SALISH ARTIST SUSAN POINT BORN
Susan, born in Alert Bay, British Columbia (BC), grew up on the Musqueam Indian Reserve. In the early 1980s, she taught herself the Salish traditions and studied Coast Salish art. Her art has involved adapting traditional spindle whorl carvings into screen printing. Her public pieces were installed at the Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park, the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., the University of BC, Museum of Anthropology, and the City of Seattle. Point created Buttress Runnels for the Olympic Oval (2008) and the Tree of Life stained glass window for Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral (2009). In 2017, the Vancouver Art Gallery held a major retrospective of her art. Major achievements: Appointed to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (2004), Officer, Order of Canada (2006), and named one of BC’s 100 most influential women (2010).. Awards: Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), Audain Prize (2018), and National Aboriginal Achievement Award (2004).
Source: Julia Skelly, “Susan Point,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 11/1/2017. Retrieved 6/24/2019, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/susan-point/
Photo: Iqbal Sikander, 10/4/2004. “Welcome Figure,” by Susan Point, at Vancouver International Airport. Public Domain.
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