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Marpole: banners display ‘young, fresh’ attitude

Street art part of project between Emily Carr and community
street banners
New street banners designed by an Emily Carr student artist reflect a modern snapshot of Marpole along Granville. photo Dan Toulgoet

Street banners depicting a boat on the Fraser River, the Arthur Laing Bridge and an airplane are the latest examples of an innovative project between Vancouver’s most famous art school and one of the city’s most historic neighbourhoods.

The colourful banners lining Granville Street are meant to portray contemporary life in the South Vancouver neighbourhood.

“We’ve had many banners in the past 13 years representing our history, including ones showing tugboats on the north arm of the Fraser River,” said Claudia Laroye, executive director of the Marpole Business Improvement Association. “And while some people love them, some don’t.”

Laroye said a five-year collaboration with students from Emily Carr University of Art and Design to create public art for Marpole gave members of the BIA an opportunity to see the community through fresh eyes. The BIA has sponsored a street banner program since 2000, as part of an effort to not only beautify the area but also identify Marpole as a distinct neighbourhood. This year’s banner project began last fall as a design competition in collaboration with the university’s chART:

The Marpole Public Art Project. Illustration student Set Narathipphatthara created the winning design.

“It was great to work with young people as part of their curriculum,” said Laroye. “They look outside through a different lens and attitude that’s young and fresh.”

The banners depict a boat on the Fraser River, the Arthur Laing Bridge connecting Marpole to Richmond, and an airplane flying overhead in homage to the nearby airport. According to a press release from the BIA, Narathipphatthara’s “subtle use of negative space and dark humour in his illustration work reveals the notion of adaptation, which represents his experience of growing up independently in various places in both Asia and North America.” Narathipphatthara was born in Thailand.

“We are thrilled to showcase the talented work from the student design competition through our partners at Emily Carr University,” said Laroye.

The BIA has also been working with Dr. Cameron Cartiere, dean of graduate studies at Emily Carr, Illustration Program professor Derwin Talon, and Ashley Guindon, chART coordinator for Marpole. In an earlier interview, Cartiere told the Courier the long-term project focuses on the sustainable, cultural, environmental, social and economic impact of public art within a community.

Other public art projects created through chART Marpole include the transformation of an abandoned B-Line bus shelter, a street mural, a temporary sculpture and Park-a-Park, a disposal bin on wheels transformed into a mobile community space complete with benches, tables, plants, shrubs and an umbrella. Artist Julien Thomas designed the mobile park.

The new street banners will be on display until June and will be hung again next spring as part of a regular rotation. Laroye said the BIA uses a different banner each season and a new version is in the works for this winter, which will hang along Granville Street between November and February.

“They won’t be holiday specific, but they will celebrate our cultural diversity and the holidays,” said Laroye.

sthomas@vancourier.com
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