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Susan Point
RCA, OC |
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| 2010 YouTube video |
| 2010 YouTube video |
| 2008 YouTube video |
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Susan Point
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RCA, OC
Susan A. Point is a Coast Salish artist from Musqueam, a First Nation in Vancouver, British Columbia. Born in 1952, from childhood Susan has been taught the traditional values of her culture and legends of her people by her many aunts and uncles, but
above all by her late mother, Edna Grant-Point, and her late uncle, Dominic Point.
Susan began her artistic career in January 1981 designing and creating gold/silver jewellery. At this time, Coast Salish art was an almost lost art form (due to
European contact) therefore much of the native artwork produced and sold through various galleries and museums consisted of northern First Nations art. Eager to learn more about her own peoples art style, Susan chose to concentrate on the traditional
designs and elements created by her ancestral artisans.
Through research and consultation with various museums and libraries (both in Canada and the U.S.), Susan began her study on the design and art style of traditional Coast Salish artifacts.
Consulting with her uncle, Professor Michael Kew, at the University of British Columbia, who focused in “Coast Salish Art and Culture”, Susan then began her career as a Coast Salish artist (representing “all” of her Coast Salish peoples) creating designs
reflecting traditional images of the past in jewellery, limited edition serigraphs, and paintings … taken from the spindle whorl which is a disk, elaborately carved, which was used in the spinning of wool by Coast Salish women.
Coast Salish
women have used the spindle whorl for centuries to spin their mountain goat wool into yarn. The oldest whorls discovered by archaeologists were carved from stone. Shell, bone, and whale vertebra were also used, but wood became the most common material
from which they were made. Spindle whorls consist of a circular disk and a center pole. They came in various shapes and sizes; the size of the disk and the center pole determined the thickness of the diameter for the strands of yarn. Ironically, although
Susan researched and tried to understand the art style of her ancestors, her very first two-dimensional image using the silkscreen process was a “contemporary” print entitled “Salmon”.
Over the past 3 decades, Susan has been instrumental in
re-establishing Coast Salish art both in Canada and the United States … drawing inspiration from the images of her ancestors and commencing the use of non-traditional materials and techniques in paper, glass, bronze, wood, concrete, polymer, stainless
steel, and cast iron; Inspiring a whole new generation of Northwest Coast artists. Susan’s biggest reward has been the opportunity to meet elders and teachers from other communities around the world, and to see the current renaissance in Coast Salish
art and culture.
As a result of Susan’s willingness, drive, and love of experimentation, she has been awarded numerous public art commissions, including building facades and large sculptures in Canada and the U.S. To name a few, these large
scale works welcome visitors at the Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C., the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., the U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology as well as numerous public buildings and corporate
developments paying tribute to the native peoples that once inhabited these lands as well as all peoples from the four corners of the earth (past, present and future) who also share and inhabit these same lands. Susan also has collections worldwide in
various museums as well as within homes of private clientele.
For Susan’s hard work over the years, in educating all people on Coast Salish art, which is unique to the lower mainland of Vancouver, the southern tip of Vancouver Island and the
North Coast of Washington State, she has been awarded the Order of Canada, in addition to a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, a B.C. Creative Achievement Award, appointed to the Royal Academy of Arts, was elected
to the International Women’s Forum, and has received four Honorary Doctorates from the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, University of B.C. and Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
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Susan Point
RCA, OC
Affiliations
2006 Appointed to The Royal Canadian Academy of Art
Awards
2006 Awarded the Order of Canada
2004 Awarded National Aboriginal Achievement Award for achievement in Visual Arts by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
2000 Awarded YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in the Arts and Culture Category
2000 Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
1985-94 Elected Council Member for the Musqueam First Nation, Vancouver, BC
Collections
Beaver & Mink sculpture in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian, Washington, DC, 2004
Commissions
2005 “People Amongst the People”, for the Brockton Totem Pole site, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC
2005 “Sacred Journey”, commissioned by GWL Realty Advisors for 180 Queen Street West’s lobby entrance in Toronto, ON
2004 “Continuing Cycle of Life”, commissioned by Seattle Children’s Hospital in Seattle, WA
2004 “Sacred Circle”, set of six glass awards, National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC
2004 “Memory” manhole cover design (in collaboration with Kelly Cannell) selected by the City of Vancouver, BC
2004 “The Beaver and the Mink”, Government of Canada gifted to the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institute,
Washington, DC
2004 “The Frogs”, commissioned by the City of Surrey for the South Surrey Recreation Centre, Surrey, BC
2004 “Scinqua”, commissioned by Washington State Art Commission for Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
2000 “Intersection of Enlightenment” commissioned by Washington State Arts Commission for the Eastern Washington University Campus in
Cheney, WA
2000 bronze medallions for skytrain locations throughout Vancouver/Burnaby area, commissioned by Rapid Transit, Vancouver, BC
