Sechelt Pictograph Crosswalk: shíshálh Nation Origin Story by Artist Dionne Paul
Local Indigenous artist Dionne Paul launched National Aboriginal History Month on June 1st with a spectacular pictograph-themed crosswalk at the Cowrie Street and Trail Avenue intersection in Sechelt — on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, on the traditional territory of the shíshálh Nation.
The design tells the origin story of the shíshálh Nation through a pictograph aesthetic — imagery that draws from the visual language of the Nation's cultural heritage, rendered at the scale of a street crossing.
Working with Dionne Paul's Design
Artist Dionne Paul developed the design and worked with us and the project team through the translation from artwork to installation specification. This is the critical phase in any public art crosswalk: the design exists as art; getting it into the road requires engineering every element for the constraints of the thermoplastic system.
Pictograph-style imagery presents specific challenges. The visual language of pictographs relies on precise line weights, specific shape relationships, and colour contrasts that read at different scales. We worked with the artist to ensure the TrafficPatterns production specs preserved the design intent — that what was manufactured matched what the artist intended at intersection viewing distance.
TrafficPatterns on the Sunshine Coast
The Cowrie Street intersection sees the full range of Sunshine Coast conditions: salt air, significant rainfall, summer UV, and the seasonal freeze-thaw that BC coastal locations deliver. TrafficPatterns is the appropriate specification for this environment — the bond to the asphalt substrate is strong, the colour formulation is UV-stable, and the service life is measured in years rather than seasons.
The Sechelt installation joins a portfolio of First Nations and Indigenous community crosswalk projects we've completed across BC — each one a permanent marking of cultural presence in the civic landscape.
For public art crosswalk projects on the Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, and beyond, contact us to discuss the design-to-installation process.
