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George Bruce Head
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Artist.
Born at St. Boniface on 14 February 1931, second of four children of George Melbourne Head (1905-1978) and Ellen Graham Ingram (1908-1960), he began drawing and sketching as an elementary school student in central Winnipeg, and graduated from the University of Manitoba’s School of Art in 1953.
He worked as a graphic designer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for more than 30 years while working as a painter and sculptor in his private life. In 1978, he designed the unique circular concrete wall in the underground concourse at Portage and Main, the largest concrete form created by an artist in Canada. His work is represented in the National Gallery of Canada, and he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy in the early 1970s, at the time the youngest Manitoban to be so. His work is held in several public collections, including those of the University of Manitoba, Government of Manitoba Art Bank, St. John's College, and Winnipeg Art Gallery. His works are displayed in the Office of the Governor General of Canada and in public lobbies of the Woodsworth Building and Manitoba Hydro Building. A curated selection of early works is housed in the St. Vital Library. A limited selection of work is available through the Wallace Gallery in Calgary, and in Winnipeg through art historian and design consultant Sarah Sector.
He was married twice, first in the 1950s to Verona Orchard with whom he had three sons and two daughters. He later partnered with Judy Waytiuk. He died at Winnipeg on 30 December 2009.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: The Wall (Portage Avenue and Main Street, Winnipeg)
1931 Canada census, Ancestry.
“University lists 986 for degrees, diplomas, awards,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 May 1953, page 3.
Birth announcement, Winnipeg Free Press, 18 December 1959, page 34.
Obituary [Ellen Graham Head], Winnipeg Free Press, 25 August 1960, page 45.
Obituary [George Melbourne Head], Winnipeg Free Press, 25 March 1978, page 64.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 2010.
We thank Judy Waytiuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 29 June 2026
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