Great Moments in Park Board History – 1909 by John Atkin. He writes on his blog:

In 1909, someone thought it might be a good idea to build grain elevators on Deadman’s Island. Park Board turned the idea down.

Menus from days gone by, via the MoV. The Chilco Grill, the Lux Café, the Senator Grill, the Press Club, all circa 1948-1952, donated to the Museum of Vancouver by Mr. Sonny Farrington. About Sonny, from the items’ description:

Sonny Farrington b. 1923 in Flin Flon, Manitoba, moved to Vancouver in 1942 with his parents. The family lived at 11th Avenue and Yukon, and Sonny attended Edith Cavell Elementary School (where Pal’s Café was his favourite hang-out) and then King Edward High School. In 1945, Sonny’s mother got a job as a cook at Cunningham’s Grill in Union Market, and Sonny often stopped by there for a meal. Between ages 15 and 20, Sonny went to weekend Teen Town dances, and went out afterwards for something to eat. Many of these menus were obtained on such occasions. Many menus have thumbtack holes in them, where the donor displayed them on a wall or bulletin board…

The Lions Gate Bridge, with Stanley Park to the right, seen from the North Shore. This painting by Lyttle is dated 1980; I am unable to determine who this might have been, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Concept sketch for Stanley Park Totem Pole Visitor Centre by Matthew Cencich, via flickr. 

This was a presentation board (building) I did for a visitor centre at the totem poles in Stanley Park in Vancouver.
The program called for washrooms for both sexes, a retail space, and a sheltered exhibit space. Too many people were peeing in the trees behind the totem poles and something had to be done. The open exhibit space was aligned to be exposed to water in both directions with a view towards the north shore mountains at the north end and coal harbour marina at the south end. I’d detail the cladding and upper glazing differently, and simplify the retail space layout now but I still like the double butterfly roof. This was presented to the parks board along with 2 other schemes…

The final scheme given the go-ahead was by Lubor Trubka Associates Architects, viewable here: http://www.lubortrubka.com/stanley_park.htm

Parks & Playgrounds, Vancouver BC brochure, dated 1925, seen at MacLeod’s Books recently. This cover depicts a proposed monument (I can’t recall if it was a column or an obelisk, sorry) at the end of the causeway entrance to Stanley Park, seen here overlooking Lost Lagoon. When the causeway was completed, they didn’t end up with a stone monument but erected a flagpole instead.

A reminder; TODAY there is a Walk in the Forest event at VanDusen Gardens. Come down from 12-2pm for a little art mob excursion! The 1976 modernist pavilion originally known as MacMillan-Bloedel Place is facing demolition, and Michael Kluckner, with support from Heritage Vancouver, would like to see it preserved. 

The building known as the Education Centre (also the Forest Education Centre) is a modernist masterpiece lost in the forest of an untended section of VanDusen Garden. Built in 1976, it was originally known as MacMillan-Bloedel Place, named for its donor, the largest forestry company in what was then the largest industry in British Columbia. Its unique educational displays, including a 50-seat theatre, were called “A Walk in the Forest.”

Architect Paul Merrick, working then as chief designer for Thompson, Berwick & Pratt, set the pavilion into a small hill on the edge of a lake in the northwest part of the gardens. Its green roof was one of the first in the city, and its unique internal columns used some of the finest wood in British Columbia. It won the Canadian Architect Yearbook Award of Excellence Award in 1974, and was constructed by Halse-Martin of Vancouver. It was once an object of pride for the city, VanDusen Garden and the Park Board…

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Note this campaign is not endorsed by the Park Board or VanDusen Garden staff.

Vancouver Panorama, artist unknown, printed by Pierre Marc Products, Berkeley, California and distributed by the Vancouver Magazine Service Ltd. Because the Grouse Mountain tram is red, we can probably date this some time after or around 1976, when the original blue tram was upgraded with the new red Super Skyride tram. Seen via ebay.

Vancouver From Kitsilano and Vancouver from Rowing Club, circa 1914, ink on paper, Ina D.D. Uhthoff (courtesy Mother Tongue Publishing), via VIAwesome.com. From The Life & Art of Ina D. D. Uhthoff by Christina Johnson-Dean, which came out late last year. You can purchase the book at MacLeod’s Books in downtown Vancouver. The entire series of Unheralded Artists of BC is outstanding, seeking to remedy some of the lost treasures of art history in our own backyard.

