"Tofino area master carver Joe Martin is one of five First Nations artists honoured by the BC Achievement Foundation, an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province of BC in 2003 to celebrate community service, arts, humanities, and enterprise.

Joe’s traditional Nuu-chah-nulth dugout canoes can be seen on display here at the Tofino Visitor Information Centre, the Wickaninnish Inn, Na’aWaya’Sum Gardens, and internationally. This type of 16-foot canoe, still used for local travel and fishing up the inlet, is of the same design used for as long as the people can remember to accommodate “the many moods of the Pacific Ocean”.

Joe Martin began learning his craft from his father, Robert Martin, Sr., as a young boy while spending time with him and with his brothers out on the land and on the water. The process begins with the selection of a Western Red Cedar, and with the carver asking the Creator permission to harvest the wood. These trees are often 400-800 years old and may be blowdowns or if standing, must not be home to an eagle’s nest. The cedar log used for this canoe, Joe Martin explains, was salvaged after it floated away from a bridge at Kennedy River, where it had provided support for 30-40 years.

Also featured at the Tofino Visitor Information Centre is the legacy of the TOFINO BOARDWALK (2015-2017), which brought arts, surf, and business together in a savvy partnership that expressed our community’s abiding love of the ocean and the extraordinary creative energy it generates.

The Tofino Boardwalk was a collection of 20 unique surfboards created by some of Tofino’s finest artists. The boards were on display at sponsoring locations until the Tofino Boardwalk Gala, May 26, 2017. The Gala brought together artists and sponsors to celebrate by auctioning off these unique surfboards. Forty percent of surfboard sales went back to the artists while additional funds supported youth surf programs in our community."

-Tofino Arts Council

Discover Joe Martin's Dugout Canoe
Find out more about the artist Joe Martin
Discover the Painted Surfboards
Explore the Tofino Multi-Use Path (MUP) Art Walk

Photo credit: Gisèle Maria Martin
Image title: Octopus: Going With the Flow by Mark Hobson
Image credit: Kyler Vos

To learn more about this and other Tofino Arts Council projects please visit: tofinoartscouncil.com/projects