The Art of Neighbourhoods
Grandview-Woodlands

Mosaic Creek (1996)

Project Site: Mosaic Creek Park, at the corner of Charles Street and McLean Drive

Design Team: Glen Andersen, Christopher Dale, Kristine Germann, Joanne Hogarth, Lawrence Low, Sarah White

Coordinator: Sarah White

This park was developed by the Britannia Neighbours, a group who envisioned public green space in the place of three vacant lots. Originally, neighbourhood input indicated a desire for a stream to run through the park. When this proved impractical, a stream of mosaics was proposed as a metaphor for community. Artists Glen Andersen and Kristine Germann worked with project coordinator Sarah White to run workshops with area residents and school classes. Over 300 community members created individual mosaics to complete the path which wends its way across the small park. Other community artworks and features of the park include a pebble mosaic bordered herb garden, (designed and coordinated by Glen Andersen and Marina Szijarto), specially designed wooden benches with text scrolled into them, and a basalt pillar play area (designed by Sarah White).

Britannia Banners (1995-ongoing)

Project Site: Britannia Community Services Centre, 1661 Napier Street

Artist/Facilitator: Sylvia Oates

Britannia Centre has a rich history of working with community members and artists. An example of this is the twice annual banner project, during which artist Sylvia Oates coordinates a process involving area residents in creating new banners for the centre grounds.

Also on site:

Britannia Mural (1995)

Artists Carole Davenport and Helen Spaxman worked with students and other Britannia neighbours to paint a mural on the long retaining wall facing the running track west of the centre.

Courtyard Clay Creations (1999)

Artist Moyra Stewart led community members in Courtyard Clay Creations, ten large panels covered with individually decorated clay tiles, now installed on the grounds adjacent to the information centre.

Garden of Delights (1999)

Artist Celine Rich worked with neighbours to decorate the surface of the children's waterpark in the adjacent Grandview Park, immediately south of Britannia Centre.

Days of Sun (1999)

Project Site: Reach Community Health Centre, 1145 Commercial Drive; sidewalk inserts

Artist/Facilitator: Anne Marie Slater

The Days of Sun mosaics were created as part of the larger "Our Own Backyard Mapping Project", co-sponsored by the Britannia Community Programs Office. The mapping project fostered a sense of belonging and developed a sense of ownership of public space. The Days of Sun artist Anne Marie Slater worked with communities of all ages, involving 80 participants from the Multicultural Family Centre, Kettle Friendship Centre, and MOSAIC, to create a series of paintings and three large sidewalk panels. Featuring inlaid metal and tile mosaics, the sidewalk panels provide street-level "welcome mats" for the diverse community that visits the centre, as well as pedestrians travelling along Commercial Drive.

Linked By The Games We've Played (1998)

Project Site: Queen Victoria Annex, 1850 East 3rd Avenue; with individual tiles installed intermittently heading west along 3rd and 4th Avenues, and north along Commercial Drive to Napier Street

Artist/Facilitator: Blake Williams

Artist and parent Blake Williams worked with teacher Perry Buchan to develop a tile mural concept for a blank concrete wall on the side of this elementary school. Students interviewed family members to discover their parents' and grandparents' childhood games. Each student then created a design from which two tiles were made. One of each of these tiles is installed on the Annex's south wall as part of the tile mural which represents the cultural diversity of the families in the community. The matching tiles are scattered throughout the neighbourhood on steps and walls, in parks and on storefronts, creating links between the school and the larger community.

Go to:

Introduction to the Art of Neighbourhoods
Listing of Projects by Neighbourhood and Map
Contact Information

Champlain Heights	Mount Pleasant/Riley Park
Douglas Park	Strathcona & Hastings/Sunrise
Downtown Eastside	Sunset
Dunbar	West End
Kensington/Cedar Cottage	West Point Grey & Kitsilano
Marpole

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