York House Students bring a spectrum of colour to the Arbutus Corridor inspired by the Vancouver Biennale public art installations.
York House School (YHS) grade two students have been collaborating with the Arbutus Greenway and Vancouver Biennale Big IDEAS education program to create their own public art installation. Students have been reimaging a section of the Arbutus Corridor to serve the needs and wants of the local community. They have visited the site, interviewed community members and learned about the natural environment. To bring awareness to this space and community, the students collaborated with Biennale artist, Toni Latour. The students learned about public art, its role in creating community, and visited several of the Vancouver Biennale’s large scale public art installations, including Latour’s Let’s Heal The Divide.
While visiting the Arbutus Corridor, students were inspired by the word happy stenciled in bright yellow on the asphalt. Students began to talk about how the bright colour and positive message made them feel. To add more colour to the corridor, students painted over 700 rocks in a spectrum of colours. On the rocks, students have written positive messages encouraging community members to “smile,” “count the trees” and “think about what this space could be.”

On June 9th from 9:30 – 11:30pm YHS grade two students installed 700 painted rocks on the Arbutus Greenway to inspire community engagement and awareness on the Arbutus Corridor. The rocks were installed on each side of the asphalt between Nanton Road and Quilchena park.