A new $2 coin will help the legacy of one of B.C.’s greatest artists live on according to his granddaughter.

Bill Reid is a painter, a sculptor and poet and Nika Collison, says her grandfather made Haida art accessible to everyone.

“Perhaps an even bigger one is his bridging of Haida and to some degree other Indigenous cultures with the rest of the world, bringing it out, bringing from an anthropological viewpoint of the outside world into that of fine art of which Haida art is,” she said, on the NL Morning News.

Collison, who is the Executive Director of the Haida Gwaii Museum, says her late grandfather wasn’t just uniquely talented with his hands but also with his wisdom.

“One of his favourite quotes, as I was saying the other day, is that you can’t take the art without the people. And then he goes on to say if you do that you’ve got figures devoid of the humanness,” she added, noting that 22 years after his death, Reid continues to influence artists and non-artists alike.

“He showed the world along with everyone who supported him or worked beside him or lead him that were human, Bill’s one of many who’s done this and brought us back up where we’re supposed to be in the world.”

The red and black toonie features Reid’s 1988 painting of a grizzly bear. It’s now in circulation, and there are different collector coins that you can order form the Royal Canadian Mint.