landmarks
Talent Pool
by Cherie Thiessen >> photograph by Kevin Oke
A killer whale and her one-month-old glide across the massive seascape that dominates the Galiano Island Inn's reception
area, stopping guests in their tracks. >> Called Kunamokst, a Chinook word meaning together, the 11-by21-foot mural is made up of 231 interlocking panels — each depicting a unique marine scene designed by one of 200
primarily West Coast artists in a variety of media, from oil paints and water colours to stones, silk and fused-glass. The artists
worked independently with no information about the mural's "big-picture motif." All were simply given a colour palette and onefoot-square base-panel on which they could incorporate their unique vision of West Coast life. >> Some 18 months in the making,
the Coastal Inspiration project is the vision of Alberta-based mosaic-muralist Lewis Lavoie, who along with his Mural Mosaic
team worked with some of Canada's most accomplished artisans — a group ranging in age from 16 to 90 and representing communities all along the B.C. coast — to realize its "unity through diversity" theme. Commissioned by Galiano Inn co-owner Conny
Nordin for just under $40,000, the mural was first unveiled for the Cultural Olympiad at Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics.
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muralmosaic.com; www.kunamokstmural.com
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SPRING 2012
1/26/12 2:57:42 PM
