BC Bus North to showcase Indigenous art

The work of four Northern B.C. Indigenous artists will soon be gracing the sides of BC Bus North buses.

Panels created by Clayton Gauthier, Tim Foster, Kari Morgan K’alaajex and Michelle Stoney were unveiled this week and starting next month their efforts will work as something of a travelling showcase as the buses ply this region's highways.

While all forms of Indigenous art, each embraces a distinctively different colour scheme.

Bear's Prayers for a Salmon Journey by Clayton Gauthier. Image from NIAC website

We Are All Connected by Timothy Foster. Image from NIAC website

We Are All Connected by Kari Morgan K’alaajex. By Image from NIAC website

Salmon Connections by Michelle Stoney. By Image from NIAC website

Gauthier's Bear's Prayers for a Salmon Journey is red and black on a white background, Foster's We are North/Sunset Sunrise depicts flora and fauna in black on an orange background, K’alaajex's We Are All Connected uses black, green and blue on a beige background to depict the region's landscape and Stoney uses dark blue on shades of blue and violet for her Salmon Connections .

“It means so much to us to be able to tell a positive story and celebrate the talent, the beauty, and the importance of Indigenous culture in Northern B.C. and beyond,” Northern Indigenous Arts Council President Diane Levesque said in a press release.  “We’re thrilled to showcase this powerful and moving artwork in a very unique way.”

They were result of a partnership the provincial government, Northern Indigenous Arts Council, Community Arts Council of Prince George and District and anonymous private donors from northern communities and were selected by an adjudication panel that was looking for piece of any medium that could translate well into large-scale digital format.

“The limitless natural and authentic beauty of our region is so well captured on the artwork revealed today,” North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice. “My heartfelt congratulations to the local artists who did an amazing job creating Indigenous art that thousands of BC Bus North riders will surely appreciate.”

Gauthier is a member of the Cree/Dakelh, Foster of the Gitxsan/Wet'suwet'en, K’alaajex of the Nisga’a, and Stoney of the Gitxsan.

For more information on the artists, go to niacpg.com/our-story/bc-bus-art-project/