Point, Susan

POINT, Susan, Coast Salish artist (b 5 Apr 1952, Alert Bay). She grew up on the MUSQUEAM Reserve in S Vancouver and attended RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL at SECHELT. Her father was a commercial FISHER and her mother worked in fish CANNERIES; Point's first job after leaving school was at a cannery with her mother. She later worked in the offices of different FIRST NATIONS political organizations. As an artist she began producing jewellery and prints based on traditional SALISH designs in the early 1980s. She is particularly known for her use of the spindle whorl motif. As she developed as an artist she began to work in glass, wood and metal, often on a very large scale. Several of her pieces are on display at the Vancouver International Airport, including an enormous (5 m in diameter) spindle whorl and two welcome figures. She has received dozens of commissions for public installations. During the 1990s she served on the board of the EMILY CARR INSTITUTE OF ART & DESIGN, and she has an honorary degree from the UNIV OF VICTORIA. See also VISUAL ART.
Reading: Gary Wyatt, ed., Susan Point: Coast Salish Artist, 2000.