Downtown & Yaletown Public Art

DOWNTOWN
1.    Robson Street @Jervis
Robson Street is a tourist and local favorite lined with boutique shops, coffee shops, and multi- ethnic restaurants.
Jasper (Vancouver Biennale)
John Clement (USA), Painted tubular steel

Clement’s trademark steel spirals look like they could roll and sway; they read like thick strong curved lines drawn in space. The turns and loops of “Jasper” challenge the inherent properties of this rigid material, tubular steel. The result is implied movement, finished with brilliant, primary colors that work to amplify the sense of it twisting out of the ground. Clement relies heavily on intuitive artistic practice, working through sketches and allowing the work to evolve into a sculptural form.  Clement interned with the American master Mark di Survero.  “Jasper” is a Legacy piece of the Vancouver Biennale 2005-2007. Children can often be seen playing on and around this whimsical sculpture with its enticing bright circular form.  

O'Doul's Restaurant & Bar is a Vancouver tradition.  It opened almost 40 years ago named after “Lefty” O’Doul, an affable AAA baseball player who spent a number of years in Vancouver coaching the Vancouver Mounties.  Known for its Irish Coffee and Eggs Benedict, O'Doul's was a "must visit" bar and restaurant.  From a sports fan hangout in the '70's to Vancouver's premiere spot for fine dining and cool jazz.

Walk along Robson Street in southeast direction for a block before turning left on Bute.  At the corner of Alberni and Bute is a running stream, part of the Palisade Apartment.

2.    Bute Street (between Alberni and West Georgia Street)

New Currents, An Ancient Stream (Private Development)
Gwen Boyle (Canada)

A series of upper pools, waterfall, and lower pool with overlapping black slate. A large glacial boulder sits in the upper pool and an identical cast bronze replica sits in the lower pool. Inscription cast in concrete beside the waterfall.  The intent of this project is to connect the present use of the site with its past, employing water as a metaphor. The concept is based upon the mythical river Lethe, the river as a repository of memories. Once, only a stone's throw from this site, an ancient stream flowed down through a forest. It carried into the "well" of the sea the memories from earliest times. I am proposing a symbolic reclamation of the past and recognition of change. ... there will be three elements within this flowing river. From the "source" at the upper waters a 10 ton erratic glacial boulder will be positioned ... at the pool below will be its mirror image, in bronze altered by chemical reaction and time. Language is the third bridging element, for words to convey a sense of a river's journey I have used the following quote by Leonardo da Vinci: "In rivers, the water you touch is the last of what has passed, and the first of that which comes; so with time present." (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver)

Continue along Bute Street and within same city block on the left hand side is "Persian Wall".

Persian Wall (Private Development)
Dale Chihuly (USA), glass

Large blown glass florets (called Persians by the artist) in colors of red, yellow, orange and blue are suspended in a rectangular glass case set in flowing water on the Bute Street side of the building.  In 1968 Chihuly was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study at the Venini factory in Venice. He was inspired by their team approach to blowing glass. He co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington in 1971. Chihuly has exhibited broadly and his work is in major collections throughout the world. (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver)

When you reach West Georgia Street, make a right turn to continue in southeast direction. Within one street block is the Shangri-La hotel.  The first Shangri-La hotel opened outside of Asia in North America.

3.    1200- block to 800-block West Georgia Street

Shangri-La Hotel - the Lobby Lounge is a perfect place to look out through a two storey floor to ceiling window to the Vancouver Art Gallery outdoor rotating exhibits by international artists,

Continue you walk along West Georgia and after your cross Thurlow, across from West Georgia is an office building (1075 West Georgia Street) designed in 1965 by Arthur Erickson for MacMillan Bloedel, Canada’s largest forest product company at that time. The building won several architectural awards. Most noted feature is the deep square window pattern on the building’s facades.  

