Gateway to Ancient Wisdom, 2019
Join Mary Tasi and Wade Baker of Sky Spirit Consulting for a walking tour of artworks on the first section of the Spirit Trail, created in 2008 and 2009. We will visit Wade Baker’s stainless steel and red cedar sculpture, Gateway to Ancient Wisdom, and several curvilinear benches with art created by various Squamish Nation artists, located at the Mosquito Creek Marina oceanfront. There are 28 bronze disks in the benches that have all been created based on ancient story sharing from the elder’s workshops. Tasi and Baker will describe the land placemaking process, which was the first design collaboration between the City of North Vancouver and the Squamish Nation, and the narratives that the disks were based on. The project won the City of North Vancouver Award of Excellence for Public Art in 2013.
Meet at Lonsdale Quay main entrance on the ocean side, at the circular fountain (or in adjacent covered area in case of rain). The trail is a short 10 minute walk from the Quay. Please dress for the weather, and bring umbrellas and rain gear if needed.
Mary Tasi, Community Planning & Research Consultant. Mcip, Rpp Mary Tasi is a community planning consultant, art consultant, research consultant and author. She worked for many years in Ontario and Quebec as an urban planner and designer. She is a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, the Planning Institute of British Columbia and the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. Tasi’s philosophy is that art brings community together. She has worked with the City of North Vancouver and the Squamish Nation to create the Gateway to Ancient Wisdom for the beginning of the North Shore Spirit Trail. This public art piece brought together elders, youth, landscape architects, builders, contractors, steelworkers, welders, politicians, and many others in an innovative, award-winning collaborative process. Tasi’s multi-disciplinary strengths include city planning, art project marketing, communications and policy. She uses innovative public engagement techniques and visioning that produces meaningful solutions to complex community issues. She has the ability to manage and communicate divergent ideas and conflicting visions or goals. She has marketing experience with over 100 galleries in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
Wade Baker, Mintledus, Oral History Expert Wade Baker is a sculptor, graphic designer and red cedar carver. He has been carving and creating art since he was a teenager. As a descendent of ancient Coast Salish, Kwakwaka’wakw, Tlingit and Haida nobility, Baker has inherited a rich artistic legacy. In these traditions, art is not a separate activity but is interwoven in life, language, custom and culture. Art is a means of spiritual expression in which a design or piece of art can encompass an entire story. Baker’s preference is to create large public art sculptures. He has worked in steel, wood, glass, marble and many other mediums. His stainless steel North Star was commissioned for the 2010 Olympics and stands at the Vancouver Olympic Village site. One of the highlights for Baker was meeting Prince Charles when the North Star was unveiled in 2009. Baker has also produced smaller public art designs and in 2000, his wolf design was selected to be part of the Millennium series of Royal Canadian Mint quarters. 50 million quarters were produced with Baker’s design and are now in circulation. Baker is a member of the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, and a Director at Large for Aboriginal Tourism British Columbia. Most recently, Baker is writing the history of his British ancestors Lieutenant Joseph Baker, an early mapmaker of the British Columbia Coast, and Robert Hunt, a fur trader and factor with the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1850’s.