Major new sculpture by Indigenous artist James Harry installed in Squamish
Welcome Gate is made of fibreglass, stainless steel, copper guilding, and LED lighting
Welcome Gate. Photo courtesy James Harry
A SIGNIFICANT NEW sculpture by a local Indigenous artist has been installed in Squamish.
Welcome Gate is by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw artist James Harry, whose father, Xwalacktun, is a well-known master carver of the Squamish Nation. Having grown up deeply immersed in Squamish Nation culture, Harry attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design, where he focused on fusing traditional Coast Salish artforms with contemporary concepts and materials, including wood, metal, and glass.
James Harry. Photo courtesy @jamesharryart, Instagram
Harry’s new Welcome Gate is made of fibreglass, stainless steel, copper guilding, and LED lighting. One of the pillars measures 40 feet by eight feet by two feet; the other is 35 feet by eight feet by six feet.
It’s situated at Sp’akw’us Feather Park, a new oceanfront 11-acre park that features a public beach, a windsports beach, a meadow, crushed-rock and paved pathways, a boardwalk, and more. It’s part of a 60-acre new community development called Oceanfront Squamish.
The grand opening of the site’s 11-acre Sp’akw’us Feather Park will take place on August 17, with the annual Sp’akw’us Feather Shakedown and Squamish Arts Festival. The site features multiple art pieces by local artists, including Maskull Lassere.
The waterfront sculpture overlooks the head of Howe Sound, fittingly symbolizing a point of welcome for visitors approaching the park from the south. 
Rendering of Sp’akw’us Feather Park. Photo courtesy Oceanfront Squamish
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