Seeing his design on the side of the BC Ferries vessel the Salish Heron for the first time put everything into perspective for Maynard Johnny Jr.
The Penelakut Tribe member and renowned Coast Salish artist was at BC Ferries鈥� fleet maintenance unit yard in Richmond last week with his daughter and grandson to view the artwork on the ferry. The enormity of it captivated him right away, considering his project started out as a six inch by two inch sketch.
鈥淚 was totally amazed how they could make it on such a large scale,鈥� Johnny conceded. 鈥淭o see my work that large was cool.鈥�
The visit was documented, along with filming done in his Duncan studio, for a YouTube video.
The wings, tail and beak of Johnny鈥檚 Salish Heron design are essentially the size of a seven storey building laid on its side and replicated around the expansive hull of the ship. It left a massive impression with him and his family.
BC Ferries put out the call last summer for designs to grace the Salish Heron. Thirty-six artists made submissions, narrowed down to a short list of six before Johnny鈥檚 concept was selected in late September.
The new BC Ferries vessel was built in Poland and is part of a fleet that includes the Salish Orca, Salish Raven and Salish Eagle. The design for the Salish Eagle was done by another local artist, John Marston of the Stz鈥檜minus First Nation.
The other three vessels are already in service. The Salish Heron is due to go into service soon, operating between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay and within the Southern Gulf Islands.
Johnny knows this project will stand as a legacy not only to himself and his family, but to Indigenous people as a whole in many ways along the Truth and Reconciliation path.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of this accomplishment and hope it inspires awareness of the first peoples of this territory and also create the desire to learn about the history,鈥� he indicated. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of misconceptions of the way things are for Indigenous people.
鈥淥f course, I think about my grandkids and hopefully I鈥檓 around for my great grandkids. That鈥檚 the legacy I want to leave. In the last 10 years, my art allows me to get into places I wouldn鈥檛 be able to before.
鈥淢y goal is to keep moving forward and keep creating awareness so we can all heal.鈥�
Johnny Jr. was born in 1973 in Campbell River and has Coast Salish descent on his father鈥檚 side from Penelakut Island and Kwakwaka鈥檞akw on his mother鈥檚 side from Cape Mudge on Quadra Island. He spent time as a youth in Washington state before returning to Canada.
Johnny is primarily a self-taught artist. He鈥檚 been studying and perfecting his craft since the age of 17.
Johnny鈥檚 desire to continually evolve as an artist knows no bounds. It鈥檚 been a busy past year for him that鈥檚 also included an appearance on the Still Standing CBC TV show segment on Chemainus to talk about an archway project for Waterwheel Park and he also has a Chemainus mural in the works called Rebirth that will be installed in the summer.
鈥淢y first thought process is what else could I do?鈥� Johnny conceded. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to figure out what else I can do and take my work to another level, do something no one else has done.鈥�
don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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