FIRST NATIONS ART
1. The Jade Canoe
Vancouver International Airport
Haida artist Bill Reid’s awe-inspiring bronze creation is the second casting of The Black Canoe. Thirteen characters from Haida mythology paddle an imposing 20-ft (6-m) canoe.
The Jade Canoe, a bronze sculpture by Bill Reid
2. Carved Doors
The entrance to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC is itself a work of art. Made of red cedar by four Gitxsan master carvers, the double doors convey a narrative from the Skeena River region. When closed, these images form the shape of a Northwest Coast bentwood box, objects used by First Nations people for storage and burials.
3. Hetux
Vancouver International Airport
Travelers at Vancouver airport are greeted by Hetux, a huge birch-and-aluminum sculpture. Connie Watts here combined the form of the mythical thunderbird with features of wolves, wrens salmon, and hummingbirds to reflect the untamed spirit of her grandmother.
4. Chief of the Undersea World
Orcas were still kept at the Vancouver Aquarium when Haida artist Bill Reid’s sculpture was installed outside it in 1984. The 16-ft- (5-m-) tall bronze killer whale leaping into the air remains as a tribute to this native West Coast creature.
5. Thunderbird House Post
A majestic thunderbird stands atop a grizzly bear, which is depicted holding a human being. The house post is a replica of one of a pair carved in the early 1900s by artist Charlie James. After 40 years in Stanley Park, the deteriorated poles were restored and moved indoors. Carver Tony Hunt re-created the post now in the park’s Brockton Point Visitor Centre.
The legendary Thunderbird House Post totem pole
6. ‘Ksan Mural
1025 W Georgia St
Five artists carved this red cedar frieze showing Northwest Coast raven myths. The nine panels tell stories of how the Raven created the elements of the world through his mischievous activities.
7. One of the World’s Tallest Totem Poles
Raised in Beacon Hill Park in 1956, the pole, by Kwakwaka’-wakw chief Mungo Martin with David Martin and Henry Hunt, took six months to carve from a 128-ft- (39-m-) tall cedar.
8. Kwakwaka’wakw Totem Pole
This pole, at Victoria’s Royal British Columbia Museum, provides a chance to see a modern interpretation of traditional carving by Kwakwaka’wakw artists Jonathan Henderson and Sean Wonnock. The pole features a mythical thunderbird on top of the tail of an orca.
9. Coast Salish Welcome Figures
Vancouver International Airport
Two 17-ft- (5-m-) tall red cedar figures welcome airport arrivals in traditional Musqueam style. Northwest Coast artist Susan Point carved both from the same log.
10. Inukshuk
English Bay Beach
Made by Alvin Kanak for Expo ‘86, this granite sculpture is an Inuit welcome figure, a traditional traveler’s marker, although much larger than those found in the Arctic.
Inukshuk sculpture by Alvin Kanak
TOP 10 PUBLIC ARTWORKS
1. A-maze-ing Laughter
Denman and Davie Sts
Crowds tend to gather around these playful figures in Morton Park.
A-maze-ing Laughter, Morton Park
2. Photo Session
Queen Elizabeth Park
Join Seward Johnson’s family of bronze figures posing for a snapshot.
3. The Crab
1100 Chestnut St
Admire George Norris’s stylized stainless-steel sculpture of a crab.
4. Gate to the Pacific Northwest
Vanier Park
Alan Chung Hung’s sculpture invokes 18th-century navigation instruments.
5. Douglas Coupland’s Digital Orca
Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre
This piece captures the spirit of Vancouver’s harborfront.
6. Salute to the Lions of Vancouver
999 Canada Pl
Gathie Falk’s steel lions align with Lions Gate Bridge and The Lions mountain.
7. Angel of Victory
601 W Cordova St
Coeur de Lion MacCarthy’s bronze angel lifts a World War I soldier heavenward.
8. Street Light
Marinaside Cres
Panels showing images of historic events cast shadows onto a walkway.
9. Pendulum
885 W Georgia St
This stunning seven-story kinetic sculpture is by Alan Storey.
10. Should I Be Worried?
False Creek
This neon sign by Justin Langlois aims at initiating dialogue on sustainability.
