User:Mostlycats/gap analysis

Gap analysis

 * What is the title of the article in which you identified a gap. If no article exists at all, what should the title be?

Susan Point


 * Document the gap you found, describe how you identified it, and analyze its impact on knowledge.

The information on Susan Point’s Wikipedia page is sparse. She is a critically acclaimed First Nations female artist, but has only five sentences on her Wikipedia page. There are only a couple of examples of her artworks and almost no background on how she became an artist, her strong connection to Coast Salish culture, and the significant impact she had on reviving Coast Salish art traditions. She has received numerous awards and had her artwork featured in a wide variety of prestigious institutions, but there is little to no information about this on her page. She belongs to a First Nations culture that is not well known, even within British Columbia, so this lack of information represents a significant gap of knowledge with regards to indigenous art, indigenous culture, and the achievements of indigenous women. Therefore, sexism, racism, and colonialism are likely part of the reason why her Wikipedia article is so short.


 * Propose a paragraph of new or substantially edited content based on reliable sources. (If you are editing existing content, post the current version along with your edited version, and clearly mark which is which.)

Susan Point (born 5 April 1952) is a Musqueam Coast Salish artist from Canada, who works in the Coast Salish tradition. Her works include public pieces installed at the Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park, the National Museum of the American Indian n Washington D.C., the U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology, and the city of Seattle.

Point was born in Alert Bay whilst her parents were salmon fishing, and grew up with her family in their home on the Musqueam Indian Reserve. Her parents spoke their native language at home and Point credits her mother with instilling the values of Salish culture and tradition in her. She taught herself the Coast Salish style of art from examples in museums. In the early 1980s, she joined a group of artists interested in reviving the traditions Coast Salish art and design, including artists such as Stan Greene, Rod Modeste, and Floyd Joseph. Little research had been done on Salish art, so Point taught herself the Salish traditions. She studied the collections of Coast Salish art at the University of Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology and the Royal British Columbia Museum

Much of her art practice has involved the adaptation of traditional spindle whorl carvings into the medium of screen printing. Her work helped revive Coast Salish design and brought new scholarly attention to her culture.

Works

Her works include Salish Footprint —Welcome Entrance in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Musqueam house posts at the American Museum of Natural History, and carvings installed at the Vancouver International Airport and at Brockton Point in Stanley Park. Point also has prints featured in the permanent collection at the Burke Museum in Seattle, WA.

In 1995, Susan Point’s “Flight (Spindle Whorl)” was installed in the Vancouver International Airport. It is the largest spindle whorl in the world at 4.8 meters (16 feet) in diameter. The piece is set against a stone waterfall to symbolize the connection between land and sky.

In 2009, Susan Point’s “Tree of Life” stained glass window was installed in Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver. The design represents the Salish belief in the interconnectedness of all forms of life, uniting Christian theology with First Nations culture and merging the traditional with the modern. Point was commissioned by the church to design the windows after winning a competition.

Awards

Susan has received numerous awards, including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, Indspire Achievement Award, YMCA Woman of Distinction Award, British Columbia Creative Achievement Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

She is an Officer in the Order of Canada and she has been appointed to the Royal Academy of Arts, elected to the International Women’s Forum, and was named as one of B.C.’s 100 most influential women and one of Vancouver’s 2012 Remarkable Women. Point has honorary doctorates from the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, and Emily Carr University of Art and Design.


 * List the reliable sources that could be used to improve this gap. (You can use the Cite tool from the editing toolbar above to input and format your sources.)


 * http://www.alcheringa-gallery.com/susan-point.html
 * http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/Susan_Point_Web_Exhibit/sp%20point.html
 * http://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/news/tree-of-life-window-dedicated-at-cathedral
 * http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd/Construction/EnhanceEnvironment/PublicArt.aspx
 * http://www.stadium.org/public-benefits/public-art/
 * http://susanpoint.com/about/
 * http://www.yvr.ca/en/about/art-architecture/Spindle-Whorl.aspx
 * http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06/19/aboriginal-art-canada_n_7539490.html