Arts

The Waldorf may be gone but the City of Vancouver will continue funding the arts. Tuesday, February 5, 2013,  Vancouver City Council unanimously approved zoning bylaw changes that will create significant new affordable artist space in Vancouver, by allowing work-only art studio uses in all of the city’s industrial districts. The potential space in which artists are eligible to rent for studios is expanding fourteen-fold, from 2 million square feet to 28 million square feet.

We first told you about the giant Main Street poodle (do yourself a favour and read the comments in our previous article) perched high atop a black pole on Main and 17th. Since our posting it’s caused quite the stir and other media outlets have picked up on this controversial canine public art, mainly due to the cost of this project, $100,000. 

The W2 Media Cafe hosted Vancouver’s inaugural Slideluck Potshow Saturday evening, sponsored by Nester’s Market, W2, Westbank Development, London Drugs and JJ Bean.

To mark the proud tradition of Black History Month a stamp featuring early Vancouver’s beloved lifeguard, Joe Fortes is being issued. With period images of the watery playground at English Bay and photos of Joe swimming and interacting with the community. The stamp was designed by Lara Minja of Lime Design, who has created previous issues of the Black History Month series.

Late in the 19th century, the provincial government acknowledged that British Columbia was in need of a university. It chose one of the most beautiful locations to build the University of British Columbia, the westernmost tip of the Vancouver peninsula on the edge of cliffs overlooking the sea with panoramic mountain views. The original 1912 vision for UBC was to build a campus with architecture worthy of its beautiful location.

The Vancouver Art Gallery relocation will happen sooner or later. With the sale of the Canada Post building in downtown Vancouver, talks are once again ramping up for possible future locations for the Vancouver Art Gallery. Here is another unique proposal that calls for building the new Vancouver Art Gallery over the Granville Loops, which are soon to be removed.

The Main Street Poodle is the latest public art installation in the city of Vancouver. Located across the new 3333 Main Street (Main and 17th) development in East Vancouver, the poodle has few scratching their heads in disbelief, while others praising the work.

The recent controversy and firestorm with the Waldorf Hotel’s closure for redevelopment into condos is perhaps evident of a city reaching a breaking point over its dwindling cultural and entertainment venues. There is no doubt the core of Vancouver’s entertainment district lies in and around the Downtown peninsula, and it is no secret either that rampant condo development in the city centre has severely hampered the ability of entertainment-based businesses and zones to flourish. This now impacts Vancouver’s premier entertainment venues, BC Place and Rogers Arena, as well as the False Creek entertainment district that had originally been envisioned for the stadium precinct.

The City of Vancouver’s idea to partner with its Library system and popular attractions like the Vancouver Aquarium and Science World to create the Inspiration Pass, appears to be quite the success and something other cities should take note of. The free pass gives families and individuals who live in the city a chance to explore our very own world-class sites. It’s generally good for two adults and four children and with all twenty-two sites visited has an approximate value of $1850.