What's New
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| Community Mural Program |
Engaging Artists in Community |
No. 3 Road Art Columns |
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| Urban Infrastructure Art Program | Pianos on the Streets |
Artist Designed Access Covers |
Public Art Artist Calls, Workshops, Events & More
Interested in finding out about future Public Art Artist Calls, workshops and events? Sign up for the Arts & Culture eBlast to receive future communications on artist opportunities, professional development programs and events.
Sea to Sky: Making of a Public Artwork
Short video featuring Musqueam artist Thomas Cannell and Michael Mayer of Franz Mayer of Munich
Paramount Development, 6340 No. 3 Road
“Sea to Sky”, by Musqueam artist Thomas Cannell, was unveiled on January 20, 2022. The five-storey integrated glass artwork is located at the corner of No. 3 and Cook Road as part of the new Paramount development by Keltic Canada, Inc. This work acknowledges and celebrates the art and culture of the Musqueam Nation. Its prominent location in the city centre greets residents and visitors and is a reminder about Richmond’s Indigenous heritage.
Thomas Cannell has spent his whole life being immersed in the long-established art and cultural traditions of his Musqueam ancestors. He has worked alongside his mother, the distinguished and celebrated artist Susan Point, spending many hours training and honing his skills as a carver and designer. Beginning his career as a young apprentice carver, he worked on many large-scale public art works, including “Flight”, the 17-foot spindle whorl commissioned for the Vancouver International Airport. He has also learned alongside the late master carver John Livingston, practicing traditional carving techniques.
In creating "Sea to Sky", Thomas worked closely in collaboration with Franz Mayer of Munich, a stained glass and design manufacturing company based in Munich, Germany who have been producing high quality and custom crafted art and design glasswork throughout the world for over 170 years. Over several months, working in partnership with Franz Mayer of Munich, Keltic Development Canada, GBL Architects Inc, Graham Construction & Engineering Inc, and the City of Richmond -- "Sea to Sky" became a reality and demonstrated a shared commitment in creating a vibrant city with unique public spaces that complement and reflect Richmond’s unique heritage and diversity of cultures.
Sea to Sky by Thomas Cannell & Franz Mayer of Munich | Part I
Learn about the creation of a new public artwork with this interview with Musqueam artist Thomas Cannell and Michael Mayer of Franz Mayer of Munich as they speak to the conceptualization and fabrication of Sea to Sky, a five-storey-high glass artwork to be integrated into the façade of the Paramount development in Richmond's city centre (No. 3 Road and Granville Avenue). Videographer: Brian Lye.
Sea to Sky by Thomas Cannell & Franz Mayer of Munich | Part II
Watch this concluding video that documents the production, installation and unveiling of a five-storey-high glass artwork integrated into the façade of the Paramount development in Richmond's city centre (No. 3 Road and Granville Avenue). Videographer: Brian Lye.
2023 Children's Arts Festival BC Family Day
"We Are Made of Water"
by Dolores Altin and Elvira Monteforte
Richmond Cultural Centre Plaza, 7700 Minoru Gate
Mon, Feb 20
10:00am-12:00pm
Richmond Cultural Centre Plaza, 7700 Minoru Gate
Join artists Dolores Altin and Elvira Monteforte for a family-friendly hands-on painting activity as part of their installation “We are Made of Water”. Come and explore "Three Hemispherias: Blue Planet, Ice House, Bubble House", made out of recycled plastics. The artists aim to create a unique experience that will activate the Richmond Cultural Centre Plaza and raise awareness of plastic pollution in oceans, and water as a precious resource to be protected for future generations.
The Children's Arts Festival sparks the imagination and curiosity of children through music, hands-on art activities and literary and performing arts workshops. In 2023, the festival will deliver arts outreach programs for Richmond elementary schools and a series of free activities for the general public on BC Family Day. The Festival is sponsored by Lansdowne Mall.
This project is presented by the Richmond Arts Centre in partnership with the Richmond Public Art Program.
Learn more about Richmond Children's Arts Festival.
Art at Work: Professional Development for Artists
Art at Work is a series of professional development workshops designed for professional artists and arts organizations practicing in any artistic medium. This program, presented in partnership by the City of Richmond Arts Services and Richmond Art Gallery, is intended to provide artists and arts organizations with knowledge and skills relevant to pursuing a professional practice in the field of public art, performance, visual art and community arts.
Art at Work offers workshops from February through October each year. To view an archive of past workshops, click here.
Wake
by Studio Huizenga
Tait Riverfront Community Park, 10255 River Drive
This public artwork is a functional open-air pavilion and takes inspiration from the movement of the park’s bordering Fraser River. Intersecting waves break up the traditional profile of a gable roof to create apertures that illuminate the space below. With unobstructed sight lines and a lifted, buoyant roof structure, the pavilion aims to create a welcoming and inclusive space for the community.
Learn more about Wake.
A Fisherman’s Dream
by Carolyn Wong
3180 Chatham Street
This mural is a representation of the vibrant fishing industry at Steveston and hopes to inspire a spirit of discovery and an appreciation of nature. The artwork explores key species in today’s local fisheries while paying homage to the glory days of fishing represented by the silhouetted Gulf of Georgia cannery on the horizon.
Learn more about A Fisherman's Dream.
Cause & Effect
by Dolores Altin and Elvira Monteforte
12011 Mitchell Road
Reading from right to left, the mural describes the origins of Mitchell Island from when it was underwater to mineral deposition over time as the Fraser River meanders through the delta.
