William Ronald Reid is a world renowned sculptor and is one of Canada's finest artists. He was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1920 and died in Vancouver in 1998. His father was of Scottish and German origin and his mother was a native Haida born in Skidegate on the Queen Charlotte Islands. He is also a distant relative of the late great Haida carver and silversmith, Charles Edenshaw.

Bill Reid grew up and was educated primarily in Victoria B.C. He attended Emily Carr's sister's kindergarten in Victoria and attended South Park Elementary School. He did not elect to study art in high school, but does recall a young substitute teacher, Jack Shadbolt, who read poetry and introduced Kandinsky style drawing to his class in grade eight. He graduated from Victoria High School in 1936 and attended a year at Victoria College in 1938.

His adult career surprisingly began in broadcasting as a radio announcer. A deep resonant voice and clear articulate use of English took him to a variety of radio stations including ten years with the C.B.C. in Toronto and Vancouver. While he was working in Toronto, two events proved to be formative to his career as an artist. He studied jewelry making at the Ryerson Institute of Technology and became acquainted with the collection of Northwest coast native art in the Royal Ontario Museum. Of particular interest was a great pole from his mother's ancestral village, Tanu. It was during this time that he began to explore his cultural heritage and the art of the Haida people. Before he left the C.B.C. in 1958, he wrote and narrated a television documentary that explored salvaging the last Totem Poles of the Queen Charlotte Islands. He also narrated a film documenting the "People of the Potlatch" Exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

When Bill Reid returned to the West Coast, he began to seriously pursue native imagery in both jewelry and sculpture. Soon after his arrival, he was engaged in a four year task to recreate a section of a Haida Village for the University of British Columbia. This task was the turning point of Reid's incredible artistic career that has seen him produce remarkable intricate jewelry, large sculptures, drawings and silkscreen prints for more than thirty years. Bill Reid has constructed many masterpieces including: The Skidegate Pole in 1978; the Raven and the First Men yellow cedar sculpture for the Museum of Anthropology at U.B.C. in 1980; the Lord of the Under Sea bronze sculpture for the Vancouver Aquarium in 1984; the Lootas cedar canoe for Expo'86, and most recently, two SpirIt of Haida Guaii, bronze sculptures. One is located at the Canadian Chancery in Washington D.C., the other at the Vancouver International Airport. His work can also be found in numerous private and public collections throughout the world, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa the Vancouver Art Gallery.

He has received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, York University, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University, Trent University and the University of Northern British Columbia. In 1977 he received the $20,000. Canada Council Molson Award for his contribution to the Arts; in 1990 the $100,000. Royal Bank Award for outstanding Canadian Achievement and in 1994 was honoured as the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Canadian Native Arts Foundation.

Bill Reid's accomplishments as a Canadian artist are unparalleled. He has been described as an individual who has, through his work, "single- handedly revived the art of the Haida people". He has given Canada a national treasure that will live and be appreciated forever.