Royden Mills
1963
Describing his artistic goals, Camrose-born sculptor Royden Mills wrote, “I make sculpture to try to encourage other people to feel more aware of their physical existence and… feel more aware of possibilities for their human liberty…. It is my great hope that others who face… lament may, somehow, find encouragement in knowing that there is, at least, another person who feels as they do.”
After earning his Diploma in Architecture from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (1984) and Diploma in Art and Design from Red Deer College (1986), Mills obtained his BFA (1988) and MFA (1990) from the University of Alberta. While receiving his education, he worked a variety of jobs, including as a freelance architectural draftsman and designer, teaching assistant at the University of Alberta and Red Deer College, and instructor at the U of A, a role he continued following graduation. For two years he taught art and English for the Tokachi Board of Education in Obihiro, Japan.
Mills has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including The Works Visual Arts Celebration in Edmonton, and the Canadian Exhibition in Zielona Gora, Poland. A range of public and private collections house Mills’s work, including those of Franconia Sculpture Park in Franconia, Minnesota, the State University of New York in Plattsburgh, New York, and the Town of Shikaoi, Japan. Mills earned a Royal Canadian Legion Scholarship for NAIT students, a Red Deer Chamber of Commerce Scholarship for Fine and Performing Arts, and a graduate scholarship from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. He also won a travel grant and two art study grants from the AFA.
After earning his Diploma in Architecture from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (1984) and Diploma in Art and Design from Red Deer College (1986), Mills obtained his BFA (1988) and MFA (1990) from the University of Alberta. While receiving his education, he worked a variety of jobs, including as a freelance architectural draftsman and designer, teaching assistant at the University of Alberta and Red Deer College, and instructor at the U of A, a role he continued following graduation. For two years he taught art and English for the Tokachi Board of Education in Obihiro, Japan.
Mills has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including The Works Visual Arts Celebration in Edmonton, and the Canadian Exhibition in Zielona Gora, Poland. A range of public and private collections house Mills’s work, including those of Franconia Sculpture Park in Franconia, Minnesota, the State University of New York in Plattsburgh, New York, and the Town of Shikaoi, Japan. Mills earned a Royal Canadian Legion Scholarship for NAIT students, a Red Deer Chamber of Commerce Scholarship for Fine and Performing Arts, and a graduate scholarship from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. He also won a travel grant and two art study grants from the AFA.