Journey of Enlightenment

“Within my sculpture, I am attempting to recognize a place in time. The eight different designs are an experience for the community and the students to experience a Musqueam journey like no other. These stand as windows or open gateways to our history and our understanding of the history of the site and the surrounding lands. This is a connection to share between Musqueam and St. George’s School’s students and families.

Within the four chapters of the storyboards, the imagery consists of canoes, salmon, halibut, wolf, heron, kingfisher, sturgeon, cattail, raven, eagle, hummingbirds, grass (relating to the Musqueam People as “People of the Grass”), orca, butterflies, male and female welcome figures both presenting coppers (which is a symbol of wealth). A pair of Salishans on the central butterfly imagery represents future generations. The canoes along the bottom of each storyboard represent an honouring journey of knowledge, as this artwork is for a school and education is a journey…all originally designed in my contemporary Coast Salish art style. Two storyboards together form a total canoe at the bottom. My imagery also creates a rainforest motif by way of weaving all the imagery together and connecting them, as though walking through the forest seeing layer upon layer of images transforming with shadow and changing daylight through all four seasons, illustrating a story passed down from generation to generation as is our Musqueam tradition for millennia.”

– Susan Point

Artist
Susan Point

Client
Commissioned by St George’s High School for the City of Vancouver

Materials
5″ v-carved aluminum panels in anodized light gold, solid welded 0.08′ aluminum painted in Matthews 2-part urethane Bronze Metallic, and 0.1875″ polycarbonate plastic with etch glass gold vinyl.

Location
St Georges High School, 4175 W. 29th Ave., Vancouver BC

Installation Date
March, 2026