New Indigenous murals emblazon Queen E. Plaza, Vancouver Central Library, and more

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      The City of Vancouver has unveiled the first four out of six of its new Indigenous murals downtown as part of the Canada 150+ celebrations.

      A total of six murals by First Nations artists were commissioned to promote reconciliation and relations between Vancouverites and Indigenous people.

      Artist Kelly Cannell has created a lightbox aptly titled Sea to Sky at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza, with imagery of wildlife and natural landscapes, acknowledging Vancouver's Coast Salish past.

      Nearby, in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre East windows on the 600 block of Cambie Street, look for artist Jay Havens's Hearbeat, which responds to two seminal moments in Canadian history: the iconic speech given by Chief Dan George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation on July 1, 1967 (the Canadian Centennial), and the second a mural commissioned by the Canadian Museum of Civilization  in 1978 titled The Indian in Transition by Daphne Odjig, a Woodland artist and long-time B.C. resident.

      Time Immemorial by Ryan McKenna
      Rachel Topham

       

      Over at the Vancouver Central Library, Ryan McKenna has created a series of aperture banners called Time Immemorial  that speak to the diverse identity of Vancouver’s First Nations people, especially those who live in an urban landscape. The models for these black-and-white drawings live in the city of Vancouver and represent people from nations within and around Vancouver, such as those from the Bella Coola, Musqueam, Haida, Squamish, and Lillooet nations.

      Part of the new mural along Beatty Street by multiple artists
      Rachel Topham

       

      At 600 Beatty Street, Haisla Collins, Jerry Whitehead, Sharifah Marsden, Mehren Razmpoosh, Richard Shorty, and Vanessa Walterson have created a new mural called Spirits of the Realms, reflects cultures and stories of First Peoples across Canada. The background colours of black, white, yellow, and red represent the four directions of the medicine wheel and the three realms (earth, sky, and sea) of the peoples who live along the Northwest Coast.

      By fall of this year, two more big works will be completed: a mural by Krystle Coughlin at the Vancouver City Centre Canada Line Station (at Georgia and Granville Street), and a mural by Larissa Healy and Shadae Johnson in the alley behind Army & Navy (36 West Cordova/27 West Hastings).

      The public art program issued a call for murals in January 2017 and received 47 applications; the six successful applicant teams were chosen by a panel of Indigenous artists and art professionals. A Canada 150+ Downtown Walking Tour of all four sites will be available as part of the Drum is Calling Festival. Tours will take about an hour and are free for the public to attend. They will run at 4 p.m. Sunday (July 23), Monday (July 24), and Wednesday (July 26).

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