Santo Mignosa

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Santo Mignosa on November 1st, 2022 surrounded by his family. Santo was 87 years old.

Santo was a celebrated Canadian Modernist clay sculptor, a dedicated educator, a potter, a muralist, a rigorous technician and a true renaissance man!

Born in a small town near Siracusa, Sicily, where his family owned a clay tiles and bricks business, Santo was introduced to the wonders of the materials that he created with all his life. In 1954, he graduated from the Art Institute of Florence where the massive stone and clay works of the Renaissance gave him an understanding of anatomy, gesture and spirit which defined his own work throughout the decades. He immigrated to Canada in 1957.

From 1959-1961, he taught pottery at the UBC Ceramic Huts after meeting Olea Davis (founder of the Potters Guild of BC, 1955) who became his mentor and close friend. He also served on the Board of the Potters Guild of BC before he left Vancouver for Nelson, BC where he taught at Kootenay School of Art (KSA) between 1961-69.

Santo became a Professor at the University of Calgary from 1969 - 1989 teaching ceramics, sculpture, figure drawing and anatomy. In 1972, he took a Sabbatical and earned his Master of Fine Arts at Alfred University. During his early career at the University of Calgary, Santo’s international reputation was instrumental in securing the first Ceramics International exhibition outside of Europe. Working with the newly formed Alberta Potters’ Association he was actively engaged in co-coordinating the “Ceramic International 73” for the International Academy of Ceramics exhibition and symposium held at various venues in Calgary and Banff. In 1973, he was the recipient of the Achievement Award from the government of Alberta. When Santo retired from the University of Calgary, the University established the annual Santo Mignosa scholarship in his name.

Throughout his career, Santo was frequently included and awarded in national and international exhibitions: winning the Gold Medal at the Second Exposition International des Chef d'Oeuvres de la Ceramique Modern, Ostend, Belgium in 1959; in 1962, the Silver Medal, and, in 1966, another Silver Medal at the 24th International Ceramic Exhibition in Faenza, Italy. In 1967, he received a Canada Arts Council Senior Art Award. In the 1970s, Santo was one of the few Canadian representatives in the International Academy of Ceramics.

In 1990, Santo returned to Vancouver and established a studio in North Vancouver. To integrate himself back into the clay community, he became involved the West Coast Clay Sculpture Association (WCCSA). For many years, he worked with WCCSA holding a variety of workshops at the Shadbolt, or 1000 Parker, or in his own studio. From 2000-2005, he taught at the Vancouver Academy of Art.

In 2011, his work was included in "The Modern Eye” in Victoria and, in 2020/21, in the seminal exhibition, “Modern in the Making,” at the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 2020, Santo's work was installed in the window of the Craft Council of BC, in honour of his mentorship of BC ceramics. In 2021, Santo authored Sea Salt, Lizards and Clay: my ceramics from the Mediterranean to the Rockies which is an autobiographical account of his life-long passion for ceramics and sculpture.

Santo generously contributed to BC, Alberta and Canadian ceramics with an unusual combination of formal continental training and the more informal Canadian and American influences. Santo was truly the embodiment of “live art, live life”.

However, beyond his work, Santo was a dedicated father and beloved family man who will be forever missed by his family and friends. A Celebration of Life is planned in the new year.