Corey Bulpitt - Pigeon Park Savings
Title: East Van Pigeons
Artist: Corey Bulpitt (Haida)
Partners: Hastings Crossing BIA, DTES Market, Pigeon Park Savings, BC Housing, Vancity
Year: 2017
Event: Vancouver Mural Festival
Mural Info:
Details: With his experience in both traditional Haida carving and Formline practices combined with a background in Graffiti and aerosol paint, Corey Bulpitt has become a celebrated artist both here in British Columbia and across the country. For this piece he played off of the Haida crest system, in which different families are represented by animals crests, to adorn the iconic Downtown Eastside location, with formline Pigeons. He sees them as the unofficial crest of both urban Indigenous non-Indigenous residents of the DTES.
Corey and this project were featured as the cover story for The Georgia Straight in August of 2017.
About Corey Bulpitt:
Corey Bulpitt is from the Naikun Raven clan. In 1996, Corey graduated from Langley Fine Art School. He then apprenticed with his uncle, Haida artist Christian White, in 1999 for three years. He also worked for his uncle, Haida master carver Jim Hart, at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, BC. Corey has carved many totem poles, including a 20-foot pole for Scouts Canada, a 17-foot pole at Queen Charlotte Lodge, and a 14-foot memorial pole at the Namgis burial ground in Alert Bay, BC. He also completed a pole in New Zealand with Maori master carver Lionel Grant alongside Dempsey Bob (Tahltan/Tlingit), Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth), and Christian White (Haida). In 2008, Corey's red cedar Butterflymask was featured in The Gathering, a calendar that highlights prominent First Nations artists working in BC. In 2012, Corey was featured in the travelling exhibition Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture curated by the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 2014, his successful solo show AKOS, which highlighted his background as a graffiti artist, was exhibited at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver. In 2017, Corey received a BC Creative Achievement Award for Aboriginal Art.
Vancouver Mural Festival’s Indigenous Program supports artists and organizations in the creation of public art and workshops for youth. We believe Coast Salish and other Indigenous artists have the power to reshape urban spaces by reflecting their contemporary and traditional values, stories, experiences, and ideas in this lasting and tangible way.
Vancity’s generous support enables us to better connect the stories of these programs with the public. Below you will find information in the form of videos, pictures, interviews, articles, and more.
Note: Our definition of Indigenous includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.
