The City of Williams Lake has styled itself the
Mural Capital of the Cariboo and not without good reason. It was the local chapter of
Communities in Bloom which provided the initial impetus for a downtown mural project. The project was embraced by city council and got underway in (as best we can tell) 2002 with the first mural,
When Duty Calls, being placed on the fire hall in 2002. The artist was Dwayne Davis of
Davis Arts. Davis has been the artist for the majority of the downtown murals, which now total around 30, some inside but the majority outside.
One may check out all the downtown murals at the
Mural Tour.
With a Grand Unveiling on September 8, 2018, this is the most recent of the murals to be completed, as of 2019. While this mural has been referred to as a "
little mural on a big wall" by its creator, it is also one of the more inspired, and inspiring, murals in Williams Lake's Downtown Mural project. While Dwayne Davis had a major hand in the creation of this mural, it was the vision of Al-Lisa Tressiera-Mckay of
Miss White Spider Arts, a member of the nearby Secwepemc First Nations Band. She also did most of the artwork in this masterpiece.
Kucwelcken
110 Oliver St., Williams Lake, BC V2G 1L8 Canada
Artist: Al-Lisa Tresierra McKay, 2018 – with support from Davis Arts
Funded by: Downtown Williams Lake/City of Williams Lake
About:
This mural depicts how all life comes from great mystery and then goes back into great mystery. Spirit must be honoured to keep the balance of life and tangible form. So many are disconnected from our true connection to spirit and the natural world. This mural is a prayer for the town to be in balance. This mural combines First Nations culture with the feminine spirit and the importance of salmon, the sun, and animals of the region.
Artistic Notes:
Kucwelcken means Backbone in Secwepemc language. When Al-Lisa was invited to paint this mural, she prayed for a vision to help guide her art. She knew she wanted to honour the First Nations, the feminine, and the salmon. The prayer that came through did so in slow drops and stages. It began with the river mother, the salmon, the sun, and then the animals. Al-Lisa painted gold symbols around the spiral in the sun. It is interesting because the metallic paint is olive green without direct sunlight, some angles make it seem as though it is invisible and when the sun is directly across, the whole painted sun glows shimmering gold. Al-Lisa Tresierra McKay of Miss White Spider Arts designed this mural. She had the help of Dwayne Davis and Dwayne’s son Steven to help her put her “little painting on a very big wall”.
From Downtown Williams Lake