Susan Point (born 1952) is a

Musqueam The Musqueam Nation ( Hunquminum: ) is a First Nation whose traditional territory encompasses the western half of what is now Greater Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. It is governed by a band council and is known officially as the Musq ...

Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...

artist from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, who works in the Coast Salish tradition. Her sculpture, prints and

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

works include pieces installed at the

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island (British Columbia), Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is lo ...

, the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

in Vancouver, the

Museum of Anthropology at UBC The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada displays world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations in Canada, First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. As well ...

, the

Penn Museum The Penn Museum is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City, Philadelphia, University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at the intersection of 33rd and Sout ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and the city of Seattle.

Biography

Point was born in

Alert Bay Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statist ...

while her parents, Edna Grant and Anthony Point were salmon fishing. Her parents both used the Salish language

Halkomelem Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...

in their home on the Musqueam First Nation. In the early 1980s, she joined a group of artists interested in reviving the traditions of

Coast Salish art Coast Salish art is an art unique to the Pacific Northwest Coast among the Coast Salish peoples. Coast Salish are peoples from the Pacific Northwest Coast made up of many different languages and cultural characteristics. Coast Salish territory co ...

and design, including artists such as Stan Greene, Rod Modeste, and Floyd Joseph. Little research had been done on Salish art, so Point taught herself the Salish traditions. She studied the collections of

art at the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology and at the

Royal British Columbia Museum The Royal British Columbia Museum (or Royal BC Museum), founded in 1886, is a history museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The "Royal" title was approved by Queen Elizabeth II and bestowed by Prince Philip in 1987, to coincide with a ...

. There is broad agreement that Point's works were critical to the current efflorescence of contemporary Coast Salish art. She was a leader in expanding the audience for Salish art to a market that was heavily biased towards Northwest Coast artworks produced in northern Northwest Coast formline design principles. Her close study of the formal characteristics of historical works of Salish art laid the foundation for her contemporary productions - some based closely on new renderings in print form of historical spindle whorls in museum collections, and later expanding out into original forms in new media, such as glass, concrete, and bronze. Much of her art practice has involved the adaptation of traditional

spindle whorl A spindle whorl is a weighted object fitted to a spindle to help maintain the spindle's speed of rotation while spinning yarn. History A spindle whorl may be a disk or spherical object. It is typically positioned on the bottom of the spindle. T ...

carvings into the medium of

screen printing Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke ...

. Her work helped revive Coast Salish design and brought new scholarly attention to her culture. She has produced more prints than any other artist on the Coast, with over 360 prints in her oeuvre by 2016. For several decades (starting in the late 1990s), she completed both a major public work of art within

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

or the

Seattle metropolitan ''Seattle Metropolitan'', or ''Seattle Met'', is a monthly city magazine covering Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the ...

area along with a series of prints and works in glass each year. Vancouver Airport Inside

A major retrospective of her work was shown by the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fr ...

in 2017, ''Susan Point: Spindle Whorl''.

Works

Point's works include ''Salish Footprint'' in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Musqueam house posts at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

, and carvings installed at the

and at

Brockton Point Brockton Point is a headland off the Downtown Peninsula of Vancouver, on the north side of Coal Harbour. Named after Francis Brockton, it is the most easterly part of Stanley Park and is home to a 100-year-old lighthouse and several hand-carve ...

. In 1995, Point's "Flight (Spindle Whorl)" was installed at the Vancouver International Airport. It is the largest

in the world at 4.8 meters (16 feet) in diameter. The piece is set against a stone waterfall to symbolize the connection between land and sky. In 2008, Point created "Buttress Runnels" for the

Richmond Olympic Oval The Richmond Olympic Oval () is an indoor multi-sports arena in the Canada, Canadian city of Richmond, British Columbia. The oval was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and was originally configured with a speed skating rink. The venue has since ...

in Richmond, B.C.. The runnels move water from the roof of the building away from the site. The runnels include cast images of the life of the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

, including fish, sand,

herons Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus '' Botaurus'' are referred to as ...

. A heron is used for the logo of the

City of Richmond The City of Richmond was a local government area about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994. History Richmond was incorporated as a municipality on 24 A ...

and the symbol figures prominently in stories and histories of the Musqueam people. In 2009, Point's “Tree of Life” stained glass window was installed in Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver. The design represents the Salish belief in the interconnectedness of all forms of life, uniting

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

with

First Nations culture First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. Point was commissioned by the church to design the windows after winning a competition. Since 2014, the

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

has displayed a glass whorl by Point, made in 1994, in its "Native American Voices: The People – Here and Now" exhibit.

Awards and honours

*Honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

(2000),

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

(2000),

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

(2008), and

Emily Carr University of Art and Design The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art school, art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Van ...

(2008) *Appointment to the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

(2004) * National Aboriginal Achievement Award (2004) *

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian national order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the centennial of Canadian Confederation, the ...

(2006) *One of B.C.'s 100 most influential women (2010) *

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

(2012) * 2018: Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts

References

External links

*
Douglas Reynolds Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Point, Susan 1952 births Living people 20th-century First Nations sculptors 20th-century First Nations women 20th-century Canadian sculptors 21st-century Canadian sculptors 21st-century First Nations artists 21st-century First Nations women 20th-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian women artists Canadian woodcarvers Coast Salish woodcarvers Indspire Awards Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts People from Alert Bay Women glass artists Women woodcarvers First Nations women Self-taught artists Flag designers Canadian glass artists Musqueam people

Biography

Works

Awards and honours

See also

References

Further reading

External links