
5th & Columbia
Mount Pleasant has become a creative hub over the last few years, home to multiple galleries, acting studios, Hootsuite, Gener8 and the Sarah McLachlan School of Music. Long-established Vancouver fashion designer RozeMerie Cuevas has her 8,000 square foot flagship studio on 5th and Columbia. On the facade of her building, you’ll

The Chandelier, Mask And Door Shop
It now sits across from La Quercia, the much-feted Italian restaurant on 4th. After all these years, I still don’t know what it’s called. The facade says: Art Glass – Stained Glass and Doors. Another sign says: ‘We do all repairs.’ I have no doubt that this is true. Nine,

VanDusen
Behind some of the city’s most inspiring sites sit teams of volunteers working quietly to keep things beautiful. The amazing Aunt Hilde – when she wasn’t beetling around town in her red Nissan or traveling the world solo at 90 plus – would spend hours at VanDusen Gardens, tagging plants and

Charles And His Lions
If you visit Vancouver for even the shortest of tours, you will probably hear something about lions: the West and East Lion peaks on the Northshore Mountains and the stately concrete lions who stand guard at the Lions Gate Bridge. The Lions who guard the Gate were carved by Italian-born sculptor Charles Marega in the 1930s.

Queen E Park
Situated at the highest point in Vancouver, Queen Elizabeth Park offers spectacular views of the city and is free for the wandering. You will find painters and photographers a-plenty, moving from one spot to another, looking to capture the best views. And the views are spectacular: across the city, over

Playing Gigs And Hunting Chickens
Two Christmases ago, Mum and I were reminiscing as we rifled through Dad’s extensive library. Deep in one of the back-shelves, I found a little black binder of B.C. postcards postdated from 1908 into World War One. Mum and I figured that these could be mementos from ‘Dad’s’ (Dad’s Dad’s) friends or treasures

Knockturn Alley
When you see the mad eyes, the raised knife, the marbled slab and the Gulliver hands, you might reasonably assume that you have veered off into Knockturn Alley. Not so, they say. This is, rather, the King Edward and Main building of a popular butcher’s shop that has been operating in Vancouver

Giants On Granville Island
Concrete giants with hoodies and man-bags? This is probably not something that Walter and Herbert Gilley would have envisioned. Yet, here in their old industrial plant, stand a brobdingnagian quartet created by two other brothers – Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, high profile artists from Brazil. In 1886, the Gilley Brothers opened their

Cherry Blossom City
This time of year, you will see Vancouverites and visitors out with their cameras and easels, circling blocks that are lined from one end to the other with cherry blossom trees. Our cherry blossom tradition began with generous gifts from Japan. In the 1930’s, the mayors of Yokohama and Kobe gave

Lenin’s Head Is Gone
In 2010, Vladimir Lenin landed in Richmond. Well, his 8,800 pound head did and, as the title noted, Miss Mao was trying to poise herself atop it. The piece quickly became a source of loud debate. It was wonderful, it was disrespectful, it was curious, it was inflammatory. This politically provocative stainless steel sculpture was