The Artist's Circle in West Vancouver

This is the final weekend of The Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, it's well worth a visit.

The festival highlights the rich cultural life of West Vancouver, both past and present. The Museum has had a strong showing this year, organizing The Artist's Circle–a ten day exhibit of ten artists in a temporary gallery set up by the seaside.

The location is frankly spectacular and the artwork matches the locale, including works by Gordon Smith, B.C. Binning, Douglas Coupland, Ian Wallace, Attilla Richard Lukacs and Joan Balzar.

It's the brainchild of Curator Darrin Morrison who had a vision of art by the sea as a way to promote West Vancouver's artistic legacy. It also foreshadows a plan for a larger, dedicated space to house the municipality's significant cultural holdings and engaging exhibitions.

Morrison has shown through his resourceful and inspired use of the current tiny Museum building that a new purpose-built facility would be well used and an invaluable addition to the community.

One of the highlights of the festival was a talk by Gordon Smith, Douglas Coupland and Ian Wallace. Each artist has a deep connection to the local rugged landscape and it was a loose but engaging round table discussion.

Smith held court as elder statesman, while always singing the praises of other artists' work. I can't think of another venue where you might hear a story about the Smiths hosting PM Pierre Trudeau and his family along with the Binnings and a bathrobed Arthur Erickson.

Still, one of the most remarkable things about Smith is how current he remains in his knowledge of contemporary arts, culture and architecture, even at the age of 92. The man is an art machine.

Coupland and Wallace were gracious and offered insights into their methods and the influence that West Vancouver has had on their work.

Kudos to West Vancouver, the curators and the artists involved for bringing together a terrific event.

Untitled, B.C. Binning

Binning In West Vancouver

West Vancouver Museum and Archives is currently showing two exhibits based around B.C. Binning and his work.

The first is a collection of greeting cards created by Don Jarvis, Arthur Erickson, Gordon Smith and Binning among others that explores the social relationships between local artists and architects.

The second exhibit draws on Binning works from the WVMA collection, and focuses largely on his line drawing period from the 1940's.

Both exhibitions run until December 23rd, 2009.

Gordon Smith and West Vancouver

West Vancouver artist Gordon Smith has created a limited-edition print for the District of West Vancouver. The print will be available for purchase after March 28 and is inspired by the large mural - called Beach Tangle - that the artist created for the new W.V. Community Centre. The mural is crafted of painted beach wood and conveys the connection between the community and the oceanfront that defines it.

The print, inversely named Tangle Beach, is printed using the intaglio method and enhanced by Smith's hand-colouring on each one. It is the latest in a long line of prints the prolific Smith has created in his 50+ year career.

It's refreshing to see an emphasis given to public art, one aspect of construction that often gets laid by the wayside as budgets tighten and emphasis turns to utilitarian concerns. Smith's generosity to his community is also heartening; these projects being an extension of the work Smith has fostered with Artists For Kids, a trust he helped establish in 1989.

It also harkens back to Vancouver's past and its illustrious relationship between art and architecture, including Smith's work for the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. There are numerous other examples in Vancouver of buildings (some now demolished) featuring the work of B.C. Binning, Jack Shadbolt, Lionel Thomas and Elza Mayhew among many others.

Chan Centre

I overlooked this building for a long time. It's easy to miss, tucked away in the lush environs of the University of BC campus. Having recently attended a few shows here reminded me what an exceptional building Bing Thom Architects created, and what a welcome addition it has been to both the campus and the city.

The most striking feature– aside from the main concert hall– is the glass wall that borders the main lobby. Approximately two storeys high, it faces a mature stand of cedars, firs and west coast shrubbery. This backdrop perfectly mirrors the large Gordon Smith canvas (with a curved frame to follow the arc of the wall) that greets attendees upon entering the building.

Remarkably, the location of the building on the site was determined by the existing stand of trees. The university had wanted to take advantage of the potential views that would open up by razing the forest, but Thom (advised by Cornelia Oberlander) was insistent that all trees should be retained. In Neill Archer Roan's Scale + Timbre: The Chan Centre For the Performing Arts, Thom says that "even if you take the trees down, the mountains are dark at night, when most people would experience the view. But if you light the trees, you will have a foreground that can become a stage set to the building".

He further notes that once "we finally agreed on the fate of the forest, we set about surveying every tree. In the end, we planted the building around each and every tree". Additionally, the 200 or so azaleas and rhododendrons were moved off site during construction and replanted afterwards.

You only have to experience the space once to see what a commendable decision this was. Thom preserved the forest and managed to situate what is a relatively tall building on the campus comfortably within the surrounding environs. It also sits at bottom of a slope, further reducing its vertical impact. Now a decade or so on, the Chan has settled into its site and Thom's desire that the forest relate directly to the building feels fully realized.

The greater mass of the Chan, determined largely by the cylinders of the entry and the central hall, further blends with the site through the use of materials like wood (interior), muted gray zinc panels (exterior) and concrete (both interior and exterior). The result is a building that exudes west coast character, the connection between landscape and building strengthening each in turn to create a cultural institution of the highest order. 

And the sound and acoustics in the main hall? Much like the overall design of the Chan, it's sublime.