Learn more about Cause & Effect.
Facets of Byng
by Erica Phillips and Maddy Phillips
3711 Georgia Street
The mural is a collaboration between the students at Lord Byng Elementary School, Kelvin Higo, representing the Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and Phil Phil Studio, Erica and Maddy Phillips. This artwork celebrates the rich history and diversity of the Lord Byng Elementary School community.
Learn more about Facets of Byng.
Garden City School Mural
by Atheana Picha
8311 Garden City Road
The artist worked with students from Garden City Elementary School to inform the design of the mural exploring themes of local plants and Indigenous stories.
Learn more about Garden City School Mural.
Our Friends the Trees
by Jean Bradbury
12651 Mitchell Road
Artist Jean Bradbury engaged students from Maple Lane Elementary School to explore themes of local trees and flowers species.
Learn more about Our Friends the Trees.
2023 Engaging Artists in Community Program
This year’s Engaging Artists in Community projects are in partnership with East Richmond Community Association, W.D. Ferris Elementary School, Sharing Farm and Terra Nova Nature School,. Visit the project website links below for more information.
Creative Community Resilience Project
By J Peachy | W.D. Ferris Elementary School
“Creative Community Resilience Project" is an arts-based response to the question, “How can an elementary school help prepare the larger community for emergencies?” Through a variety of hands-on art activities including storytelling, puppetry arts, wood crafting, needle felting and Indigenous storytelling through music and song, the project will engage approximately 60 Ferris Elementary School students from grades 5 and 6. The artist-led workshops will be guided by the questions: “How can we build personal and community resiliency?” “Where in nature and the life spirit of all living beings are there examples of resiliency and responses to threats?” “How can we draw on this knowledge and apply it to climate change adaptation strategies?” A celebratory community gathering is scheduled for June 1, 2023 to share the project learnings and outcomes with the larger community and public. This project is presented in partnership with Richmond's Emergency Programs.
Visit the artist project blog for more information.
Garden Time
By Aaron Friend Lettner | Terra Nova Rural Park
“Garden Time" is a community engaged artist project working in partnership with the Sharing Farm and Terra Nova Nature School. The project will focus on a variety of plant and agricultural crop species and their ability to teach vital lessons about how climate and weather patterns are changing and affecting local ecology. Through free and accessible photo-based art activities, workshops and events, young learners, community members and the general public will learn, observe and engage in dialogue on these vital issues.
Visit the artist project blog for more information.
Empty Spaces that Fill My Heart
Apr 1, 2022-Feb 28, 2023 | Aberdeen Canada Line Station
by Chad Wong
This photographic diptych connects Richmond and Vancouver’s Chinatowns. In this work, Chad Wong presents abstracted fragments of the awnings and hallways of the Hong Kong-style cafes and Chinese Canadian malls he grew up visiting. The images contemplate how various modes of representation in architecture and shared cultural spaces shape the narrative and identity of a community. Wong is a second-generation Canadian whose family immigrated to Richmond from Hong Kong. Since the 1990s, a steady stream of Chinese newcomers has arrived to the Lower Mainland, initially from Hong Kong and now more predominantly from Mainland China. This body of work explores the fading signs and symbols of the Hong Kongese/Cantonese Chinese Canadian cultural urbanscapes of both Richmond and Vancouver. The uniqueness of these malls and restaurants – which have become visible icons in the Lower Mainland – exists in their blend of Eastern and Western influences. These spaces are now slowly disappearing, and the artist views them as a last vestige of his connection to Hong Kong. He felt an urgency to document and preserve these Chinese Canadian sites that are on the precipice of gentrification as demographics shift. Sited at Aberdeen Station, the works occupy a location that is a significant space for Chinese Canadian businesses and cultural manifestation.
Objects given to my mom because she is Asian
Apr 1, 2022-Feb 28, 2023 | Lansdowne Canada Line Station
by Kyla Bourgh
Kyla Bourgh’s installation at Lansdowne Station presents objects that have been given to the artist’s mother over the past 50 years. Each object is associated with an “Asian style” and was gifted to her because of her physical and cultural identity. Bourgh’s work highlights that, while the gifts were given to her mother in kindness, they unwittingly reminded her that she is and always will be perceived as a visible minority in her farming community in rural British Columbia. Through this work, the artist considers the unconscious biases placed on her mother and how they differ from the artist’s own lived experience as someone of mixed ethnicity who is white “passing.” The photographed objects exist in an unclear cultural locale that challenges the viewer to unpack their own prejudices and perspectives. From within the diverse mix of cultures present in Richmond and in Canada at large, Bourgh’s work raises questions about the dichotomy many people face between having a sense of belonging and of being stereotyped within a country where many of their families have resided for several generations.
No. 3 Road Art Columns: Exhibit 16
ArtRich Exhibiting Artists
Feb 1, 2022-Jan 31, 2023
This six-month exhibition showcases the work of Lower Mainland artists Chantelle Trainor-Matties, Martin Murphy and Adriele Au. The artists in this exhibition participated in the fourth bi‑annual ArtRich 2021 exhibition hosted by the Richmond Art Gallery and presented by the Richmond Arts Coalition. The juried exhibition, which took place in December 2021 showcased work by emerging and established artists from Richmond and nearby communities.
Visit No. 3 Road Art Columns for more information.