1999 “Salmon” design commissioned by the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, Ottawa, ON
1999 “Written into the Earth”, commissioned by First and Goal Incorporated, Seattle, WA
1998 Coast Salish spindle whorl and glass and terra cotta wall mural, commissioned by Langara College, Vancouver, BC
1998 “Salmon People” and “Arrival”, commissioned by Vancouver International Airport Authority, Richmond, BC
1998 “The Whale People”, commissioned by Victoria Conference Centre, Victoria, BC
1998 “Salmon” sculpture commissioned by Nortel, Toronto, ON
1998 Postage stamp and First Day of Issue cover image commemorating Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut, commissioned by Canada Post,
Ottawa, ON
1997 Coast Salish Houseposts, commissioned by the Royal Bank of Canada for the University of BC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1997 Architectural panels and houseposts, commissioned by Sprint Canada, Toronto, ON
1997 “Four Corners”, for North Seattle Community College Vocational Education Building, commissioned by Washington State Arts
Commission, Olympia, WA
1996 Coast Salish Welcome Figure, commissioned by the Royal Bank of Canada for the University of BC Museum of Anthropology,
Vancouver, BC
1996 Annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, commissioned by John Kim Bell of Canadian Native Arts Foundation, Toronto, ON
1995 street medallions, commissioned by the City of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
1994 “Flight”, commissioned by Vancouver International Airport Authority, Richmond, BC
1993 “Land, Sea and Sky”, commissioned by the Vancouver International Airport Authority, Richmond, BC
1993 “Water-The Essence of Life”, integrated into the West Seattle pump station, commissioned by the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle,
Seattle, WA
1992 Drums commissioned by Voices of the Earth Foundation, North Vancouver, BC (presented to Prince Philip and singer Bruce Cockburn)
1992 “Man and Salmon” and “Eagle and Wolf”, commissioned by The Speaker of the House, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, BC
1992 “Sea to Sky”, commissioned by Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia, WA
1992 “Northwind Fishing Weir”, commissioned by King County Arts Commission, Seattle, WA
1991 “Raven with Spindle Whorl”, commissioned by University of B.C., Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1990 “Salmon” and “Two-Headed Eagle”, integrated into Sechelt Indian Band Government Complex, commissioned by The Dominion Company, Vancouver, BC
1988 Original acrylic painting, 18K gold bracelet and a silver bracelet commissioned by
Volkerkundemuseum der Universitat Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
1986 “Red Oak”, commissioned by Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, Seattle, WA
1981 “Grizzly Bears with Sockeye”, commissioned by Municipality of North Vancouver for incorporation in their Coat of Arms, North
Vancouver, BC
Credits
2010 YouTube video
2010 YouTube video
2008 YouTube video
2001 Delegation member (visual artist) of State Visit of the Governor General of Canada to Argentina and Chile
1992-98 Appointed to the Board of Directors for the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC
Exhibitions
2006 First Nations: Myths and Realities, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006 Past to Present, Equniox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006 Manawa - Pacific Heartbeat, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006 Peripheral Visions, Arctic Raven Gallery, Friday Harbour, WA
2005 Awakenings; A Gathering of Contemporary Coast Salish Artists, The Stonington Gallery, Seattle, WA
2004 Clearly Tradition: Glass in American Indian Art, The Glass Gallery, Bethesda, MD
2003 Kiwa: Pacific Connections, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2002 Fusing Traditions, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, CA
2001 Long Time, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2000 New Art of the West 7, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, IN
2000 Susan Point - Coast Salish Artist, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1999 Susan Point, Motherland Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan
1999 Vision Keepers, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
1999 Susan A. Point Exhibition, Arctic Raven Gallery, Friday Harbour, WA
1997 River Deep - Mountain High, St. Fergus Gallery, Wick, Scotland
1996 Written in the Earth, U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1996 Topographies: Aspects of Recent B.C. Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1995 Expressions of Spirit: Contemporary American Indian Art, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, NM
1995 The 6th Native American Fine Arts Invitational, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
1994 Exhibition of Northwest Coast Indian Art, Nordamerican Indian Museum, Zurich, Switzerland
1994 Bit Im Presseclub, Zeitgenossische Kunst der Indianer der Nordwestkuste Kanada, Bonn, Germany
1993 Mythological Creatures of the Northwest, Stonington Gallery, Seattle, WA
1992 Here Today, Open Space Gallery, Victoria, BC
1992 Museu Da Gravura Cidade De Curitiba, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil
1990 Salish Point, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, ON
1990 From Periphery to Center, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
1989 Beyond Revival, Emily Carr College of Art, Charles Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1989 Susan A. Point, Joe David, Lawrence Paul, Indianische Kunstler der Westkuste Kanadas, Volkerkundemuseum der Universitat Zurich,
Zurich, Switzerland
1988 In the Shadow of the Sun, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, ON
1986 Salish Images - Tribute to Salish Art, U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1986 New Visions - Serigraphs by Susan A. Point, U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1985 The Northwest Coast Native Print, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC
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All images copyrighted by the artists.
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