The Sentinel of Stanley Park, a colour image by Paul Goranson, 14 x 18 inches. This was done in 1939 just before Paul went off to WWII, where along with E.J. Hughes and Orville Fisher, he became a celebrated war artist. Construction of the Lions Gate bridge had just been completed, there was no seawall around Stanley Park, and there was a famous cave to the right of Siwash Rock.

This appeared on Craigslist recently, and it seems it was a wedding gift to someone in the 1950s. A rare and extraordinary find; it might actually be the gouache original Goranson used to produce a linocut of the same image.

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.

Main Diversion Entrance, Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada; vintage transferware souvenir of Stanley Park from Gray’s Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, England via ebay. Gray’s Pottery operated from 1907 to 1962, when it was sold and became Portmeirion Pottery. The image appears to be based on the postcard seen here, which might be from the 1930s, based on the era of the vehicles.

The entranceway to Stanley Park was reconfigured in 1926 to create the pedestrian promenade seen here. Designed by sculptor Charles Marega, the walkway was constructed with concrete mixed with sea sand, sadly resulting in a deteriorating, unsalvageable structure.

Cinderella Stamps from Vancouver’s Jubilee celebrations in 1936. These images came via Ron Lafreniere in Montreal, who has compiled a remarkable reference book dedicated to Canadian Cinderellas (stamp collector’s term for make-believe stamps). His book launched in May 2012 and it looks to be an amazing resource. You can learn more via his website, including the book’s index, galleries of sample pages, and a free checklist of all the Canadian Cinderellas he knows of. His book is available in Vancouver at All Nations Stamp & Coin, a great resource for collectibles on Dunbar.

Higher resolution stamp images updated to be more philatelically correct!

A fantastic souvenir knife for the CPR showing the steamship docks, “the Sleeping Beauty” (Crown Mountain) from Stanley Park (which may be based on this postcard), and the Empress. Exactly which Empress steamship is undetermined. From the item description:

This is a great early souvenir knife from Canada. It has great scales with different images on both sides. The knife was made by Griffon from Germany. The image of the Empress ship that was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway is great. The Empress of Ireland sank in 1914 killing 1012 people, and became the deadliest Maritime disaster in Canadian history. The blades have never been sharpened and are tight with great snap. This knife measures 3-1/16” long when closed.

According to wikipedia & the web, here are the ships of the Pacific: Empress of Asia, Australia, China, India, Japan, and Russia. And these ships sailed the Atlantic: Empress of Britain, Canada, France, Ireland, and Scotland (though the second ship to bear the name Empress of Scotland was actually the Empress of Japan before 1942).

We can try to deduce which Empress is depicted on the knife if we narrow down the number of Pacific ships with just two smoke stacks. Process of elimination leaves the Empress of China, India, or Japan, but to confuse things further, there were more than one vessel using each one of these names. Actually, I think this image depicts TWO ships, with just tail end of the second ship at the right. Determined nautical enthusiasts might be able to make a more precise response, and a special prize goes to anyone who locates a photograph of the same image. 

For the discerning collector, this knife is available for the prestigious price of $99 on ebay from seller combolox, with $32.90 shipping to Canada.

Driveway, 2012 by John Ogilvy offers a dramatic perspective in this 40”x50” oil on canvas, currently on exhibit at the Ian Tan Gallery until November 29th. AND THE CRAWL STARTS TODAY!

Penguins, Stanley Park, Vancouver, a numbered silkscreen print by Thelma Alberta Manarey (1913-1984), currently up for auction at Levis Fine Art Auctions based in Calgary. The online auction closes Saturday, September 15, 2012.

From the book Artists of Alberta (1980) by Suzanne Devonshire Baker:

Since 1965 Manarey has been the recipient of four major awards, including the Performing and Creative Arts Award, Visual Arts, City of Edmonton, 1973. Her works are found in many private collections in Edmonton and in Alberta House, London, England. Manarey exhibits mainly in Edmonton, although she has participated in group shows across Canada and in Oregon. She has also been commissioned to paint several official government portraits. Although best known for her miniature etchings, Manarey also paints with acrylic, watercolour, and oils.

Brochure circa 1910 for Siwash Rock, A Legend by Arthur James Smith, cover art by the Angell Engraving Co., previously at 518 Hastings Street West. This piece is one of 3,500 pieces related to Stanley Park collected by Doreen Margaret “Peggy” Imredy who began collecting the material in 1972 while her husband Elek Imredy was working on Girl in a Wetsuit. From the MoV online collection: