Luminous Paths: Nanaimo's 150 and Beyond

From January 22, 2025 until February 17, 2025, the City of Nanaimo hosted Luminous Paths: Nanaimo’s 150 & Beyond. This FREE winter art festival was a celebration of light, art, land and community, and marked the first Council meeting for the then newly incorporated City of Nanaimo, 150 years ago. 

This event was funded (in part) by the Government of Canada, through the Canadian Heritage Building Communities through Arts and Heritage grant.

The City of Nanaimo is thrilled to announce that Luminous Paths: Nanaimo’s 150 & Beyond has won the Creative Cities Impact Award for Cultural Events, recognizing the winter festival’s outstanding contribution to community connection, creativity and cultural celebration.

About the Festival:

INTERACTIVE ONLINE MAP

Live Performances:

Opening and closing festival events included performances by:

• Ignisia Circus
• From the Earth
• Ian Johnstone
• String Theory
• Kyle Shepard
• Collective Groove Silent Disco 
• The Checkerthing - Murmur Arts Collective
• James Vickers
• Elise Boulanger
• Wellington Jazz Band
• Nanaimo Shachihoko Taiko Group
• Nanaimo Chinese Dancers
• String Fever
• Fourary Quartet
• Café Olé

About the Art:

Candycombs, Monkey C Interactive

Candycombs are pressure-sensitive floor panels that light up and trigger sound loops, allowing multiple users to make music together by stepping on the illuminated floor. Featuring music by David Parfit. Candycombs were originally created with help from Creative BC and after multiple installations on the mainland, including Mississauga, Ontario. This is their first public exhibit on Vancouver Island.

The Portal, Mauro Dalla Costa

This art installation presents a towering, symbolic doorway that invites viewers to step into a space of reflection and wonder. Covered in mirrors, the piece reflects its surroundings, creating a striking visual presence that shifts with the changing light. Infinity mirrors along its sides evoke a sense of endless repetition, prompting contemplation on themes of continuity and infinite possibilities.

Surrounding the main structure, smaller mirrored totems complete the immersive experience, engaging visitors from different perspectives. The installation symbolizes life’s journey, offering a space for introspection and connection. It invites viewers to pause, walk through, and interact with the piece, exploring the concept of parallel realities and the infinite nature of existence.

Designed for engagement, this artwork encourages visitors to reflect on their own journey, while offering a visually impactful and interactive experience.

Pythagorhythm, Monkey C Interactive

Pythagorhythm is an interactive-multi-user-music creation installation with two dozen touch-responsive sensors allowing users to remix sounds and change the sound-responsive led lighting. Because of its configuration, it encourages teamwork, collaboration and interaction between participants.   Featuring music by Longwalkshortdock. Pythagorythm is the prototype of the Musical Railings, a beloved interactive art installation at the Yates Street Parkade in Bastion Square in Victoria.

yahkikiw (they push forward in growth), bailey macabre

yahkikiw (they push forward in growth) features a holographic acrylic tree symbolizing growth, movement, and the complexity of identity while highlighting the beauty of multifaceted existence.

Reconversion, David Martinello

Inspired by wood's characteristics, Reconversion uses lumber's evident and hidden attributes, in conjunction with the tropes of green, to create a dialogue between the manufactured and natural.

The name Reconversion refers to how the sculpture was created by finding the organic inflections of wood held within the straight-sawn lumber to inform the construction of the lit crown. With its profile referencing a tree, Reconversion considers the legacy of timber and its influence. The artwork intends to form a holistic perspective of the environment by fostering an account of the material's value.

Cyber Tree, Jenny Smith

Planted amongst the trees and constructed of panels that allude to the screens which have come to define the digital age, Cyber Tree juxtaposes the past and future to highlight this juncture in time as the City of Nanaimo celebrates its 150th anniversary.

From inside of Cyber Tree, a looped montage of hands touching real trees is projected onto its inner surface, while simultaneously illuminating the viewer. The projected hands that also “touch” the inner surface of Cyber Tree, without actually touching it, extend to the viewer’s presence, stirring philosophical questions about our affinity to nature and an entanglement with technology, to engage its audience in a dialogue that supports a consciously engineered future.

Continuum, David Martinello

Continuum is a pixelated representation of a forest that considers the value of timber to foster a holistic relationship with the environment. Blocking out space using the tropes of green creates an intuitive reference to the substance of nature, and when paired with the expressiveness of woodgrain in the columns, it connotes the structure of a tree.

Since trees are not square, depicting them rectilinearly suggests the commodification of timber in how it’s cut into dimensional lumber. By having the crowns of each of the 11 trees in Continuum at different heights, the artwork evaluates our relationship and reliance on wood as an iterative entity in natural and constructed environments.

About the Artists:

bailey macabre - bailey macabre is an agender nêhiyaw/michif/Ukrainian self-taught interdisciplinary artist and writer residing on the homelands of the Snuneymuxw on so-called Vancouver Island with matrilineal ties to Beardys & Okemasis Cree Nation. Their practice includes a variety of mediums from comics and digital art to painting, sculpture, beadwork and zines.

David Martinello - David Martinello uses print, sculpture, painting, film, poetry, installation and performances alongside traditional woodworking to investigate the expressive attributes of wood. By curating an impressionistic response to the material’s characteristics, Martinello contemplates wood’s legacy to develop a holistic account of its influence in natural and constructed environments. Martinello’s practice is informed by a BFA from Queen’s University and years of building furniture with his company Alternative Woodworks. He has curated several shows and owned a gallery, and his art has been seen in galleries across Canada and public artworks commissioned by municipalities in BC and Alberta.

Jenny Smith - Jenny Smith is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus on community engagement. With a first love of literature, she was a winner for the Royal British Columbia Museum's writing contest on Leonardo Da Vinci's art, and her paintings have been featured in multiple literary journals, including on the cover of Room Magazine. In 2021, her interactive-engagement sculpture "In Your Hands" was installed on the West Vancouver waterfront for the summer. In 2023, she engaged hundreds of Pender Island residents in a community art project themed upon the inner child. Her current work explores relationships between technology, nature and the unseen world.

Mauro Dalla Costa - Mauro is a multidisciplinary artist from Argentina based in Nanaimo since 2017. He specializes in printmaking, particularly screen printing. Mauro also explores 3D art, animation and other creative disciplines. His work combines traditional craftsmanship with contemporary techniques inspired by geometry, space and the universe. He creates pieces that invite reflection and connection blending meticulous detail with experimentation.

Monkey C Interactive - Monkey C Interactive is the interactive work of artists David Parfit and Scott Amos. Whether it's a strange and whimsical musical instrument like the Bubble Organ, a giant motion-responsive LED cube sculpture, a tech-house-looping mutant cash register or a 5-story-tall musical stairwell, Monkey C Interactive's public art installations and interactive sculptures have amused and delighted countless people in their hometown of Victoria, BC and at numerous festivals and events.

Sponsors & Supporters:

This event is funded (in part) by the Government of Canada, through the Canadian Heritage Building Communities through Arts and Heritage grant.

We also thank our many community sponsors and supporters for making this event possible, including The Port of Nanaimo, HMCS Nanaimo, Tourism Nanaimo, Best Western Nanaimo and ABCB First Aid Nanaimo. 

LIGHTING A PATH

In partnership with Snuneymuxw First Nation, the City of Nanaimo invited the community to join us in Sway-a-Lana (Maffeo Sutton Park) beginning February 16th and until March 16th, 2026 as we honoured the Land through a special art installation. Best viewed after dark, this illuminated display continued the spirit of the Luminous Paths festival and featured artwork by the late Dr. William Good; the late Joel Good; Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun; kwasilwit, Chenoa Point; Noel Brown; Ryan Hughes; and yutustana:t, Gena Seward-Wilson. 

