Lulu Speaker Series

Brian McBay and Djaka Blais - Cultural Land Trusts
Thu, May 15, 6:00pm

Location: Richmond Cultural Centre
Performance Hall,
7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond, BC

As land values skyrocket, artists and cultural organizations in BC are being priced out. In less than a decade, more than 400 artist production spaces, performing arts venues and art galleries have closed. Two-thirds of these cultural spaces have leases for less than five years—with no rent controls within the commercial leasing market. Consequently more than 80% of artists and cultural organizations in the province are facing the likelihood of economic displacement. In response, Brian McBay is part of a group that is that is developing a model for a province-wide Cultural Land Trust to collaboratively secure buildings specifically for cultural use. 

Recently, The Hogan’s Alley Society (HAS) established a community land trust. HAS is a non-profit that has been working with the City of Vancouver to ensure that the redevelopment of the Hogan’s Alley block in Strathcona represents the legacy the Black community that was displaced by the construction of viaducts in 1971-72. In 2022, HAS signed a Memoradum of Understanding with the City that sets out the terms for a long-term lease for the Hogan’s Alley Block. With this lease, HAS will establish a non-profit Community Land Trust that aims to provide affordable housing, small and social enterprise spaces, cultural amenities, and other infrastructure elements that will redress displacement and prevent the gentrification that has disproportionately impacted Black communities across Canada.  A key element of the development is the Black Cultural Centre, that will serve the unique needs of people of African descent across region. 

Djaka Blais from the Hogan's Alley Society and Brian McBay of 221A will have an open discussion about the Community Land Trust movement in Canada, and the challenges faced with their respective projects, including the role of ethnocultural communities in reinforcing land rights, reciprocity for Indigenous Nations, and the potential for the model to preserve and grow cultural spaces.

Bios
Brian McBay is the Executive Director of 221A, a Vancouver-based cultural research and housing and space operator.

Djaka Blais is the Executive Director of Hogan’s Alley Society, a non-profit organization composed of civil rights activists, business professionals, community organizations, artists, writers and academics committed to daylighting the presence of Black history in Vancouver and throughout BC.  

Josée Drouin-Brisebois - Beyond the Museum’s Walls
Thu, Mar 13, 6:00pm

Location: Wilson School of Design,
Kwantlen Polytechnic University,
5600 Kwantlen St, Richmond, BC 

"Cultural institutions are social institutions, and the role of museums is to respond to the community and what is happening in the world". 
Patrick Charpenel – Director of El Museo del Barrio, New York City

For many people, art museums are places that are inaccessible, irrelevant and unconnected to their life experiences. The very architecture of these “temples” with their imposing façades can be intimidating for people who feel neither represented nor welcomed in these buildings; meanwhile, museums like the National Gallery of Canada have a mandate to develop, maintain and make known their collections and to promote knowledge, understanding and appreciation of art. 

How do we reconcile the mission of museums and the apprehensions of considerable segments of the public? How can we share works from the national collection to make them more accessible to communities? How can we work with the communities themselves to create transformative experiences with local, national, and even international influence? These are some of the questions at the core of the museum’s renewed National Engagement initiative directed by Josée Drouin-Brisebois.

Bio
Josée Drouin-Brisebois is Director of National Engagement at the National Gallery of Canada, where she was formerly Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. She recently curated the 13th Kaunas Biennial (2022) and was instrumental in curating and directing the Canadian participation at a number of Venice Biennales: Steven Shearer (2011), Shary Boyle (2013) Geoffrey Farmer (2017) and Isuma (2019). Other recent projects include the commission of artworks by Christian Boltanski, Geneviève Cadieux, Liam Gillick, Rashid Johnson, Lina Lapelytė, Laura Lima, Pakui Hardware, Augustas Serapinas, Emilia Škarnulytė and Althea Thauberger, among many others. Josée is also the coordinating curator for Erica Rutherford: Her Lives Her Works organized by the Confederation Centre Art Gallery and presented at the National Gallery (2025) as well as the co-curator of Rodney Graham’s upcoming retrospective organized with the Vancouver Art Gallery (2027).

Howie Tsui and Klara Manhal - Bringing The Breath Below to Life: Howie Tsui’s Public Art at Capstan SkyTrain Station
Thu, Apr 10, 6:00pm

Location: Richmond Cultural Centre
Performance Hall,
7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond, BC

The Breath Below, by Vancouver-based contemporary artist Howie Tsui, is a landmark public artwork developed by TransLink for the new Capstan SkyTrain Station in Richmond. This first-of-its-kind commission for TransLink, led by Klara Manhal, Senior Planner of Public Art, is the largest and most immersive work in the transit authority’s public art collection to-date.

Spanning more than 3,600 square feet, the artwork consists of more than 3,500 metallic-glazed, glass tiles, custom-fabricated in the Lower Mainland. Tsui’s practice—rooted in storytelling, movement, and the interplay between historical and contemporary narratives—translates seamlessly into the public realm, resulting in a site-specific work that responds to both the architectural context of the station and the communities it serves.

