Tuesday March 24th, 2015 let’s heal the divide Gently lit with neon, let’s heal the divide is a recent installation on the wall of the Vancouver Community College (VCC) Downtown Campus at Hamilton and Pender, part of the 2014-2016 Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum supporting public art. It’s by Toni Latour, a queer, feminist Vancouver artist pictured here with Biennale founder, Barrie Mowatt. The current theme is Open Borders/Crossroads Vancouver. Learn more Friday March 13th, 2015 Art installation aims to heal the divide between DTES and Downtown Located at 250 West Pender Street, the new art project produced by the Vancouver Biennale aims to provoke questions about the divide between the Downtown East Side and the commercial and financial districts that border it. Learn more Thursday March 12th, 2015 Vancouver Biennale Artwork Wants To Heal The Divide In City’s Downtown There's an invisible border in Vancouver — a mere curve in the road — that separates two different worlds. Most Vancouverites don't think much of how one side of East Hastings Street by Victory Square marks the low-income Downtown Eastside, while the shiny and prosperous retail and financial districts sit on the other side. Learn more Wednesday March 11th, 2015 Art reflects life in the Downtown Eastside As I listened to an Elections B.C. official describe the voting process for the forthcoming plebiscite a single thought came to mind: I hope we never have to go through this again. What a colossal disaster this is turning out to be. Thanks, Christy. As the ballots are about to be mailed out, I have decided to again leave town. This time I am off to Paris and Morocco in search of more planning ideas to share at a forthcoming lecture entitled 12 Great Ideas for Vancouver from Around the World. It will be presented at SFU Harbour centre on April 1. But before I leave, I am participating in an art unveiling and panel discussion at 6 p.m. tonight (March 11) at Vancouver Community College’s downtown campus. It is organized by the Vancouver Biennale, a non-profit charitable organization that celebrates art in public spaces. It brings to Vancouver the works by internationally renowned and emerging contemporary artists that most people actually like.     Learn more Monday March 9th, 2015 Exploring Art in Public Spaces: A Documentary Series- The Divide “Let’s Heal The Divide” is a neon artwork by Toni Latour, a commission for the 2014-2016 Vancouver Biennale. It is installed at the crossroads between the impoverished, troubled downtown eastside and the financial district, on the front of Vancouver Community College, itself a victim of “the divide.”.....   Learn more Wednesday March 4th, 2015 Vancouver Symphony 2015-16 season mixes new with old Like the daffodils, announcements of next year's artistic seasons seem extra early this year. As a case in point, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra released its plans for 2015-16 earlier this week. Learn more Wednesday March 4th, 2015 Vancouver Symphony Orchestra announces 2015-16 season Violin and piano stars, some unique cultural fusions, and a festival devoted to Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner highlight the just-announced 2015-16 season at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Learn more Tuesday January 20th, 2015 Park Board chooses nine artists for Fieldhouse Studio Program Instant Coffee, Mr. Fire-Man and Publik Secrets are among the artists and art groups chosen for the 2015 Fieldhouse Studio Program by the Vancouver Park Board. Three of the fieldhouses will be shared by artists associated with the Vancouver Biennale. Learn more Wednesday January 14th, 2015 BLUME: Public art is more than decoration This past spring, the Vancouver Biennale expanded its exhibition to North Vancouver with two public art installations along Upper Lonsdale, the headless Walking Figures and Meeting with its crouching red monks, as well as an indoor pavilion of Brazilian art in Shipbuilders Square. Learn more Tuesday January 13th, 2015 Vancouver Biennale: Perspectives on Public Art The Vancouver Biennale has two notable distinguishing factors: it’s almost exclusively outdoors, and it lasts for two full years. Now in its third iteration, this unusual take on public art continues eschewing the rapidity that usually marks biennales, searching, instead, for more long-term engagement. Learn more Friday January 2nd, 2015 Top 10 standout (somewhat random) arts events of 2014 Here are some—but not all—of the big and small works and events that stood out on the past year’s arts scene. Learn more Friday January 2nd, 2015 Vancouver Biennale to sell $50,000 maquettes of F Grass Sometime in 2015, the Vancouver Biennale will be getting a special shipment of art from Ai Weiwei: five maquettes of F Grass, the sculptural work of cast iron in the shape of a calligraphic ‘F’ in Coal Harbour. Learn more Thursday January 1st, 2015 Public Art Installation North Shore News Readers’ Choice 2015 winner! Public Art Installation. The Meeting, Ray Sargent Park, North Vancouver. North Shore News Readers’ Choice 2015 winner! Learn more Tuesday December 23rd, 2014 Ai Weiwei plants F Grass as part of the Vancouver Biennale Yes, the official launch of Ai Weiwei’s Vancouver Biennale sculpture, F Grass, took place in the Twitter-verse, but the real-world unveiling was pretty nifty, too. On a recent, rainy morning, a cadre of soggy but determined workers and volunteers removed construction fencing, erected signage, then finally and dramatically rolled away the big blue tarpaulins that had been covering the work. Their labours revealed a large, low platform on which are mounted over a thousand hexagonal “tiles”, each tile bearing three “tufts”, each tuft composed of five “blades of grass”, the entirety creating an outsized, double- barred, calligraphic F. F as in freedom, F as in fortitude, F as in “Fuck you!” to surveillance, censorship, and oppression. Learn more Thursday December 18th, 2014 Ai Weiwei’s defiance on display in Vancouver A new sculpture by acclaimed Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei unveiled Wednesday for the Vancouver Biennale may initially look underwhelming. But the work has more going for it than at first appearance. The horizontal sculpture is another defiant gesture by Ai Weiwei against Chinese government officials for the way they continue to treat him and many other ordinary Chinese citizens. Learn more Wednesday December 17th, 2014 Ai Weiwei Vancouver Biennale Installation Represents Resilience World renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has left his mark on Vancouver in a big way. Weiwei's latest work, "F Grass," was unveiled Wednesday as part of the 2014-2016 Vancouver Biennale. Located in Coal Harbour's Harbour Green Park, "F Grass" is made up of industrial cast iron spikes made to look like grass. When put together, they form a calligraphic "F." Learn more Wednesday December 17th, 2014 Ai Weiwei makes his mark on downtown Vancouver green space The City of Vancouver is getting a great early Christmas present as renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei leaves his distinct and thought-provoking mark on a downtown green space. Located at Harbour Green Park on the edge of Coal Harbour, Ai Weiwei’s 13.5-by-13.5-metre cast iron sculpture titled F Grass is part of the Vancouver Biennale’s ongoing public art series. Learn more Wednesday December 17th, 2014 Ai Wei Wei Vancouver sculpture symbolizes resilience and defiance Chinese artist and activist joins Vancouver Biennale with cheeky art installation "F Grass" A new art installation by internationally renowned Chinese artist and human rights activist Ai Wei Wei is making Harbour Green Park in Coal Harbour its home for the next 12 months. Learn more Wednesday December 17th, 2014 Ai Weiwei public art revealed in Vancouver A spiky – and cheeky – piece of public art by one of the most powerful artists and human rights activists in the world will be unveiled in Vancouver on Wednesday. Learn more Thursday September 11th, 2014 Pop-up art installation reflects our obsession with status updates A pop-up art installation in an affluent Vancouver neighbourhood aims to comment on society’s fascination with sharing details about our personal lives. Learn more