Continue your walk along West Georgia Street in the southeast direction for another 2 city blocks.  Cross to the other side of West Georgia Street at Hornby Street.  Enter the lobby of HSBC building  (885 West Georgia Street) which is right across from the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Pendulum  (Private Development)
Alan Storey(Canada), Aluminum, electric motor

Located in the lobby, "The Pendulum" is suspended from the glass ceiling of the atrium. The pendulum swings slowly through the space until it aligns at one end of its arc with an angled, stationary plinth. Coincidentally, the pendulum's movement "is sympathetic with the alpha waves our brains produce when we're resting with our eyes closed." -Alan Storey in "Public Art Success Storey" by Robin Laurence, Georgia Straight, June 20-27, 2002 (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver).  You may want to experience standing on the arc under “The Pendulum”.

Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
The Gallery is located at 639 Horny Street, less than a block away. Walk along Hornby Street away from the Vancouver Art Gallery to visit this public art gallery named after Bill Reid (1920 – 1998), the acclaimed Haida master goldsmith, carver, sculptor, writer, spokesman and one of Canada’s greatest artists. The Gallery includes over 40 pieces of Bill Reid’s gold and silver jewelry, Reid’s bronze masterpiece Mythic Messengers, several of Reid’s works that are featured on the Canadian $20 bill and a full-scale totem pole, carved by James Hart of Haida Gwaii.

Return to West Georgia Street and look across to the Vancouver Art Gallery for best viewing of “Four Boats Stranded: Red & Yellow, Black & White” at the four corners of its rooftop.

Four Boats Stranded: Red & Yellow, Black & White (Vancouver Art Gallery)
Ken Lum(Canada), Aluminum, electric motor

The installation is made up of four, scaled down boats located on the Gallery's uppermost rooftop.  "Taking into account several important attributes of the Vancouver Art Gallery's site, Ken Lum has created a work that serves as a directional, geographical and historical marker.  The four installed boats include scaled down versions of a First Nations Longboat, Captain Vancouver's ship, the Komagata Maru (the infamous 1914 Indian immigrant ship) and a cargo ship that recently carried migrants from China's Fujian Province. The boats are each painted a single color which speaks to a colonial stereotyping of cultural, racial and historical identification. The First Nations boat is red, Captain Vancouver's ship is white, the Komagata Maru is black and the Fujian ghost ship is yellow." (From a VAG press release, September 2001) (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver)

Now cross West Georgia Street to get back to the other side.  Walk along Hornby Street and on Robson Street - the “Bird of Spring” is located on the grand staircase down to the plaza from the Vancouver Art Gallery.

 4.    Robson Square

Bird of Spring (Province of BC)
Abraham Etungat(Cape Dorset, Canada), bronze

Installed in 1979, a simplified bird form, the sculpture is a replica of a 14cm original from Cape Dorset, NWT.  (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver).

It is as though the bird stopped to rest on its journey to the north but because frozen in time and scale.

Continue along Hornby Street, within the same city block at the plaza near the Hornby Street entrance is the “Spring”.

Spring (Province of BC)
Alan Chung Hung(Chinese Canadian), steel

A huge red steel coil appears to be a spring holding the upper level of Robson Square.  Installed in 1981 after a juried competition funded by BC Building Corporation during the development of Robson Square. (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver)

Then turnaround and walk back towards West Georgia Street and turn right to continue in southeast direction to …

5.    Canada Line, Vancouver City Centre Station

In September, 2011 this iconic art piece in the midst of downtown Vancouver has been shipped to New York City for auction sales.
Artificial Rock #143 (Vancouver Biennale)
Zhan Wang (China), Stainless steel

Zhan Wang’s “Artificial Rock #143“ in stainless steel is reflective, both literally and metaphorically. Traditionally, Chinese artists have situated rockeries, and gnarled stones in front of important buildings and In gardens for decoration and meditation. Such stones are translated as “fake mountain rocks”. They are referred to in the West as “Scholar’s Stones”. They symbolically represent mountain landscapes and contain the power to connect man with nature. When one imagines crossing these “mountains” they promote a spiritual experience and a direct connection with nature.  Zhan Wang began making these shiny artificial jiashanshi stones during the recent building boom in Beijing, when numerous skyscrapers of glass and steel appeared on the cityscape.

