So Many Things cruise ship mural, located at 325 Columbia Street in the DTES, artist unknown. As you can see from Jeremy’s photo a few years ago, this mural has gotten a bit smaller with the removal of those cheering the cruise ships from the shore.
EastVanLove Volume 8: Journey to Now. Just shy of one month away now, I am excited to announce that I will be one of the speakers at this tweetup slated for April 11, 2013 at SFU Woodwards. The complete lineup is available here; tickets are priced at $5 for the month of March with proceeds going to charity, so be sure to reserve your seat soon (price goes to $10 in April). It’s a huge honour to be included among such great company; I hope to see you there!
Update! Identity and promo collateral for #EastVanLove #EVL8 designed by #KONGcreative - more on the full project here.
Concept sketches by Michael Green Architecture, from his unsolicited proposal for a decentralized VAG with 4 satellite galleries. I’m not sold on the concept of fragmenting the gallery necessarily, but I do like the idea of a really great sculpture garden. This would be difficult to attain with just a single site, as there would likely only be a small rooftop or courtyard space available. Thus, I find the Phase 4 Stanley Park VAG / Blowdown gallery very compelling. We have the benefit of the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale temporarily programming sculpture throughout the entire city, but having something with a bit more permanence would be nice.
Sculpted souvenir plate of Vancouver, undated, signed “S:C” just above the BC. Initially carved in wood, this item is made from faux wood known as “Syroco”, a term applied to a molded material resembling carved wood. This process was invented and first implemented by the Syracuse Ornamental Company. Via Syracuse University:
Founded in Syracuse, New York in 1890 by immigrant Adolph Holstein, the Syracuse Ornamental Company (Syroco) specialized in decorative wood carving, especially for the local residential market. Products included fireplace mantelpieces and other types of interior decoration popular in late Victorian homes. To meet increasing market demand and sales opportunities Holstein developed a material looked and felt like wood but that which could be shaped, allowing multiple pieces to be produced through a molding process. The new product, which combined wood pulp brought from the Adirondacks with flour as a binder and other materials to give it strength, was extruded and then cut to fit compression molds, which had were made from original carvings in real wood…
In 1965 the company was bought by Rexall Drug and Chemical Company (which soon changed its name to Dart Industries). Dart owned Tupperware, from which Syroco gained more knowledge of injection molding. Syroco was purchased by the Syratech Corporation of Boston in 1986 which expanded its patio furniture production. In 1995 Syratech sold Syroco to Marley PLC of Sevenoaks, England, and in 2004 Syroco was purchased by Vassallo Industries of Puerto Rico which closed the plant in 2007…
In addition to showing the Bloedel Conservatory, the Gastown Clock, a Kwakiutl Totem Pole, Lions Gate Bridge, and a BC Ferry, it also features the Royal Hudson steam locomotive. From wikipedia:
The locomotive was restored by Robert E. Swanson’s Railway Appliance Research Ltd. team and the staff of the CPR Drake Street roundhouse shops beginning on 25 November 1973 and then operated by the British Columbia Department of Travel Industry with the cooperation of the British Columbia Railway. The BCR commenced a Royal Hudson excursion service between North Vancouver and Squamish on 20 June 1974. By the end of the 1974 tourist season, 47,295 passengers had been carried and the excursion was deemed successful. It was the only regularly scheduled steam excursion over mainline trackage in North America. The excursion operated between May and October, from Wednesday through Saturday. It also traveled North America in the late 1970s as a promotion for BC tourism. It quickly became one of British Columbia’s main tourist attractions and an icon of Canadian steam power.
The buildings in the city skyline probably give us the best clues when this souvenir plate was created. The three tallest buildings appear to be depicting the Royal Bank Tower (1973), the TD Tower (1972), and the Scotia Tower (1977). By lining up the Hotel Vancouver with the towers and zooming out in Google Earth, it would appear this view was taken from one of the higher floors in the Frank Stanzl Building (1974) on Broadway, a brutalist building designed by Vladimir Plavsic. As an aside, Lindsay Brown’s post on the Stanzl Building is highly recommended.
After all this, I still can’t be certain when this thing was made, but it was probably some time post-1977; possibly even post-1986 if the S:C stands for Syratech Corporation. Who knew you could learn all this from an old souvenir!
Water Street, by J. Grant Crawford, 1982. An extra large canvas, seen inside the Deluxe film post-production facility in Vancouver. This Deluxe facility was previously Rainmaker, and prior to this Rainmaker was Gastown Post & Transfer. (I know this because I used to work at Rainmaker!)
This is what I’m talking about; Danika keeps it local! Toile de Jouy for Vancouver, by Vancouver designer Danika McDowell of Locamode. Just what is Toile you ask? Wikipedia says:
Toile is the name of a fabric that entered the English language around the 16th century[1] from a French word meaning “linen cloth” or “canvas” — particularly cloth or canvas for painting on.
Seen on Poppytalk via Spoonflower. More here. Suddenly, I have an urgent need for some Skytrain technical drawing Toile!
Bird’s Eye View of Gastown, the village of Granville, around 1875. Drawing by Beverly Justice commissioned by the Vancouver Arts Council © 1970.
