Hot on the heels of Matt’s YVR post, I finally uploaded my photos of the new diorama at the airport.

Created by downtown’s museum designers AldrichPears Associates and executed in part by Coquitlam’s Conceptron Associates, it’s proving to be tough finding the names of all the sculptors.

The most visible one is First Nations artist and Emily Carr grad Connie Watts, of Nuu-chah-nulth, Gitxsan, and Kwakwaka’wakw ancestry, created the Thunderbird, Hetux (daughter in Nuu-chah-nulth), erroneously referred to as a raven. Made from stained Baltic birch and powder coated aluminium, Watts drew inspiration from her grandmother:

In my lifetime my grandmother has been my mentor. Her determination, creativity and generosity have always set a precedent for me to follow. For these reasons, I have modeled this Thunderbird from the personality of my grandmother. And have respectfully named it after her: “Hetux”.

….The Thunderbird, together with all the other creatures, is my grandmother. The Thunderbird’s strength and boundless creative energy is dominant. The wolves (intensity and determination) on either side of the body are her stature. The male and female salmon on the belly reflect her generosity and prosperity. The hummingbird (joy and energy) and moon (intuition and perceptiveness) on the wing are her actions and interpretations. The sun (logic and power) on the tail is her guidance. The small wren (magic and fortuity) on the neck is ever present.

From there, I ran into problems. I had the names of the other artists (Tim Paul, Stephen Bruce, Lyle Wilson, and Stan Wamis) but no information matching sculptor to sculpture. I finally found out that Stephen Bruce made the seal, which I forgot to photograph in favour of the crabs, duck and canoe.

The ocean sound effects here are motion sensored and turn off when no passengers pass through. There are speakers hidden all over the place.

The more I think about it, the more it kills me that I don’t know who the artist is. Unless I missed a commemorative plaque when I was in the Pacific Passage, it’s strange that artists are not credited for their work.

As the City of Vancouver’s First Nations History site says, “Local elders like to say that when the tide was out, the table was set.”

On the other hand, the Musqueam weavings (1996) outside the Pacific Passage have names: sisters Debra Sparrow and Robyn Sparrow, Krista Point, Gina Grant and Helen Calbreath. Krista Point explains the dyes:

When we were in the weaving school, we learned how to dye using natural plants like lichen, stinging nettles, dandelions, horsetail, and onion skins. That was fun because we did a lot of experimenting. Some of the colors we’d come out with were just gorgeous. We recorded them on paper. I have kept a record of all the colors that I have used, right from when I first started. The first dye I did was on November 14, 1983. I used onion skins to make a yellow colour.

For yellow, the weavers use onion skins, dandelions (roots and flower), and goldenrod flowers; for green, stinging nettles, horsetail, and red onion skins; for red, red alder bark; and for a goldish beige colour, lichens.

The Spindle Whorl (1996), the world’s largest, is by Susan A. Point (with assistance from John Livingston and Jeff Cannell). Susan Point, aunt to Krista Point, lives on the Musqueam First Nation Reservation in Vancouver.