A short walk of about 1 Km or .6 miles will take you from the downtown core to Yaletown. Continue walking in the southeast direction on West Georgia Street for 4 city blocks and then turn right on Hamilton Street in the southwest direction for 3 city-blocks to arrive at the Yaletown Park. Yaletown Park is located at the corner of Nelson and Mainland.

Alternatively, take the Canada Line train from the City Centre Station for one stop to Yaletown Station. Yaletown Station is located at the corner of Davie and Mainland.

YALETOWN
Yaletown previously was an industrial warehouse district and began to transform into a hub of emerging high-tech companies during the dotcom boom of the late 90s.  Now Yaletown has developed into a bustling community with high rises, restaurants and nightclubs.  Most of the older masonry buildings have been retained.
6.    Yaletown Park

Eros Bendato Scrippolato (Vancouver Biennale)
Igor Mitoraj (Poland - Italy) Patinated bronze

Mitoraj’s work exhibits a contemporary sensitivity, but references a lost classical aesthetic. This work depicts a fragment of an ancient monument to Eros, the god of love, here blindfolded, suggesting that love is blind. and also that Eros victims were randomly selected.  Igor Mitoraj, one of the foremost Polish artists, creates gigantic figures of ancient gods, heroes, muses and titans, often depicting them as bandaged heroic figures.  “Eros Bendato Scrippolato” (Eros blindfolded and cracked) is a bronze sculpture made to look like a fragment of an ancient monument to Eros, the god of love. The head with its surface patina, cracked plates and pieces of shattered fragments suggest the destruction of objects and monuments brought on by time. Some suggest that this mutilated head represents a loss of history, myths and of a connection with higher powers; to others it is a criticism of contemporary civilization and a warning against its destructive power.

Continue along Mainland in southwest direction for 2 city-blocks (about 350 metre) to arrive at the Yaletown Station, the corner of Davie and Mainland.

7.    Canada Line, Yaletown Station

This art installation is missed by all transit users since its removal in September, 2011 to NYC.
Joe Sola is Not Making Art (Vancouver Biennale)
Joe Sola (USA) Fluorescent light box

This installation is both tongue-in-cheek, part wry humour and part serious social commentary. The work places the artist in a box, which chronicles his time making art. The work, which could be called  “switching art making on and off”, draws attention to the celebrity status, hungry for the limelight, forced self-promotion inherent in the contemporary art scene.  The piece makes visible the idea that making art is a job, which is to “make art” and that it is also a performance, with the artist being “on and off”.

8.    False Creek Shoreline Walk

From Davie Street walk in southeastly direction for ½ city-block.  Cross Pacific Boulevard and walk towards False Creek to arrive at the Davie Circle on Marinaside Crescent.

Street Light (Private Development)
Alan Tregeboy, Bernie Miller(Canada), Bronze, glass

Six 12-metre high bronze I-beam towers each hold up an image from the history of the area cut into a metal plate. The plates cast the shadow of the image onto the street. Texts etched in the limestone bases refer to the events relevant to the site. The positioning of the panels has been carefully calculated so that their optimum contrast and focus on the street is the month, date, and time that the event occurred. For example, if the sun is shining just before noon on June 17, the projected image of Vancouver's "Great Fire" will be visible on the promenade below.  (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver).  Best viewing on a sunny day of course.

Turn right going west along the shoreline walk and “Welcome to the Land of Light” is situated on the railing between Davie and Drake for viewing in the evening.