From a walking tour guide of Gastown, prompted by the “Gastown Revisited” walking tours of September, 1968. I’ve transcribed the index below:
1. The famous Maple Tree.
2. Gassy Jack’s Hotel and Saloon, the Deighton House.
3. The Sunnyside Hotel, the best in town, rebuilt after the fire.
4. Old Road to the Sawmill 1/2 mile; George Black’s Hotel at Hastings Townsite, 3 miles.
5. New Road to New Westminster - became Kingsway.
6. George Black’s Butcher Shop and Slaughter House.
7. Provincial Jail, Customs and Court House.
8. Granville Hotel, favourite of loggers.
9. Terminal Saloon.
10. Webster’s Store.
11. Home of respected mulatto widow Mrs. Sullivan and her two boys.
12. Mrs. Sullivan’s restaurant.
13. Joseph Simmons’ Saloon.
14. Gregorio Fernandez’ Store.
15. Indian trail to False Creek.
16. Cabins of Chinese and occupants ”of ill-repute.”
17. Blair Hall, also known as Sullivan’s Hall or Gold’s Hall, scene of early dances, entertainments and church services.
18. House of Gillespie. the logging boss.
19. House of Irish-born Joseph Manion from Victoria. Gastown’s first business man.
20. Cottage of Constable Jonathan Miller, Provincial Agent, Burrard Inlet.
21. To Andy Linton’s Boathouse.
Angelo Colari and the Hotel Europe, 1908, by Frank Lewis, 1976. As mentioned in his bio, Frank painted the mural on the side of the Maritime Museum in 1986, and he painted the hoardings at the old Vancouver Court house at some point as well. More about the drawing from Gastown.org:
Angelo Colari built the Europe on this triangular-shaped lot near the steamship docks that used to be located at the foot of Columbia and Carrall Streets. Colari was born in Italy in 1861 and immigrated to British Columbia in 1882 when he was 21 years old. He spent four years in Victoria before coming to Vancouver in 1886.
This drawing was the front cover of yesterday’s historical map, a pre-Expo96 Downtown Historical Association Historical Trek.
Restoration Report: A Case for Renewed Life in the Old City, a brochure originally published circa 1969 by the City of Vancouver Department of Planning & Civic Development and Birmingham & Wood, Architects. Illustrations inside this urban plan for a revitalized Gastown would not look out of place in today’s landscape.
You can see this brochure in the Vancouver Heritage Foundation Reading Room, established thanks to a generous donation by Yosef Wosk.
An interior mural painted by Vince Dumoulin last week in Gastown. The Building is the former Vancouver Police Stables, now utilized as the offices of a software firm. Thanks for the submission, Vince!
Gastown Stories by Mary Drew, illustrated by Norman Drew. The book was published in 1980 by NC Press of Toronto. The character Chika was a favourite of the artist, and she was featured on their Saturday morning TV series as well. According to Drew’s own webpage, he would also like to release an e-book version of these stories and a DVD set of the original TV show, perhaps some time in the near future. From the title page of the book:
Mary Drew is a native of Sudbury, Ontario. Her children’s stories first appeared on the television series “Gastown Gang” in 1978. She has contributed articles to “Fun Times” magazine published in Canada by McDonald’s Restaurants.
Norman Drew was born in Kenora, Ontario and is a graduate of the University of Alberta in Fine and Applied Arts. As a motion picture animation producer, director, designer and animator he created cartoon episodes for Sesame Street, The Irish Rovers, The Beatles (Yellow Submarine), The Jackson Five, The Osmond Brothers (ABC-TV). His “Chika’s Magic Sketch Book” TV series is also produced for newspaper comic features. In 1978/79 he hosted a series of half-hour children’s shows on BCTV network called “Gastown Gang” based on his Gastown cartoon studio.
Actually, according to IMDB, Norman is one of a number of uncredited animators on the Beatles Yellow Submarine. I found this post by Norm Drew, where he reminisces about the making of the animated classic, which he posted on CartoonBrew.com back in 2010.
As one of the original animators on Yellow Submarine who worked at the studio in London in 1968, here are some of my thoughts about a YS remake.
At the time, we were aware it was a revolutionary graphic work. Some of us could see it would ‘break the animation mould’, though most of us didn’t foresee it would become a cult classic almost half a century later. John Lasseter is quoted as saying, ‘Yellow Submarine is my favorite animated feature’.
The production itself was more a creative ‘happening’ than an organized film production. We artists had great freedom and visceral involvement, far more than any highly organized production today…
Cityscape by Sarah Mulder. From her website:
Vancouver artist and Emily Carr University Graduate, Sarah Mulder, showcases paintings that explore patterning, nature and balance, referencing images of quiet landscapes and reflecting her relationship to art as therapy. Sarah’s paintings embody the influences of her personal photography, memories, and sketches to convey an extension of her own environment and thoughts. Her paintings, which incorporate acrylic paint, pencil, ink washes and tactile material, are vibrant and dramatic.
Her work includes an innovative sewn mixed media technique; check out more in her online gallery.
Gastown, ink illustration by Peter R. Bach, circa 1982-1984. Notecard prints from this series of drawings were available at the Vancouver Art Gallery gift store in the 1980s; currently, they can be found at Blim. You’ll notice the bronze figure of Gassy Jack has since crossed the street to the other side of Maple Tree Square.
