Aunalee Good
Aunalee Boyd-Good is a Director, Designer and one of the creative forces behind Ay Lelum The Good House of Design, a second-generation Coast Salish Design House from Nanaimo, B.C. She is the daughter of Master Coast Salish Artist Dr. William Good and Artist Sandra Moorhouse-Good, from the Hereditary Chief family of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Aunalee works alongside her sister in an artist collective with her family where they focus on Coast Salish art revitalization and documentation through garment design, art, language and music. The brand has showcased at Vancouver Fashion Week to New York Fashion Week and has been featured in numerous fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. Aunalee is a classically trained singer and Ay Lelum is a verified Spotify Artist with over a dozen songs in hul’q’umi’num’ on major streaming platforms. Aunalee holds a Bachelor in English from Vancouver Island University and utilizes her writing in company literature. Aunalee is a co-recipient of a 2018 Indigenous Business of the Year Award through the BC Achievement Foundation and the 2021 Excellence in Culture Award through the City of Nanaimo.
The late W. JOEL GOOD
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Joel was a world-renowned Traditional Coast Salish Master Carver and Artist who played a critical role in the Coast Salish Art Revitalization Movement. Throughout his career and short time on this earth, he made a tremendous impact through his artwork. Joel worked collaboratively with his family, carving many master works alongside his Father and creating designs for the family clothing line, becoming the feature Artist working with his Sisters Aunalee and Sophia, as well as his Mother Sandra for Ay Lelum The Good House of Design. His artwork has been shown in fashion shows across Canada and the USA including his most recent artwork being showcased shortly after his death at New York Fashion Week as a tribute on Sept 7th and at Vancouver Fashion Week Oct. 27th, 2024. His public works grace Nanaimo with public pieces like the Totem Pole House Posts at Departure Bay Beach, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Spindle Whorls at VIU and downtown at the base of Victoria Crescent, among many more. His most notable recent projects are all of the design work displayed at the Courtyard Marriott Nanaimo and the recent 10 year Manhole replacement project for the City of Nanaimo where over the next decade, his artwork will replace all of the Manholes across the City. Joel’s national legacy extends from the Syuwenèct Elementary School, Tillicum Lelum, and BC Hydro projects in Nanaimo to the Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg. Throughout his career, he developed a massive client base as an artist, and many of them developed into life-long friendships.
In 2023 Joel was awarded the City of Nanaimo Excellence in Culture Award for his contributions and achievements with visual art. He was a gifted Artist and as his Dad says, he was born with these gifts. Through his training with his parents, he was able to apply his extraordinary skill and precision to become the perfect blend of his parents art styles. In his Father’s words, “we have lost our greatest Artist”, and his legacy will live on through his artwork and his loving family.
Sophia Good
Sophia Seward-Good is a Director and Designer and one of the creative forces behind Ay Lelum The Good House of Design, a second-generation Coast Salish Design House from Nanaimo, B.C. She is the daughter of Master Coast Salish Artist William Good and Artist Sandra Moorhouse-Good, and is from the Hereditary Chief family of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Sophia works alongside her sister in an artist collective with her family where they focus on Coast Salish art revitalization and documentation through garment design, art, language and music. Ay Lelum is a verified Spotify Artist with over a dozen songs in hul’q’umi’num’ on major streaming platforms. Sophia attended VIU and has her MA in hul’q’umi’num’ Language at SFU. Sophia is a co-recipient of a 2018 Indigenous Business of the Year Award through the BC Achievement Foundation and the 2021 Excellence in Culture Award through the City of Nanaimo.
SANDRA MOORHOUSE-GOOD
Sandra has spent her lifetime in Arts. She was educated traditionally in oil paintings in the late 1940s and early 1950s by her grandfather Herbert Moorhouse a professor of art. After graduating high school in 1962 she travelled to Toronto and on scholarship attended The Ontario College of Art. Her first oil painting exhibit was in 1953 and she is still exhibiting today. Her life of art includes: painting, pottery, hand painted clothing, clothing design, silk screening, sewing and production of her own designed clothing- which she embellished with designs of William Good's Coast Salish art. From her studio she taught many different classes and art forms to diverse and different age groups. Sandra has done art counseling, judged art for Malaspina College in Nanaimo, and collaborated with many different artists.
More About Sandra
In June and July of 2015, she had an exhibit of her art collaboration of 35 years with William Good showed at the Nanaimo Museum. The exhibit showcased an Anniversary Collection of AyAyMut Clothing, which was extremely well received. The clothing line AyAyMut- beautiful in the Hul'q'umi'num language- was a great success and the clothing line travelled the world with fashion shows from Victoria and Toronto to Arizona and New Mexico in the 1990s. Together with William they opened two retail stores in Nanaimo, focusing on the waterfront store "Art of the Siem". They also gave workshops for NITA in Vancouver for aboriginal artists to develop entrepreneurial skills and artistic confidence as well as ways to overcome obstacles facing artists in society. Their daughters Aunalee and Sophia and son Joel, attended trade shows in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto.
Sandra continues her own style of painting, clothing design and art forms today as well encourage, mentor and promote young artists today. Sandra currently mentors her daughters by assisting in garment design, patterning and production for Ay Lelum-The Good House of Design. She also facilitated and taught painting workshops for the Snuneymuxw First Nation as well as a jointly facilitated workshop for the Museum of Vancouver in 2020.
ARTISTS
Meet the Snuneymuxw family behind the art and design that is, Ay Lelum.
DR. WILLIAM GOOD
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Dr. William Good is a Hereditary Chief from the Snuneymuxw First Nation, in Nanaimo, B.C.. He is the Master Carver, Storyteller and Cultural Historian responsible for revitalizing the traditional Coast Salish Snuneymuxw art form. He has spent decades researching this almost extinct visual language of the Coast Salish people, and has spent years producing art and teaching it to students, as well as sharing it with the community. On June 23, 22 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Vancouver Island University for his dedication to the revitalization of the Traditional Snuneymuxw Coast Salish style, what he refers to as a visual written language. Over the decades, he has worked in many media, including hand-pulled limited edition silk screens, painting, gold and silver jewellery, art restoration, garment manufacturing and carving-plaques, panels, steam bent boxes and totem poles. In his retirement years, he continues to carve master works with his son W. Joel Good and he collaborates with his family to create garment designs for Ay Lelum The Good House of Design.
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Having worked and produced art in his community since the late 1970's, Dr. William Good has a vast body of work. A few features are that he has carved the "Welcome" Poles for the City of Nanaimo at Duke Point, has contributed knowledge and carvings for the permanent Snuneymuxw Exhibit at the Nanaimo Museum, and has carved the story of Sque-em for the City of Nanaimo Public art exhibit. Having had an open Art Studio, an Art Gallery called Art of the Siem in the 1990's and wholesaling to Galleries, his works have been shown and sold all over the globe. With a publication in the Royal BC Museum Curious Magazine called "Restoring balance: Reuniting Coast Salish Art and Oral History" written by his daughter Aunalee Boyd-Good, you can see how the impact of his years of research, Mastering the traditional Coast Salish art style and how his contributions have had an immense impact on his community and his family.
Dr. William Good was awarded the prestigious City of Nanaimo Culture and Heritage Award, "Honor in Culture" for 2018. This is awarded to an individual who has contributed to the cultural fabric of the City of Nanaimo. With his decades of research and revitalization of the Traditional Coast Salish style of the Snuneymuxw area, receiving this award is a great honor.