In this talk, Tsui and Manhal discuss the five-year journey of the project, from its conceptual origins to its realization. They explore how Tsui’s distinctive artistic approach was adapted for a large-scale public setting and how overcoming technical challenges—ranging from material innovation to fabrication logistics—was key to bringing the project to life.

Bios
Howie Tsui
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Lagos and Thunder Bay, Howie’s practice is deeply shaped by the complexities of cultural identity, power, and belonging. Now based in Vancouver, he explores these themes through ink brush painting, sound sculptures, lenticular lightboxes and immersive installations.

At the heart of his practice is a fascination with the narratives we inherit and the ways they can be subverted. Through sharp satire and exaggerated imagery, his works expose the undercurrents of surveillance, superstition and otherness—often viewed through the lens of diaspora.

Klara Manhal
Klara Manhal has always been drawn to the intersection of art and public space. With a background as an artist, curator and public art planner, she has spent her career exploring how art shapes the way people experience public life. As Senior Planner of Public Art at TransLink, Klara leads the integration of contemporary art into transit infrastructure, working on projects that transform stations, streetscapes and public spaces. Her approach is grounded in collaboration, planning projects that spark creative possibilities for artists within the technical complexities of the transit network, while fostering meaningful connections with communities.

• Michael Audain, BC developer, art collector, foundation founder, public art supporter and benefactor
• Fred Kent, President, Project for Public Spaces, New York
• William Cleveland, founder and director, Centre for the Study of Art and Community, Washington
• Erling O. Mork, former CAO, City of Tacoma and urban revitalization expert, Washington
• Architects Johanna Hurme (5468796 architecture, Winnipeg) William Browne (Ratio Architects, Indiana), Arthur Andersson (Adersson-Wise Architects, Texas) and Chris Doray (Bing Thom, Vancouver), Mark West (Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (C.A.S.T.), University of Manitoba) and Bing Thom.
• Milenko Matanovic, executive director of the Pomegranate Centre, Washington
• Lister Sinclair and Mavor Moore, Canadian cultural icons
• Artists Patrick Dougherty (North Carolina), Konstantin Dimopoulos (Melbourne), Buster Simpson (Seattle), Stephanie Robb and Bill Pechet (Vancouver), Dennis Oppenheim (New York), Hema Upadhyay (Mumbai), Instant Coffee Collective (Vancouver) and Connie Watts (Port Alberni)
• Joanna Sykes, project manager, Chihuly Bridge of Glass, Washington
• Tim Jones, CEO, Artscape, Toronto
• Chris Rogers, project manager, Olympic Sculpture Park and Director of Capital Projects and Government Affairs, Seattle Art Museum
• Barbara Lueke, 4Culture and Sound Transit, Seattle
• Max Wyman, chair, Metro Vancouver Regional Cultural Task Force
• Jan Gehl, urban planning expert, Gehl Architects, Copenhagen
• Cameron Cartiere, Dean of Graduate Studies, Emily Carr University of Art+Design
• Leanne Prain, yard bombing guru, Vancouver
• Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees, Sans facon, Calgary/U.K.
• Paula Jardine, Community Artist, Victoria
• Andrew Pask, Vancouver Public Space Network founder, Vancouver
• Cath Brunner, Director of 4Culture, King County, WA
• Richard Tetrault, muralist, Vancouver
• Charles Montgomery, author of Happy City: Transforming our Lives Through Urban Design
• Norman Armour, artistic and executive director, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
• Brian Wakelin, PUBLIC Architecture + Communication
• Michael Rohd, Center for Performance and Civic Practice
• Norie Sato, Visual Artist
• David Vertesi, Founding Executive Director, Vancouver Mural Festival
• John Patkau, Patkau Architects, Vancouver
• Eric and Mia, Interdisciplinary Community Artists
• Michael Henderson, Architect at HCMA Architecture + Design
• Darren O'Donnell, Mammalian Diving Reflex (Toronto)
• Germaine Koh, Visual Artist
• Debra Sparrow, Indigenous knowledge keeper and weaver
• Justin Langlois, artist, educator and writer
• Vance Harris, Principal, Architecture, DIALOG

In the early years of European settlement, Royal Engineers surveying British Columbia’s wilderness erected a theatre in the New Westminster district. The playhouse hosted a variety of visiting entertainers, none of whom was more beloved than Miss Lulu Sweet of San Francisco, California, whose dancing, singing and acting were revered by newspapers of the day as “chaste and beautiful.” One of her most ardent admirers was Head Engineer, Colonel Richard Moody, who accompanied the young actress on her departure voyage from New Westminster to Victoria.

The story goes that, as the two stood on deck, gazing at passing landmarks, Miss Sweet inquired as to the name of one large island. After replying absent-mindedly that the island, as yet, had no name, Moody—seized by a flash of inspiration—suddenly exclaimed, “By Jove! I’ll name it after you!”

Today, Richmond is celebrated as a cosmopolitan, “edge city” with a vibrant, ethnically diverse population and a rich mix of residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial areas.

The Lulu Series, a collection of dialogues initiated by leading artists, architects and economic developers, hopes to spark conversations about the nature of our changing physical, social and cultural landscape.