artists]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people]]