State of Nature

Thomas Cannell · Deer Lake Park, Burnaby, BC

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: Carving, Basalt Sculpture & Metalwork · Necklace Project · Installed: 2010

A Musqueam artist was asked to reflect Burnaby's past. He went to the park with his family first — and let what he found there shape everything.

The Works

Deer Lake Park sits in the traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. In 2006, Coast Salish sculptor Thomas Cannell was commissioned here as part of the Necklace Project — a multi-city initiative conceived ahead of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games, in which each Metro Vancouver municipality created a unique, locally interpreted artwork around a shared theme. What Cannell made is not one piece but two — companion works that together tell a complete story about land, life, and the enduring presence of Musqueam culture on this territory.

State of Nature is Vitality's companion — a series of abstract iron grates installed over drainage areas and waterways throughout the park. Butterflies, deer, fish, birds, and flora are rendered in the iron surfaces, visible underfoot and along the water's edge as you move through the landscape. Where Vitality gathers — a family, a circle, a centrepoint — State of Nature disperses, threading Coast Salish imagery through the park's ecosystem. Together the two works ask the same question from different angles: what does it mean to be alive and present on this land?

Know Before You Go

Both works are outdoors in Deer Lake Park, Burnaby. Accessible year-round, free of charge. Vitality is a central sculptural installation on the open hillside. State of Nature is distributed across the park's waterway and drainage areas — allow time to walk the full area and find the iron grate installations along the water's edge. Wear appropriate footwear for uneven terrain.

Best time to visit: Spring and summer when the park's flora is in full growth — the relationship between the artwork and the living landscape is most apparent in the growing season.

Getting There

By Transit — SkyTrain Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake Station, then Bus 144 toward Deer Lake. Or Bus 130 from Metrotown Station to Deer Lake Park stop on Canada Way.

By Vehicle — Access via Sperling Avenue or Canada Way in Burnaby. Free parking at the Deer Lake Park lot off Sperling Avenue. 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

By Bike — Burnaby Lake cycling trails connect to Deer Lake Park. The Central Valley Greenway cycling route passes through the area.

Allow at least 45 minutes on foot to walk the full park area and locate both works.

From the VCC: 30 minutes by SkyTrain and bus. From YVR: 45 minutes by Canada Line to Commercial-Broadway, then Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake.

CONTINUE THE TRAIL

→  Written in the Earth · Susan Point · SFU Campus, Burnaby · 4 km

→  Blanketing the City — Granville Island · Debra Sparrow · Granville Street Bridge · 14 km

→  People Amongst the People · Susan Point · Brockton Point, Stanley Park · 18 km