Born in July of 1981 David Robert Boxley is the son and successor to renowned master carver and culture bearer, David Albert Boxley. At the age of six David Robert picked up his first tools and began carving under the direction of his father. During this period he also began accompanying his father on travels around the United States and Canada for various events, from totem pole raisings to teaching workshops about the Tsimshian culture. David Robert grew up with immersed in his culture and his father worked to instill the importance of their history. As an adult, the sense of pride and passion that has been passed down to him is now expressed visually, through his art.

David Robert’s father was the first man to hold a potlatch in his village of Metlakatla, Alaska in modern times. At the age of twenty, David Robert followed in his father’s footsteps by being the first person of his generation to hold his own potlatch. When he was thirteen years old, David Robert was the youngest person ever to coordinate a totem pole raising. He is fluent in the Tsimshian language, Sm’algyax, and has taught classes on the language, culture and design of the Northwest Coast in his hometown. David Robert is respected for his amazing artistic abilities, as well as being one of the most prominent Native leaders of his generation.

The quality of David Robert’s two-dimensional design style is unmatched for his age and his concepts in wood are innovatively drawn from tradition. David Robert started selling his work in galleries in 1994 and has since been in many major gallery shows. Additionally, he has carved totem poles for both private sale and traditional purposes. In the last five years he has worked on twelve totem poles with his father and in 2005 he carved his first solo pole for an Oregon residence.

For the 2003-04 school year David Robert took time away from his art to teach Tsimshian history and culture at Metlakatla High School. Handing down the cultural lessons he learned as a child is of great importance to David Robert because it will help ensure the future of Tsimshian people for generations to come. In 2005 he was awarded the Indian Market Purchase Prize from the Eiteljorg Museum of Native American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. He is learning silver engraving from another Tsimshian artist, Corey Moraes, reflecting his desire to continually grow as an artist. David Robert is also featured artist in the May 2006 issue of Native Peoples Magazine. He currently lives in Juneau, Alaska, carving full time and teaching some fine line painting classes at the University of Alaska Southeast.


“With regard to his artistic accomplishments, I am awed by his mastery of the extremely complex designs of Tsimshian two dimensional art. His drum painting are possibly the most developed and sophisticated of any artist alive today and compare most favorably with those of the old masters in museum collections.”

-Dr. George F. MacDonald, Chairman of the Bill Reid Foundation and former director of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture