Sheldon Pierre Louis, an artist from the Syilx Okanagan Nation, was inspired by his father Gerry’s strength, and the many other families he witnessed facing cancer together, to create mumslx – “to have a little hope” — a mural with a message of hope, inclusion, connection and healing at BC Cancer – Kelowna.
“I remember we were going down Hospital Hill into downtown Vernon and I turned to him and said, ‘What do you want to do? This is your choice. I don’t want to lose you but I’m not going to be selfish and make you fight,” says Sheldon of the drive home immediately following his father’s colon cancer diagnosis.
Sheldon and his family had recently lost a father in-law, an uncle and an aunt (his dad’s brother and sister) and his mom to cancer, so he knew firsthand how difficult treatment could be.
“My dad said, ‘I got grandkids. I want to be here so they can get to know me, to have more time with them.’”
And so, for 30 days Sheldon and his two older brothers took turns driving Gerry to and from radiation and chemotherapy appointments. Due to the mental and physical demands of caring for his father, Sheldon put art projects he’d been working on for BC Cancer – Kelowna on hold.
“Although I had lost a lot of family members to cancer, I was struggling to connect to them,” he says.
But inspiration struck during his father’s treatment. “Sitting in the waiting room there were many families of different ages and ethnicities, but they were all there for the same reason. I thought, ‘I really need to capture that support in the art.’”
He envisioned imagery of his own family and the Syilx culture to honour their personal journey while also reflecting the shared path of every family to walk through the doors of BC Cancer – Kelowna.
The result, now hung in the entrance of the Kelowna cancer centre, is a mural depicting Sheldon’s father with his grandchildren, including Sheldon’s older son, in line behind him, hands of support on each other’s shoulders. Sheldon’s younger son is beside his papa singing an honour song for him.
“It captures how his inspiration for his fight is the grandchildren. And the siya (Saskatoon berry) aura represents ‘youthful energy’ and the idea that these grandchildren are also sending him their energy.”
In the mural Gerry is wrapped in a Pendleton blanket to signify his overcoming cancer.
“In significant moments or accomplishments, we blanket individuals. We wrap a blanket around them and stand up in front of people, family, community,” explains Sheldon, who had the idea to present his father with the same blanket at the unveiling of the mural in May 2025.
“My dad hated going for treatment, so I thought blanketing him on site would be helpful in shifting his thoughts on this space.”
Unfortunately, the blanket Sheldon had drawn inspiration from was out of print. “It took about nine months, but I finally found it,” he says.
“My dad is not a very vulnerable guy, and he doesn’t talk much,” says Sheldon, but creating things was how they connected when Sheldon was growing up.
“I’d sit for hours and watch him carve wood, paint, leather work or draw. He always supported me as an artist, buying me art supplies and teaching me stuff, but he never saw it as a career.”
Starting at age 11, when he sold his first piece for $500, Sheldon has been proving to his dad he could become a full-time professional artist. His work has been exhibited in art galleries through the Okanagan and the Kootenays, can be seen on street murals across the Interior and has been commissioned by UBC Okanagan and Walt Disney Animation Studios in Vancouver.
But it’s his art at Kelowna General Hospital and BC Cancer – Kelowna that are some of the most meaningful to him as a Syilx artist.
Featuring Indigenous art beyond the typical spaces, specifically in a health care environment, is important in terms of creating cultural safety and representation, he says.
“As Indigenous people we are walking in tense and scared, and you have these negative emotions, impacts from colonialism. But then you see yourself from your point of view, from your culture and background. When you see accurate and loving and caring representation of yourself in those spaces, it starts the healing process.”
Sheldon's mural, mumslx, represents every family facing cancer.
Sheldon also hopes mumslx invites people from all backgrounds to connect — not just with the art, but with each other.
“With what our people have endured in colonization and the misconceptions that are still alive today, this work helps to humanizes us,” he says. “Even though mumslx is framed in Syilx culture and based on my family’s story, its message is universal. My art moves the dialogue from, ‘Oh, that’s an Indigenous issue,” to ‘That’s something anyone can relate too.’”
When that shift happens, he says, “Your ears open, your eyes open and your heart opens too.”
BC Cancer has incorporated Indigenous design, working with artists from local territories, into all six BC Cancer centres. The BC Cancer Foundation is proud to support this important work.
Donate to the Indigenous Cultural Safety project at BC Cancer
To improve the cancer journey for Indigenous people in B.C., please contact Lindsay Abbott at Lindsay.Abbott@bccancer.bc.ca
