City of Vancouver Public Art Blog
byI recently discovered that the City of Vancouver Public Art Program has a blog. Our City Our Art features photos and information about art pieces, installations, and local artists.
The blog was created by two media students from Emily Carr University who were doing an internship with the City in 2010. Diego Rodriquez and Sophie Bégin wrote about their personal investigations of public art works in the city and the blog is kept up today by City of Vancouver Public Art program staff.
Our City Our Art features the latest public art news as well including information about the installation of five new marble and granite structures (weighing from 5,000 to 10,000 pounds) that will be installed at the Queen Elizabeth Plaza today. These pieces by Cameron Kerr are “associated with images and forms that we see around us but don’t necessarily register”.
There are so many forms of public art in Vancouver that fall into the following categories: Olympic, Gift, Civic, Community, Park Board, Private Development, or Purchase.
Public art pieces that have been gifted include the A-Maze-Ing Laughter statues at English Bay (recently bought by Chip Wilson of Lululemon), the LightShed along the Coal Harbour Seawall, and even the Lord Stanley statue in Stanley Park. Public art by private developments includes pieces like the lights on West Pender Place, The Drop at the new convention centre, and the pendulum in the HSBC building.
While content has just picked up again on the blog — there’s a gap between 2010 and 2012, with nothing for 2011 — I’m hoping that Our City Our Art will provide more insights and news stories about public art in Vancouver in the future. I would love to see it grow, either where it is now or hosted through the City’s new website network.
Related links: Artist Opportunities Page, City of Vancouver Cultural Services, City of Vancouver Public Art Registry, Vancouver Cultural Services Mailing List. For even more public art check out Vancouver Biennale.
