Humble Artist From St. Pierre Appointed To The Order Of Canada

An 84-year-old man, formerly from St. Pierre, who has fulfilled his childhood dream of drawing and cartooning for a living, has been appointed into the Order of Canada.

Real Berard was appointed for his talent and years of engagement to diversify the visual arts in Manitoba.

Berard now lives in St. Boniface but grew up in St. Pierre. The artist is known primarily in the Franco-Manitoban community for the creation of his famous francophone character Cayouche but also internationally for his sculptures, paintings and drawings. Berard also spent a number of years working for the province as an illustrator and charting maps of Manitoba’s rivers. 

"See I always work with a group of artists and sculptors and I feel that I received this for the whole group," adds the humble artist. "When I went to received the prize, I thought it’s really for the whole group. I never mentioned it to them but that’s what I felt."

After high school, Berard went on study at the Montreal School of Fine Arts for three years and after, returned to the University of Manitoba for three years where he then got his degree in fine arts. In 1961, Berard travelled to Mexico to study fresco, which is a style of mural painting done on freshly laid or wet lime plaster, under Jose Guttierez at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City. 

Berard says his love for art started at a young age and is something that will always be dear to his heart. As he started getting older, Berard notes his parents and others in his life, encouraged him to leave art behind and pursue something he could make a living out of but he was quick to ignore that thought.   

"Well, I’ll tell you something. You know when we are little kids, we always like to work around with doing drawings and mischievous things and paintings and when you grow up in life, then it’s fairly common, at least in my case, your parents or your buddies in school say we have to get a serious summer job and then they move to serious things. I never felt this, I figured I always felt to remain a little kid. So I kept on drawing and cartooning. Lots of kids do lots of cartooning but when they get serious, they throw all their stuff in the garbage. I never did so that’s who I am now. I keep on being a little kid."

Berard says even if he was tucked into the back room of the house with a paintbrush, he would still be happy. 

Meanwhile, David Twerdochlib, the art teacher at Ecole Communautaire Real Berard in St. Pierre, which was named after Berard in the mid-1990s, says art has always been a big part of the life at the school. He notes with Berard being an artist, it has definitely made art more accessible. 

"We’ve had more and more students who are interested in art as a career," Twedochlib explains, "I think that’s really important to get the francophone story more well known, more publicly acknowledged and I think Mr Berard’s nomination is going to have an impact on that" 

He adds they have seen a lot of Berard's artwork displayed inside and outside the school but because Berard is such a humble man, Twerdochlib says it has been difficult to find a lot of information about him. However, he says it is a unique experience to be able to have him come by the school from time to time. 

"We’ve got a picture that one of our students painted on the wall, a very large picture of Cayouche and we did ask for his reaction and he said he really appreciated how it had been modernized from his original vision," adds Twerdochlib.

"He is very appreciative of what we’ve done. He’s a very humble man."

Librarian Kim Murphy says they have a wall in the library called Mr Berard’s corner where they have hung up some of his artwork. Students can go with their phones or iPads and scan the QR code, and an audio recording will come up with some information about that particular drawing.

"We’ll take any donation from people who are out there that have [any of Berard's artwork] in our community and we would certainly put them up and there’s a lot of things that we’re finding on Real. He’s quite an artist," Murphy indicates.

Twerdochlib notes, now, with Berard's most recent prestigious appointment, more and more information about him is coming to the forefront making it easier for them to tell students about the man the school is named after. 

Berard says as long he lives, art will always be a part of his life.

"I just wanted to keep on drawing when I was a little kid and that’s what I am. I’m still a little kid."