A wall is left scarred, along with the trust of faculty, following the theft of a commissioned piece of aboriginal art from the Canadian studies department over the weekend of Sept. 17, said Allan Ryan, a Canadian studies and art history professor at Carleton.
“We have no idea who took the print, but it is a sad turn of events and a sad violation of trust, given the spirit of aboriginal generosity and achievement that it symbolized, and the happiness it brought to people who saw it,” Ryan said.
The stolen work was a framed print of Shining Through, which Ryan had commissioned from Mike Dangeli for the 10th anniversary of the New Sun Conference on Aboriginal Arts — a conference Ryan founded and chairs.
“Whoever took it did not know its significance,” Ryan said. “It is a violation of security and personal violations.”
When Ryan learned the print had been stolen from the foyer of the School of Canadian Studies in Dunton Tower, he said he was shocked someone had taken it and put a poster in its place to cover it up.
“It was no flash grab,” Ryan said. “They had to pry it off and that would have taken a while to do.”
Carleton president Roseann Runte said she asked the department of university safety to investigate the matter immediately after the incident.
“The investigation is ongoing,” she said in an email.
The artwork was very symbolic and had much more sentimental than commercial value to Ryan, he said. Dangeli, a well-known artist in British Columbia, had given it to him and all guests who attended the conference were also given a copy.
Ryan said he had four other copies of the print framed at the same time as the one that was stolen. He said this may help the university identify the stolen copy if it’s sold elsewhere.
“It is sad and disrespectable,” Ryan said. “I don’t know if we are angry. It is just inappropriate.”
Ryan said he hopes another print will be hung in its place. The new print may incorporate brackets, which will make it nearly impossible to be taken off the wall like the one that was stolen, he said.
Apparently emboldened by the theft, Ryan said he believes the thief returned the weekend of Sept. 27 and stole another artwork from the same foyer, although it’s unclear whether the two incidents were related.