Bill Holm, Professor Emeritus of Art History, and Curator Emeritus of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum, is recognized internationally as one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field of Northwest Coast Aboriginal art history. His Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form (1965), co-written with George Irving Quimby, is one of the best-selling books published by the University of Washington Press. The study is credited with having drawn a remarkable number of artists into their own practice of Northwest Coast art, and his classes at the University of Washington broadened the understanding and appreciation of that art in several generations of students. Holm's eight books have won scholarly acclaim and recognition with four Washington State Governor's Writers Awards, and two special Governor's awards. They include Beak of Heaven; Masks and Other Ceremonial Art of the Northwest Coast (1972), Indian Art of the Northwest Coast: A Dialogue on Craftsmanship and Aesthetics (1975) with Bill Reid, Edward S. Curtis in the Land of the War Canoes: A Pioneer Cinematographer in the Pacific Northwest (1980) with George Irving Quimby, The Box of Daylight: Northwest Coast Indian Art (1983), Smoky-Top: The Art and Times of Willie Seaweed (1983) and Spirit and Ancestor: A Century of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum (1987) with Eduardo Calderon. Holm's achievements as an artist were celebrated in Sun Dogs and Eagle Down, The Indian Paintings of Bill Holm (2000). In 2001, he was honored with a certificate of appreciation from the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people of Southeast Alaska through the Sealaska Heritage Institute. The Native American Art Studies Association recognized him with its Honor Award in 1991. The University of Washington gave him a Distinguished Achievement Award from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1994, and selected him to give the annual University Faculty Lecture in 2003. Also in 2003, the Burke Museum established the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Coast Art to honor his career.

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
The Box of Daylight

BOOKS:

Holm Bill. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form (University of Washington Press, 1965; Douglas & McIntyre, 1978; UBC Press 2014).

Holm Bill. Crooked Beak of Heaven; Masks and Other Ceremonial Art of the Northwest Coast (University of Washington, 1972).

Holm Bill & Bill Reid. Indian Art of the Northwest Coast: A Dialogue on Craftsmanship and Aesthetics (Institute for Arts, Rice University, 1975).

Holm Bill & George Irving Quimby. Edward S. Curtis in the Land of the War Canoes: A Pioneer Cinematographer in the Pacific Northwest (University of Washington Press, 1980).

Holm Bill & contributors. The Box of Daylight: Northwest Coast Indian Art (Seattle Art Museum/University of Washington Press, 1983).

Holm Bill. Smoky-Top: The Art and Times of Willie Seaweed (University of Washington Press, 1983).

Holm Bill & Eduardo Calderon. Spirit and Ancestor: A Century of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum (Burke Museum/Douglas & McIntyre, 1987).

Brown, Steven C. Sun Dogs & Eagle Down: The Indian Paintings of Bill Holm (University of Washington Press/Douglas & McIntyre, 2000).Chronology & bibliography by Lloyd J. Averill, captions by Bill Holm.

[Alan Twigg / BCBW 2005] "Art" "Anthropology" "First Nations"