Art lovers of every generation eventually fall under the spell of Emily Carr. “Every generation discovers her anew,” said Kerry Mason—an art historian, curator, and educator who devoted 45 years to studying, teaching, and interpreting Carr’s life and work. Mason, who passed away in Victoria in 2023, was among the most influential figures in shaping public understanding of Emily Carr in British Columbia and beyond. Her legacy continues to resonate.

A 1967 graduate of Victoria High School, Mason became a professor of art history at the University of Victoria in 2001 and went on to offer numerous courses focused on Emily Carr. That same year, she taught the first Emily Carr course ever offered at UVic. She also lectured at the Victoria College of Art and the Vancouver Island School of Art, earning wide respect as an art historian, author, curator, and consultant.

Born in Edmonton in 1950 to parents deeply devoted to the arts—her father a physician, her mother a ballet teacher—Mason moved with her family to Calgary as an infant. In 1965, following a visit to Victoria that included a medical conference (and several rounds of golf), her father announced the family’s relocation. That fall, they settled into a home on Rockland Avenue at St. Charles Street.

After attending private schools in Calgary, Kerry completed Grades 11 and 12 at Vic High. Having skipped Grade 6, she entered the University of Victoria at just 16, earning a scholarship in history and literature. While studying at the University of Victoria, she lived and worked at Mattick’s Farm and occasionally rode her horse to classes from Carley’s stables.

In 1969, Mason left Victoria for a two-year European adventure, based in London and travelling widely, including to Italy and Morocco. She immersed herself in Europe’s art and cultural life, worked at the London fashion house Feathers, and embraced the freedom and excitement of the era.

Her professional life soon brought her back to Emily Carr. In 1977, recognizing Mason’s growing expertise, the office of BC politician Grace McCarthy recruited her to establish and manage the new Emily Carr Gallery at 1107 Wharf Street, in the building once occupied by Emily’s father’s warehouse that he sold to Charles Rithet in 1988 just months before his death. Over the next 11 years, Mson curated 27 exhibitions drawn largely from the Provincial Archives, illuminating Carr’s work and that of other BC artists.

Mason quite literally followed Carr’s footsteps. In 1981, she travelled to up-coast villages to research a feature for Beautiful British Columbia magazine. Later, in 2005 and again in 2011, she led ambitious travel-study expeditions—taking participants by bus and boat up the Skeena River and around Haida Gwaii—to explore the landscapes and cultural contexts that shaped Carr’s art.

In 1993, Kerry completed her MA in Art History at the University of Victoria while raising two preschool children and working as a teaching assistant. Around the same time, she launched an art consulting and appraisal business that continued until her death.

From 1995 to 2001, Kerry served as curator of the Alcheringa Gallery, specializing in contemporary Indigenous art from the Northwest Coast and the South Pacific. Her deep engagement with artists and communities led to further recognition of her expertise and to her recruitment to establish the Black Tusk Gallery in Whistler, a commercial gallery dedicated to contemporary Northwest Coast art. From 2005 to 2007, she was curator of the University of Victoria Maltwood Art Museum, overseeing more than 50 exhibitions over the two years.

Beyond her professional roles, Kerry was a tireless advocate for the arts. She volunteered extensively with the Community Arts Council, edited the Arts Calendar, served as President of the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria, and sat on the BC Arts Council. Whether through paid work or volunteer service, she worked relentlessly to strengthen the arts ecosystem.

A published author, Mason edited Sunlight in the Shadows: The Landscape of Emily Carr (Oxford Press, 1984), contributing key texts and a biographical sketch of Carr to accompany photographs of the places Carr painted published by Oxford Press in 1984. In 2010, she edited Emily Carr on the Edge of Nowhere in conjunction with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria exhibition of the same name.

Following Kerry Mason’s death in August 2023, her lifelong contributions were formally recognized at Vic High’s 2024 reopening, when a plaque was installed in the school auditorium commemorating Emily Carr and the Vic High alumna who became one of the leading authorities on Carr’s life and work.