Connie Watts

Connie Watts is a mixed media artist and designer of Nuu-chah-nulth, Gitxsan and Kwakwaka'wakw ancestry. She lives and works on Coast Salish territory in Port Alberni and West Vancouver.

Early life and education Watts graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Intermedia, Curatorial Project Manager for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Committee The sculpture depicts three animal figures that reflect and inform the artist's spirit: the wolf as hunter, the bear as protector, and the raven as trickster. The three animals together speak to the harmony of all life.

Hetux Hetux is Watts’ largest indoor sculptural work, located at the Vancouver International Airport. The sculpture is named after Watts' grandmother and represents the thunderbird, which is known as the keeper of the city.

Strength from Within Strength from Within is an art installation located in Port Alberni, British Columbia that commemorates survivors of and those whose people died at the Alberni Indian Residential School. The installation depicts two thunderbirds, adorned with West Coast designs, and a third without any cultural symbols to represent the horrors of the residential school era.