{{Short description|Canadian First Nations artist (1925–2020)}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Primrose Adams <!-- include middle initial, if not specified in birth_name --> | honorific_suffix = | image = Primrose Adams.png | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different than name --> | birth_date = 1926 <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living artists, {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} for dead. For living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per WP:DOB. Treat such cases as if only the year is known, so use {{birth year and age|YYYY}} or a similar option. --> | birth_place = Masset, Haida Gwaii | death_date = January 2020 (aged 93–94) <!-- {{Death date and age|2020|01|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | citizenship = Haida Nation and Canada | residence = | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = hats and baskets | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = | partner = | awards = British Columbia Creative Lifetime Achievement Award for First Nations' Art <!-- {{awd|award|year|title|role|name}} (optional) --> | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} --> | module = }}
'''Primrose Adams''' (1926 – January 2020) was a Canadian First Nations artist and member of the Raven Clan from the Haida nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coastalpeoples.com/index.php?mpage=artist&aid=169 |title=Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery - Primrose Adams |publisher=Coastalpeoples.com |date= |accessdate=2016-05-30}}</ref><ref name="DRGallery">{{cite web|title=Primrose Adams|url=http://www.douglasreynoldsgallery.com/primrose-adams|website=Douglas Reynolds Gallery|accessdate=10 March 2017}}</ref> She wove hats and baskets in the Haida method and is most notable for her spruce root basketry, which involves working in the traditional manner of collecting and dyeing her own spruce root.<ref name="MOA"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alcheringa-gallery.com/artists.html/v1/view/v3/3/ |title=Primrose Adams / Alcheringa Gallery - Contemporary Aboriginal Art |publisher=Alcheringa-gallery.com |date= |accessdate=2016-05-30}}</ref> Adams died in January 2020.<ref>[https://www.lattimergallery.com/collections/primrose-adams Lattimer Gallery: Primrose Adams]</ref>
==Personal life and family== As the granddaughter of Haida artists Charles Edenshaw<ref name="STONINGTON">{{cite web|title=Primrose Adams Bio|url=http://www.stoningtongallery.com/artistselect.php?fn=Primrose&ln=Adams&artist=118&artType=4&topic=bio|website=Stonington Gallery|accessdate=11 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312072131/http://www.stoningtongallery.com/artistselect.php?fn=Primrose&ln=Adams&artist=118&artType=4&topic=bio|archive-date=12 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> (1839–1920) and Isabella Edenshaw (1842–1926) <ref name="CWAHI Isabella">{{cite web|title=Edenshaw, Isabella|url=http://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=5490|website=Canadian Women Artists History Initiative|accessdate=11 March 2017}}</ref> and the daughter of Haida artists Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson, Adams comes from a family of Haida artists.<ref name="MOA" /> After marrying her husband, Victor, Adams learned the art of basket-weaving from her mother-in-law, Haida artist Selina Peratrovich (1890–1984), starting in 1977.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collection-online.moa.ubc.ca/search/person?startletter=A&rolegroup=&row=20&tab=biography|title=Collection Online {{!}} Museum of Anthropology at UBC|website=collection-online.moa.ubc.ca|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref><ref name="MOA">{{cite web|title=Adams, Primrose (1926- )|url=http://collection-online.moa.ubc.ca/search/person?startletter=A&rolegroup=&row=20&tab=biography|website=Museum of Anthropology at UBC|accessdate=10 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="CWAHI">{{cite web|title=PERATROVICH, Selina|url=http://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=5567|website=Canadian Women Artists History Initiative|accessdate=11 March 2017}}</ref> Adams' daughter, Isabel Rorick (born 1955) is also a weaver,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=36|title=Isabel Rorick (1955- ), Haida artist biography and portfolio|work=Spirit Wrestler Gallery|access-date=2017-03-18|language=en}}</ref> carrying on a family tradition now spanning five generations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mqup.ca/ancient-pathways--ancestral-knowledge-products-9780773543805.php|title=Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge {{!}} McGill-Queen's University Press|website=www.mqup.ca|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref>
