Coast Salish artist Darlene Gait says as excited as she is to step onto the B.C. ferry emblazoned with her artwork, her biggest source of pride is knowing her daughter and future grandchildren will be able to ride the vessel.
“She’ll be an adult and she’ll be riding that ferry with her kids and I’ll be gone,” said Gait, an artist from the Esquimalt Nation who created the pod of orcas design featured on the new Salish Orca. The natural gas and diesel-powered ferry arrived in Richmond last week after a two-month journey from Poland.
“I always think ahead that way, to create something on a large scale for the next generation,” said Gait, whose three-year-old daughter Jasmine Witt calls the ferry “mommy’s boat.”
“So many emotions come to me when I think of that.”
Gait says it was intense and at times stressful rejigging the design to accommodate changes made by Polish engineers. She had to ensure holes or windows didn’t overlap the whale’s body.
B.C. Ferries acted as the middleman between Gait and Polish engineers.
“They would say: ‘They need to get this redone, we can’t fit the tail over this hole,’” Gait recalled.
Gait said it was “pretty awesome” seeing the ferry wrapped in the art decal in October.
The vessel is to be inspected by Health Canada and then moved to Tsawwassen for crew training. The ferry is scheduled to be in operation by early spring on the Powell River-Comox route.
Gait has been told there will be a public ceremony to christen the ferry in February.
“I want to see the inside. Apparently, they have a wall with some of my artwork and a bio with my photo and information about the Esquimalt Nation.”
Gait said that she is thrilled B.C. Ferries decided to recognize the First Nations people when selecting an art theme.
“It's a really amazing symbol to see in the water,” she said. “It reminds anyone, whether they’re from here or visiting from another country, that these waters were once filled with the aboriginal people of the west coast. It has been thousands of years and we’ve been sailing through these waters on our boats.”
Gait said the goal of her artwork, which includes the Land and Sea mural that adorns the Ogden Point Breakwater, is to promote unity between non-native and native people.
Salish Orca is the first of three ferries set to join the fleet this year.
The new Salish-class vessels replace the Queen of Burnaby and Queen of Nanaimo, which are being retired after more than 50 years on the water.
The art for the Salish Eagle, expected to arrive in March, was done by John Marston of the Stz’uminus First Nation, and design for the Salish Raven, due to arrive in May, was done by Thomas Cannell of the Musqueam First Nation.
