"This Beautiful Day" sign to get a new permanent home in Squamish
The large “This Beautiful Day” sign will make a permanent return to Squamish after recently being acquired by BlueSky Properties, a division of Bosa Properties.
The public art piece was made by New York City-based artist Kristin McIver in 2015, when she was a Vancouver Biennale artist-in-residence at Quest University.
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Over the first four years, the sign was located at Xwu’nekw Park on the Mamquam Blind Channel, and it became a popular Instgram-worthy photo attraction.
According to McIver, the phrase is inspired by the Squamish First Nation’s oral traditions and an acknowledgement expressed at the beginning of their public gatherings. The sign measures 26 feet in length, and its illuminated neon letters are solar powered.
“It’s fantastic to see the work returning to the place it was conceived and back to the community. It was very much a collaboration with the local First Nations community, and it’s nice to see that it’s coming back with their blessing,” said McIver in a statement. “The piece is really a prompt to encourage people to acknowledge the beauty in every day and every moment.”
BlueSky Properties acquired the sign as a public art feature for their new “SEAandSKY” master-planned community of over 1,000 homes in Squamish, being co-developed by Kingswood Properties.
The sign is being relocated from storage in Vancouver and will be temporarily installed this week outside their Discovery Centre, the presentation centre for the development. A permanent location will be provided for the sign when the neighbourhood is closer to full completion.
“Art is important to us and knowing there was a beautiful piece out there with such a deep connection to Squamish that we could bring back to the community really excited us,” said Martin Rahn, design innovation executive at Bosa and BlueSky Properties.
“We want to celebrate and integrate the SEAandSKY community into the larger Squamish community through art and through other efforts we have planned, and the Squamish arts council and the District were both on board and very supportive in bringing the art back home. This piece really makes you pause, reflect and take in where you are, and to bring those gestures back and allow people to appreciate it is important, particularly now.”
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