Goad’s atlas of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia and surrounding municipalities in four volumes from 1912. Fire insurance maps are great; I’m posting it here primarily for the typography, but the maps are great too! From Collections Canada, which has volume one (Kits) and two (Grandview) posted out of four. Via Michael Kluckner’s recent blog post at grandviewheritage.blogspot.com.
An ink on paper drawing submitted by Louise Phillips dating back to November 30th, 2005. Louise writes:
I thought of this drawing today, a few years after it was made, but the map of Vancouver and my impression of Richmond remain true to the time of its making.
The drawing is in ink on the cover of an environmentally friendly notebook found on sale in a Steveston shop. I was newly arrived from Toronto and experiencing a strange kind of culture shock. Drawing and writing were a guarantee of sanity.
Perhaps it is timely in this year, 2012 - the Queen’s Jubilee Year, to look back at the past!
Thanks Louise!
Militant Moms of Raymur, Wednesday 6 January 1971
Concerned for the safety of their children, mothers from the Raymur Housing project in Strathcona lobbied to have a pedestrian overpass built so their children wouldn’t have to cross busy train tracks to get to Seymour Elementary School. After getting nowhere with the City and rail companies, the moms set up an encampment on the tracks and blocked rail traffic to the waterfront. To resolve the issue, the City was forced to build the Keefer Street overpass. For more on this story, check out Viaduct.
As far as I know, this image originally appeared in Open Road, an anarchist newspaper published in Vancouver from the late 1970s to the mid-80s.
Source: Only (A) Beginning: An Anarchist Anthology, via GraveWisdom
Cover of Edith Adam’s Wartime Cook Book, 1943, from the Vancouver Sun (digitally enhanced). The cover art is by Fraser Wilson, who drew comics for the Vancouver Sun and the Daily Province until 1947. This quote from the publication Youth, Unions, and You:
Wilson was born in 1905, in Vancouver. A gifted cartoonist, he sold his first published illustration to a national magazine at the age of twelve. In his early life he painted ships in Wallace’s Shipyards, ran a candy store, did carpentry, developed photos, worked as a painter and decorator, and laboured in a shipyard. It was due to a work-related injury in the yard that he pursued commercial cartooning as a career. At the peak of his political cartooning reputation, he was a favoured artist in both Vancouver dailies, the Vancouver Sun and the Province.
Back to this wonderfully ambitious and optimistic guide to better wartime cooking, the publication was mentioned here in the October 2009 issue of the North Vancouver Museum and Archives paper, Express. The cover indicates this was the 9th annual issue of the cookbook, but fails to mention that Edith Adams was, in fact, a pseudonym! Actually, most folks may well have known that; the recipes in these books were prize winning entries submitted by Vancouver Sun readers, as mentioned in the book Culinary landmarks: a bibliography of Canadian cookbooks, 1825-1949 by Elizabeth Driver. A quote from the introduction of this book notes:
From 1947, Edith Adams even had her own ‘cottage’ adjacent to the newspaper’s building, where Vancouver residents would flock to see Marianne Linnell as ‘Edith’ demonstrate recipes.
If you want to see more of these books, you can seek out the Edith Adams Omnibus, a reprint from 2005 with more than 1000 recipes, compiling the first thirteen of these famed cook books and updated for today’s standards of cooking.
Happy 100th Birthday, Vancouver Sun!
Addendum by pasttensevancouver:
Fraser Wilson is the artist who painted the proletarian mural inside the Maritime Labour Centre. It was moved there from its original location at Pender Hall.
I should have known that! The Maritime Labour Centre mural has been on my todo list forever!
Cindy Buckshon’s Transit Roots Art Exhibition opens this Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Deer Lake Gallery in Burnaby. I’m resisting the urge to show a link to her blog to help build suspense! I just know this show will be loaded with Vancouver transit love, and I implore you to go and check it out! Makes a great Valentine’s expedition!
Reception is from 2-4pm, and refreshments will be served, the general public is welcome; transit riders especially welcome! I believe the gallery is only open Tues - Sat Noon - 4pm, so be sure to get there before 4!
