It was a packed house March 17 for the “soft” opening of a little gallery on Main St. in Tofino with friends and family of Marika Swan and Norma Dryden invited in to warm the space up for the artists.
Swan had promised organizers of the annual Pacific Rim Whale Festival that she would have a show for this year’s event held March 16 to March 24 on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. One result of that promise is the show Becoming Worthy, an exhibit of the Tla-o-qui-aht artist’s woodcut prints.
The bigger result, however, is the creation of the gallery—they are currently toying with the name HUB—housed in The Shore complex on the town’s watery edge.
Carver Joe Martin, who was pleasantly surprised to be featured in Marika’s work, welcomed the guests to the evening event with some songs.
Swan then talked about the three-and-a-half year journey to create the pieces in the show.
Four years ago she had been involved with Redwire Media and became overwhelmed by the stories of struggle and challenge facing First Nations people, Swan said.
“I was really afraid, really full of fear.… I climbed deep inside a bottle.”
She said it took a lot of love, and strength and coaxing to convince her to climb out.
She had been born on a beach in the territory where the whales would be brought to share among the people, she said. Whales were a gift given to the worthy. She thought deeply about the love and dreams her parents had for her when she was small. Swan said she then determined that she should use her art to discover more about her people and their traditions.
Becoming Worthy is a celebration of what she sees alive in her people today, she said. The lessons and the teachings remind us to be ready for the big gifts in life.
When she was ready to show her work, she said, there was nowhere for her to go, so that started the next phase of the journey.
“This community needed a place to celebrate our artists.”
Dryden and Swan had worked together on the Carving on the Edge festival which celebrates carvers of all stripes. At the end of last September they dared dream about a gallery space.
“It’s Marika’s vision,” Dryden told Ha-Shilth-Sa.
The idea is to provide shows and workshops; something new every three months. The artists were actively seeking input from the many people who attended the opening. Even the name of the gallery is not set in stone, so suggestions were being sought.
When Swan and Dryden first entertained the idea of opening a gallery, Dryden talked to people about the notion.
“Surely someone would tell us that we are crazy,” she said. But no. People said it was a very good idea, so plans went ahead.
“We have had so much fun the whole time,” said Dryden.
On hand for the celebration, with their own works gracing one wall of the gallery, were Swan’s parents, artists Joe David and Paula Swan, both beaming with pride at their daughter’s accomplishment.
Paula, a photographer with an avid love of art, shared something from Marika’s past.
“Please mommy, don’t take me to any more galleries,” Paula said a young Marika once told her.
But there is no escaping the art scene now. Marika is also the artist of this year’s Pacific Rim Whale Festival poster. Allie Bonner, Whale Festival Coordinator, attended Becoming Worthy. She said people are “absolutely blown away” by the work.
“People stop me in the street to talk to me about your poster. They are absolutely stunned by it.”
That work is on display in Swan’s and Dryden’s new space at 106-368 Main St.