About the Art:

Spindle Whorl by The Late Dr. William Good

Historically used as a tool for spinning wool into yarn, the spindle whorl has become an iconic symbol for the Snuneymuxw. 

Spindle Whorl by the Late W. Joel Good

Historically used as a tool for spinning wool into yarn, the spindle whorl has become an iconic symbol for the Snuneymuxw. 

xwulmuxw (as in people and language rooted in place), Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun

This artwork interweaves an ancestral Snuneymuxw spindlewhorl design from a whorl that now sits in the British Museum collection in London with an archival photograph from the mid-island. I had the chance to spend time with this whorl last summer on a research trip, and while there I felt acutely aware of the distance at which it sits away from home. It felt like I may as well have been on another planet. Fortunately, this spindlewhorl is clearly identified as coming from Snuneymuxw, but archival practices and provenance data are not always so. The archival photograph overlayed with the design is actually of the Cowichan River. Many cultural belongings from the mid-island are mislabelled and there is uncertainty as to where they come from. But in the old days, we were one collective people. The national boundaries that exist today were drawn by colonial governments. Our ancestors knew each other as the next family or tribe down the way. This artwork seeks to reconnect and redraw boundaries as it resists the colonial definitions imposed by archive and historical gaze.

kwasilwit, Chenoa Point

I am honoured to carry the weaving teachings passed down through my family and community. I am deeply grateful to Aunty Stephanie Thomas and my late Auntie Margaret Louise for their patience, guidance, and generosity. I also acknowledge the Longhouse, where teachings are shared, relationships are strengthened, and responsibilities to one another are learned. The Longhouse continues to guide my practice, reminding me that weaving is a living teaching rooted in community, culture, and care. Through these teachings, I understand weaving as a lifelong journey. I feel truly blessed to continue the traditional teachings of our people and to walk in the Coast Salish ways with humility and respect.

Noel Brown

The bear seen in this design represents great strength and family values. This design can also be seen decorating one of the ice-resurfacers at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.

Ryan Hughes

yutustana:t, Gena Seward-Wilson

About the Artists:

The Late Dr. William Good (ts’usqinuxun)  - Dr. William Good was a Hereditary Chief of the Snuneymuxw First Nation and a Master Coast Salish carver, storyteller, cultural historian, and visual artist whose life’s work continues to shape the future of Coast Salish art. Devoting decades to researching and revitalizing the nearly lost Snuneymuxw Coast Salish art form, he helped ensure that its visual language, teachings, and cultural depth would endure for generations to come.

His artistry spanned carving, painting, jewelry, garment design, and cultural education, with each medium becoming a vessel for preservation and renewal. Recognized with an Honorary Doctorate for his profound contributions, Dr. Good also collaborated closely with his family through Ay Lelum The Good House of Design, where his knowledge and creativity remain foundational to their work. His public artworks and cultural influence continue to be celebrated locally and far beyond, carrying his legacy forward with lasting strength and inspiration.

The late W. Joel Good (ts’usqinuxun) - Joel Good was a world‑renowned Traditional Coast Salish master carver and artist whose influence continues to shine through the work of his family and community. A pivotal figure in the Coast Salish Art Revitalization Movement, Joel helped shape a powerful resurgence of cultural expression, leaving an impact that continues to grow long after his passing.

Working alongside his father, the late Dr. William Good, his sisters Aunalee and Sophia, and his mother, Sandra Good, at Ay Lelum The Good House of Design, Joel contributed carvings, designs, and collaborations that appeared in major public art installations and on fashion stages - where tribute showcases continue to honour him today. His artistry carried forward Coast Salish traditions with extraordinary passion, precision, and cultural depth, ensuring that his creative spirit remains a guiding force for future generations.

Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun - Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun (he/they) is an artist and storyteller from the Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, BC. His family roots are in Penelakut and in Hupacasath in the Nuu-chah-nulth world. His interdisciplinary art practice is rooted in honouring and celebrating the stories and teachings passed down by his family, community, and culture. He works across a range of mediums, including digital art, printmaking, painting, sculpture, installation, creative writing, and curation. His work has been exhibited internationally across Canada, the United States, and England. He currently resides on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.

kwasilwit, Chenoa Point - My name is Kwasilwit, and my English name is Chenoa Point. My Great-Great-Grandparents are James Point (Musqueam) and Martha Bailey (Katzie). My Great-Grandparents are Leonard Point (Musqueam) and Matilda McLean (Duncan area), and my Grandparents are Spencer Point (Snuneymuxw) and Nina Sam (Uchucklesaht). My roots are Snuneymuxw and Musqueam, and I am Nuu-chah-nulth.

Noel Brown - Noel Brown is a renowned artist and a member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Brown began carving professionally in 1995 and received inspiration from James Lewis, a prominent Northwest Coast carver. His style has also been guided by the teachings of Richard Baker and Matthew Baker. His artwork is on display at prominent locations, including the Nanaimo Museum, Vancouver Island University and elsewhere in this park.

Ryan Hughes - Ryan Hughes is a rising Coast Salish artist from Snuneymuxw First Nation whose practice bridges wood carving, digital illustration, and painting. Based in Surrey, he first encountered carving in high school, later deepening his skills through mentorship with renowned artists Chris Sparrow and John Velton. Under their guidance, Hughes learned foundational Coast Salish design principles and digital techniques, shaping the multidisciplinary approach he carries today. 

Hughes’ work is rooted in cultural reconnection. Through carving and digital art, he explores teachings, stories, and relationships that reflect his lived experience as an urban Indigenous youth. His mural About We Show Up for Each Other, created for the Downtown Eastside Youth Outreach Centre, highlights themes of transformation, community, and shared responsibility - values central to his artistic voice.

With a growing following, Hughes continues to refine his craft, focusing on creating meaningful work rather than production speed. He is committed to giving back through art, supporting other youth, and helping foster culturally safe spaces. Guided by patience, practice, and cultural learning, Hughes aims to one day carve masks and continue expanding his role as a young Coast Salish artist.

yutustana:t, Gena Seward-Wilson - Weaving is not just a skill — it is a way of life. It is a lifelong journey of learning, growing, and deepening my connection to the ancient textile practices of our Coast Salish people. Each time I sit at the loom, I feel the presence of those who wove before me, guiding my hands and shaping my heart.

For the past 15 years, I have sought every opportunity to advance my skills, attending workshops and learning under Master Weaver Sam Seward. Each lesson strengthens my foundation and draws me closer to the teachings that form the heart of our tradition.

My inheritance is both gift and responsibility. I walk with the legacy of my Great-Grandmother and Great-Great-Grandmother, whose weaving lives in my hands today. It is my duty — and my honour — to pass this knowledge to my children, nieces, nephews, and students. Awakening this gift within my family brings back the history, teachings, and values that anchor us as Coast Salish people.

As a language teacher, I understand that weaving, language, art, and culture are not separate — they walk together. Working with wool teaches me how to speak to the natural world and listen in return. This relationship opens a deeper way of learning, one that cannot be grasped through words alone.

There is an awakening that rises with every strand I lift and every design that reveals itself beneath my hands. Each thread carries a memory older than I am, older than any one generation. It is as if my ancestors are whispering through the fibers, guiding me back to the brilliance they carried with such grace.

In these moments, weaving becomes more than technique — it becomes ceremony. The patterns that emerge are not only mine; they belong to those who wove before me, those who trusted their hands, hearts, and the land. Their brilliance is alive in every curve, every rhythm, every story embedded in the wool. With each stitch, I feel myself being woven back into them — into their knowledge, their strength, their beauty. This is the deeper way of learning: through awakening, remembering, and honouring the pathways our ancestors left for us to walk again.

Weaving is my connection to who we were, who we are, and who we will become.

Installation: 

Installation photos by Sean Fenzl Photography | @fenzlstudio