State of Nature
Cast iron Coast Salish designs flowing through the park’s waterways
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)
State of Nature (2010) is part of the Necklace Project, a collaborative public art initiative developed ahead of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games. Each Metro Vancouver municipality was invited to respond to a shared theme through a local cultural lens.
Created by Coast Salish artist Thomas Cannell, State of Nature features cast iron grates embedded into the park landscape. Each grate carries abstracted forms of butterflies, deer, fish, birds and local flora, placed over waterway drainage and utility channels. The piece draws attention to the way natural life and cultural symbolism continue to move beneath urban infrastructure.
State of Nature is paired with Cannell’s companion work Vitality, which features a Coast Salish family across four basalt sculptures, symbolizing the circle of life and community continuity.
Indigenous Tourism BC acknowledges that it is situated on operates on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation).