6584 Deer Lake Avenue
Burnaby, BC
Map to Deer Lake Gallery
Heritage Hall by Andrea Rodgers, another Buzzer cover illustration, via the Buzzer Blog. From the Buzzer interview:
Tell us about yourself and your art.
I like the aesthetic of rough hand drawn lines. Often working in pen, I like to add in watercolour and india ink. The unexpected nature of the medium appeals to me. Makes it more of an adventure. For this illustration I scanned it in and worked with photoshop and illustrator.How did you come up with the concept for your illustration?
Heritage hall is an architectural beauty in Vancouver. It was an easy choice to represent the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. On a good day – From this point on the hill you can often see the mountains and a good part of the city too…
A Souvenir Pillowcase of Vancouver, on glorious printed silk. I’ve covered the souvenir plate meme previously, and this vintage pillowcase is definitely inspired by the tourist art aesthetic. We may never learn who the artists involved were, but looking at the closeup images, the artwork really begins to resemble scenes from a comic book, and I can totally imagine Tintin suddenly blazing onto the scene! I’m having a hard time dating this piece, but I have a hunch or two. For more, plus a DIY contest challenge, check out the cross-post on VancouverIsAwesome.com
Cover image of Chinatown, from the October 1968 issue of Canadian Architect, artist unknown. The scene illustrates E Pender Street, looking towards Carrall. Inside this issue are a number of fantasy concepts which I hope to feature in a series of upcoming posts. Click here for the Google Street View today.
Discover Vancouver on Transit, a BC Transit brochure, 1990. This was the 100th anniversary of public transit in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, as the logo attests. Illustrations in the brochure were credited to Robert Dobie, Jim Koll, Klaus Ravn, and Paulo Venturi, though I’m not sure who designed precisely which illustrations.
UPDATE: I received an email from James Koll, who recalls this brochure from his days freelancing at Slicko Studios. Slicko Studios, later known as the Ken Koo Creative Group was founded by Ken in 1982, built from a staff of 4 to 60+, and was acquired by the Cossette Group of companies in 2000. The company now operates under the name of Identica.
2010 Vancouver Olympics Illustration by Jeff Hamada. I *heart* maple leafs! Jeff Hamada also illustrated a fine piece that my company mounted specially for Working Format for a poster exhibit at the Waterfront Canada Line station. See more of Jeff’s work here.
comic about moving to vancouver from seattle and getting to know a new place. page 1 of 2.
Looks like Takohako could use a recommendation; where’s the best place to get some felt in this town?
Mix and Match Your Own Vancouver Special, a mixed media handmade pop-up book designed, illustrated, and constructed by Priscilla Yu, 2009. Priscilla writes:
The book showcases Vancouver’s most loathed boxy homes, characterized by its seeming love of stucco, Italian imported wooden front doors, and cookie-cutter design. Rethinking and embracing it’s aesthetic, in a whimsical way, the seven-paged book is an interactive experience, where the reader can play builder in selecting a series of “tops” and “bottoms” to create their very own Vancouver Special homes.
Priscilla Yu is a fourth year illustration student at Emily Carr University. She lives in and was raised in a surburb within Vancouver, and loves anything to do with houses.
More images here, along with video. Thanks for the submission, Priscilla!
Exposing Myself to Explo, a painting by Art Nuko from an exhibition in the summer of 1986. While the imagery is terrifying, the anti-nuclear message is loud and clear, and the city of Vancouver, with Greenpeace at the forefront, was an important part of this early protest movement.
With this post, I have reached the milestone 500th post. This is more or less half way to my original goal of 1,000 posts featuring the city of Vancouver in art. We are also just a few days from the end of 2011, the city’s momentous 125th anniversary. You may have already deduced how much I’ve enjoyed sourcing the imagery on this blog, doing the background research, and then presenting it on a regular basis. It has been my own personal @Vancouver125 expedition, and I’m grateful for all the fan appreciation and loyal followers.
I’ve been meaning to let you all know that I am about to change pace on this blog. From now on, I will be decreasing the frequency of my posts, not posting every day, perhaps updating on a weekly basis, or whenever I see fit. I am doing this so that I can focus my efforts on other projects, and so that I can continue to dream up new visions for the future. Once again, a heartfelt thanks to all of you! May you all continue to share the Tumblr love as we work towards world peace! : )
