A popular landmark is coming home.
The "This Beautiful Day" sign, by artist Kristin McIver that was a fixture at the Mamquam Blind Channel for years, is returning to Squamish.
The piece was recently purchased by BlueSky Properties and will be repatriated and reinstalled later this week at the Discovery Centre for SEAandSKY at Waterfront Landing.
The piece, which was a result of the 2014 to 2016 Vancouver Biennale Residency Program was moved from Squamish to a storage facility in Vancouver earlier this year, and had a virtual showing this summer in New York.
“It’s still teaching us. It’s gone full circle,” said Tsawaysia Spukwus (Alice Guss), the Squamish Nation artist, cultural ambassador and teacher who inspired the piece, said in a news release. “It was an honour to be part of the process and to see the teachings of the art come back home.”
The installation will be temporarily located outside the centre, but a permanent home will be found once the new development at Waterfront Landing is closer to completion, the release states.
“It’s fantastic to see the work returning to the place it was conceived and back to the community. It was very much a collaboration with the local First Nations community, and it’s nice to see that it’s coming back with their blessing,” said McIver in the release. “The piece is really a prompt to encourage people to acknowledge the beauty in every day and every moment.”
The piece will remain in town permanently.
“Art is important to us and knowing there was a beautiful piece out there with such a deep connection to Squamish that we could bring back to the community really excited us,” said Martin Rahn, design innovation executive at Bosa and BlueSky Properties, in the release.
The housing development project is by Kingswood Properties and BlueSky Properties (a Bosa Family Company).
“We want to celebrate and integrate the SEAandSKY community into the larger Squamish community through art and through other efforts we have planned, and the Squamish arts council and the District were both on board and very supportive in bringing the art back home. This piece really makes you pause, reflect and take in where you are, and to bring those gestures back and allow people to appreciate it is important, particularly now.”
*Please note, this story has been updated to clarify the developers of the housing development.
