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Public art piece sparks conversation

A proposed public art installation isn’t wowing all members of city council – and that may be a good thing. City staff has been working with the Vancouver Biennale to bring three public art installations to town as part of the “outdoor museum”.
Jose Resende
Artist's rendering of Jose Resende's Wow New Westminster installation, which is being proposed as part of the Vancouvr Biennale. The real deal is coming to town next week.

A proposed public art installation isn’t wowing all members of city council – and that may be a good thing.

City staff has been working with the Vancouver Biennale to bring three public art installations to town as part of the “outdoor museum”. While the city supports two of the three proposed installation, concerns about one of the installations could derail the whole event.

Brazilian artist Jose Resende has designed Wow New Westminster, an installation consisting of four shipping containers placed in various angles. It would be located in Westminster Pier Park, in a spot where the Pattullo and SkyTrain bridges would provide a backdrop for folks taking pictures of the piece.

Barrie Mowatt, founder and president of Vancouver Biennale, told me that Resende celebrates the history of New West, and does so in context by placing the work in the heart of the industrial landscape that begat the city.

“It's on a wharf next to a railroad line beside the mighty Fraser River with a backdrop of two bridges, each reflective of a mode (s) of transportation and movement of people and goods that reemphasizes that this city is a transportation crossroads,” he said in an email. “How the city councillors vote on May 5  re: Wow Westminster will in itself be indicative of the transformative effect great public art can have on defining a community, a neighbourhood, an industrial wharf.”

Mowatt is hopeful council will support the recommendations of the city’s public art advisory community, which endorsed all three installations being proposed in New West. In addition to the Resende piece, Blue Trees and Public Furniture/Urban Trees are also proposed for New Westminster.

By taking part in the Vancouver Biennale, Mowatt said the city inherits a legacy artwork that’s valued at half a million dollars and will make New Westminster a destination for travelers, tourists, local citizens and media.

The Resende piece generated quite a buzz in our newsroom, where some supported the Resende piece (including our arts reporter Julie MacLellan, who wrote about it here), and others didn’t like it one bit (including a coworker who lives in Vancouver and has been lamenting the “giant poodle” public art located on Main Street for years).
“The whole point of public art is to engage communities in discussion, dialogue and be thought provoking,” Mowatt said. “Within a decade the orchre-coloured containers that form the structure of Wow Westminster  will be the last public replicas of the city's transportation history. Will this history become relegated to a metal strip similar to the one that runs the length of Pier Park identifying the historical names of industry and businesses that once made up the city? Or will it become a photograph etched into a photo wall of bygone days like the wall at Pier Park now?”

Will people want to be near it, asked some councillors? I’d certainly have no objection to being near it or having my kids run around it. I can see the day when people will stand underneath the structure and pretending to lift the heavy containers over their heads.

Jose Resende

The Resende piece isn’t the first time public art has created a stir in the city.

In 2009, Aragon Properties offered to donate a piece that would be placed in the centre of the traffic circle at Renaissance Square. Flight Vision, which some compared to the crucifixion, was ultimately shelved because of the public opposition.
Two other options, Diver Inverse and Dead Reckoning, were proposed, with some favouring Diver Inverse and others preferring Dead Reckoning – and some people didn't like either option. Diver Inverse, a created by Vancouver sculptor David Robinson, was later installed.
“This impressive work of art is a wonderful addition to the city,” Mayor Wayne Wright said when it was installed in 2010. “It demonstrates our commitment to public art in New Westminster and to fostering a vibrant arts and cultural scene for the enjoyment of our residents and visitors alike.”

(Jose Resende, shown in the yellow shirt, visited New Westminster last year to tour potential sites in the city for his contribution to the Vancouver Biennale. He attended a small gathering in New Westminster during his visit.)