Pam Hall (artist) facts for kids
Pam Hall (born 1951) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, and writer. She lives in Newfoundland, an island in Canada.
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Pam Hall's Life and Work
Pam Hall was born in Kingston, Ontario. She studied art at Concordia University and later earned a master's degree in art education from the University of Alberta. In 1973, she moved to St. John's, where she taught art and worked for the government's education department.
Illustrating Books for Kids
In 1977, Pam Hall drew the pictures for a children's book called Down By Jim Long's Stage, written by Al Pittman. Her artwork for this book was so good that she won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award from the Canadian Library Association. This is a special award for the best illustrations in a Canadian children's book. In 1982, she also wrote and illustrated her own book, On the Edge of the Eastern Ocean.
Art Exhibitions and Installations
Pam Hall has shown her art in many places. She had solo art shows at the Grenfell Art Gallery (which is now part of The Rooms) in 1982 and 1984. One of her big art projects, called The Coil: A History in Four Parts, was shown in Canada and Japan. Later, the National Gallery of Canada bought this artwork for their collection.
In 2001, she created another art project called New Readings in Female Anatomy. This was shown at the Art Gallery of Newfoundland (also now part of The Rooms). The next year, it was shown at the Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa. Parts of this artwork have also been shown in other cities like Vancouver, Montreal, and Providence, Rhode Island. Pam Hall also helped start the Eastern Edge Gallery in St. John's, which is a gallery run by artists themselves.
Film Work and Awards
Pam Hall is also a talented filmmaker. Her documentary film Under the Knife: Personal Hystories won the award for Best Atlantic Canadian documentary at the Atlantic Film Festival in 1995. In 1998, she won another award at the same festival for Best Art Direction for her work on the film Extraordinary Visitor. This award is given for the best visual style and design in a film.
Community Involvement and Collections
Pam Hall has been involved in important groups that support artists and culture. In 1988, she was part of the Canadian Advisory Committee on the Status of the Artist. She also served as the president of the Cultural Industries Association for Newfoundland.
Her artwork is kept in many important collections. These include The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canada Council Art Bank, Global Affairs Canada, the Maruha Nichiro Corporation in Tokyo, and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Research and Local Knowledge
In 2013, Pam Hall earned a PhD from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her studies combined different subjects like Sociology, Folklore, and Humanities. In 2015, she became a special Postdoctoral Fellow at Memorial University, focusing on public engagement.
From her research, she created an art and knowledge project called Towards an Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge. This project explores the unique knowledge and traditions of people living in rural Newfoundland.
The Encyclopedia Book
Pam Hall's book, Towards an Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge: Excerpts from Chapters I and II, was published in 2017 by Breakwater Books in St. John's. This 160-page book is full of color and looks like a collage. It uses photographs, drawings, and handwritten text to show the customs, food traditions, and everyday objects of rural Newfoundland.
People have described the book as "gorgeous" and "handsome." It explores the cultural knowledge of two rural areas in Newfoundland: Bonne Bay and the Great Northern Peninsula, and Fogo Island and Change Islands. The book is more than just pictures; Pam Hall's writing is described as "eloquent and compelling." She shows great respect for the people she researched, listing all 142 of them as collaborators in the project.
A later part of the project, Chapter III: The Middle River, was created with Mi’kmaw artist Jerry Evans. It was shown at Grenfell Art Gallery in 2019. This part of the project came from over three months of research in Conne River, NL. It shares the special knowledge of that place, with more than 70 people helping to share their stories.
Selected Works
Filmography
- Finding Mary March (1988), as art director and set designer
- Secret Nation (1992), as art director
- Anchor Zone (1994), as production designer
- The Divine Ryans (1999), as art director
- Random Passage (2002), as art director consultant
- Heyday! (2006), as art director
- Above and Beyond (2006), as production designer