Welcome to the Land of Light (Private Development)
Henry Tsang(Canada), Bronze, glass

Aluminum letters spelling out phrases in Chinook (an early coastal trading language) and English are placed along the railing of the sea wall in two parallel lines. Coloured light pulses through an inset fibre-optic cable in the sidewalk directly below the letters. It is a contemporary monument to the relationship between those who have lived on the False Creek waterfront and those who will arrive in the future to call this area their home. For the artist, this public art project is about the concept of home, the building of community, and with the aid of interactive fibre-based technology, the creation of a new world to experience… (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver).

Continue your walk going west, at the southeast corner of David Lam Park installed in the water is "Brush with Illumination".

Brush with Illumination  (Private Development)
Buster Simpson (USA), Stainless steel, solar panel, battery, electronic, and transmitter

An illuminated environmentally interactive "brush" responds to wind, tide, and wave action, and rests on a steel piling balanced by two large spun steel buoys. The brush moves with the currents and transmits weather and tide changes.  "…Brush with Illumination is the evolutionary successor of an ancient communication tool: the calligraphy brush. The piece is fitted with an array of sensors that glean environmental data from the air and water as the sculpture responds to environmental conditions, and transmit it both visually, through the laser- lighted pulsation's of the cursor at the tip of the brush, and electronically to a land based computer. Mathematical functions translate these elemental events in a series of characters that are continually on display... (press release) (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver).

Continue your walk westbound for about 5 minutes and at the bottom of Richards Street at George Wainborn Park (in front of Beach Crescent/Beach Avenue) is “Khenko”, best viewed on a windy day.

Khenko (City of Vancouver)
Doug Taylor (Canada)

“Khenko” is made up of a wire sculpture of a heron with a recently swallowed fish visible in its belly and four large sails that move with the wind.

Artist Statement:  During the industrial era of False Creek, many fish and wildlife left the area. The piece celebrates the heron's return to False Creek as a symbol of hope and restoration. The main focus of my practice, as a sculptor, has been to build kinetic assemblages which are in some way moved by the wind or water. The presence of a whimsical element is signature to my work and in part accounts for its popularity with children. I often combine folk art sensibility and hi-tech mechanics to thematically explore the relationships between society, technology, and the environment. I then relate this sculptural practice to the specific demands of public art. (Source: Public Art Registry, City of Vancouver).

Extension
Option 1:  Granville Island
Continue your walk westerly along Beach Crescent going underneath the Granville Bridge and make a left on Hornby Street to the pier to catch a ferry service over to Granville Island.

Granville Island was once an industrial manufacturing area and is now a major tourist destination.  Granville Island is known for its public markets, restaurants, fresh bakeries and unique craft stores - you can easily spend an entire day there.  Its community of craft studios, includes a Glassblowing studio, the B.C. Potter's Guild Gallery, The Crafthouse Gallery, The Circle Craft shop, art galleries, boat builders, a Wood Co-op Shop, Woodworkers studios and many more.  Check out all the wonderful foods and fares of the market, navigate your way through the narrow roads and lanes, go through book stores, visit the art exhibits, the Kids Only Market. Other amenities include a large marina, a hotel, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and its Charles H. Scott Gallery, Arts Umbrella (provides children visual and performing arts education) , the Arts Club Theatre Company and Carousel Theatre. 

Option 2:  Vancouver Biennale English Bay Beaches
Continue your False Creek shoreline west walk and you will connect to Beach Avenue.
Follow the Vancouver Biennale English Bay Beaches tour guide to continue exploring the public art and natural beaches of Vancouver.  This self-guided walking tour takes you through the most popular sunbathing, swimming, and sunset-watching beach in the downtown Vancouver area.  Follow the tour in reverse direction starting from Kitsilano Beach on the south shore of English Bay and then stroll along Beach Avenue in the northwest direction.  While you marvel at the beauty of nature, you will get to enjoy the public artwork from the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Biennale (2009-2011) along this beachfront walk.

Author:        Katherine Tong
Editor:         Michael and Ingunn Kemble

The information and opinions in this document represents solely the views of the author and are not intended as a recommendation to purchase any products or use of any services.