Backlash Ends Plan to Move Sculpture by Granville Bridge

Trans Am Rapture used to stand near Science World

There used to be a curious piece of public art featuring a stack of cars that stood along Quebec Street near Science World in 2015 as part of the Vancouver Biennale.

Called Trans Am Rapture, formerly named Trans Am Totem, it features five salvaged cars, including a Trans Am on a Cedar trunk.

Then the 10-metre high art piece weighing over 25,000 pounds was taken down in 2021 to be cleaned because it had accumulated a lot of bird poop!

Birds liked to flock at the public art sculpture

Finally there was word the City was going to relocate the sculpture near the south end of the Granville Street Bridge between West 4th and West 5th Avenues, but residents in the area were incensed.

"They're treating our neighbourhood as a storage locker for a piece of art they don't know what to do with," said Darlene Forst, who lives across the street from where the art piece would be located. She was concerned the stack of cars would block her views.

Forst started an online petition against the sculpture being moved to the area, and now the City has backed down.

"The City of Vancouver is ceasing work on the reinstallation of Trans Am Rapture," said a press release. 

"The decision was made by the city manager's office following further consideration of the size and scale of the artwork in relation to the site. City staff have been asked to revisit previously assessed locations and explore potential new ones that can better accommodate the artwork."

The art work was supposed to move to this spot

So it seems the City gets antsy when there's organised pushback and backs down very quickly. Why was there no consultation to start with? However the concrete foundation for the sculpture was already made so that will stay for a subsequent smaller public art work...

Trans Am Rapture was created by artists Marcus Bowcott and Helene Aspinall as a commentary on car culture and how urban life is compounding pressures on the environment.

The giant sculpture became part of the City's public art collection in 2019 with a $250,000 donation from billionaire Chip Wilson, founder of Lululemon, and his wife Shannon.

Incredible Gingerbread Art

Heritage Hall captured in gingerbread form

Yesterday we saw some impressive-looking structures made out of gingerbread for the annual Gingerbread Lane, now in its 31st year. The entrants range from amateurs to professional cooks and the results were really creative and fun.

Some featured Vancouver landmarks, like Science World, Lions Gate Bridge and the Hyatt Regency hotel where the gingerbread submissions are displayed. Another which one a prize, was of Heritage Hall on Main and 15th Avenue. Its stucco exterior was decorated with peanuts, and the roof with almonds, and even had trees in the background lit up with lights.

Snow-covered Grand Budapest Hotel

Another had a candy cane fantasyland theme, featuring lots of icing and candy canes. It was shaped like a three-tier cake with a gingerbread house at the top, complete with a swirled candy tower and even had a narwhal poking out of the icing or shall I say icy sea?

But most impressive was the culinary students at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, who built a seven-storey chateau that looked like the one from the movie, Grand Budapest Hotel. It had a walkway sprinkled with icing sugar for frost, and even a blue pond, and the building itself had lots of icicles on it and even a large Christmas tree next to it.

The gingerbread displays are a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, to fund wishes for children with critical illnesses. 

Vancouver landmarks in gingerbread

Gingerbread Lane will be displayed at Hyatt Regency Vancouver until December 29, 2023.