Winnipegger Charles Thorson, who began his career as an
illustrator for Eaton's, spent much of his spare time at a local
cafe flirting with a young waitress named Kristen. In 1934,
Charlie left for Los Angeles where his talent for character
design landed him positions at Disney Studios and
Warner Brothers.
At Disney, his inspiration for Snow White was based on
Kristen, the cafe waitress, and then at WB he created
Elmer Fudd and designed and named Bugs Bunny!
Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq (WAG-Qaumajuq) holds
in trust the world's largest public collection of contemporary
Inuit art, including close to 14,000 works of sculpture, prints,
drawings and textiles. Qaumajuq, which opened in 2021, is
attached to the original gallery like a giant snow drift, and has
been met with rave reviews from across the world's arts and
design publications.