==Career and achievements== thumb|Miniature spruce root basket by Primrose Adams showing her characteristic dark inner ring signature Adams' work resides in several public collections, including the Field Museum in Chicago, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver,<ref name="MOA" /><ref name="Contemporary Native North America">{{cite book |last1=McFadden |first1=David Revere |title=Contemporary Native North American art from the West, Northwest & Pacific |last2=Taubman |first2=Ellen Napiura |date=2005 |publisher=Museum of Arts & Design |isbn=1890385115 |location=New York}}</ref> the Douglas Reynolds Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://douglasreynoldsgallery.com/artist/primrose-adams/|title=Primrose Adams | Northwest Coast Native Art | Douglas Reynolds Gallery}}</ref> and the Lattimer Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lattimergallery.com/collections/primrose-adams|title=Primrose Adams – Lattimer Gallery|website=www.lattimergallery.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref> In 1981 Adams wove a hat for her nephew, distinguished Haida artist Robert Davidson. Davidson honored Adams in return in his diptych ''The Seven Ravens,'' which depicted ravens representing his seven aunts, including Adams.<ref name="douglasreynoldsgallery.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.douglasreynoldsgallery.com/primrose-adams|title=Primrose Adams (Haida) {{!}} Douglas Reynolds Gallery|website=www.douglasreynoldsgallery.com|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref> Adam was acknowledged by Davidson again in his ''Fifty Years of Haida Weaving: The Robert Davidson Collection'' exhibition in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://northword.ca/june-2009/fifty-years-of-haida-weaving|title=Fifty years of Haida weaving: {{!}} Northern BC's Only Independent Regional MagazineNorthword Magazine|website=northword.ca|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref>
Adams was included in Sharon J. Busby's 2003 ''Spruce-Root Baskets of the Haida and Tlingit'', a nonfiction book about Haida and Tlingit traditional craft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/17466531?selectedversion=NBD24310690|title=Spruce root basketry of the Haida and Tlingit / Sharon Busby ; photography by Ron Reeder ; illustrations by Margaret Davidson. - Version details|website=Trove|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}</ref> In 2005, Adams featured in the ''Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 2'' exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, New York.<ref name="douglasreynoldsgallery.com"/> 2006 found Adams' work presented at the Vancouver Art Gallery's ''Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art'' exhibition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/media_room/pdf/Raven_Release.pdf|title=Vancouver Art Gallery to Present: ''Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art''|date=29 March 2006}}</ref>
The 2010/2011 exhibition ''Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw'' at the UBC Museum of Anthropology attested to the artistic strength of Adams' ancestors, and she and three other matrilineal descendants of the Edenshaws attended its opening.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://moa.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/MOA-Annual-Report-2010-2011.pdf|title=Museum of Anthropology Annual Report 2010-2011|editor=Jennifer Webb|publisher=Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia}}</ref>
In 2011 Adams was awarded the British Columbia Creative Lifetime Achievement Award for First Nations' Art.<ref>{{cite web|author=British Columbia Achievement Foundation |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/862471/2011-bc-first-nations-art-awards-announced |title=2011 BC First Nations' Art Awards Announced |publisher=Newswire.ca |date= |accessdate=2016-05-30}}</ref> In 2017, she is set to be featured in the ''{{Proper name|Xi xanya dzam}}'' exhibition at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, which will display works by recipients of the British Columbia Creative Lifetime Achievement Award for First Nations' Art from 2007 to 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.aboriginalbc.com/members/bill-reid-gallery-of-northwest-coast-art/|title=Visit this Gallery for Authentic Aboriginal Canadian Art|work=Aboriginal Tourism BC|access-date=2017-03-18|language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Primrose}} Category:1926 births Category:2020 deaths Category:20th-century First Nations artists Category:20th-century First Nations women Category:20th-century First Nations people Category:21st-century First Nations artists Category:21st-century First Nations women Category:Artists from British Columbia Category:First Nations basket weavers Category:Haida women artists Category:Haida artists Category:Canadian women basket weavers Category:Canadian basket weavers Category:First Nations women artists