What we are seeing is collaborative public art in action to produce a 4’ by 8’ woodcut print using a genuine steamroller, ordinarily employed in paving streets, as a press. This event, BIG PRINT PROJECT, took place on Granville Island over the Canada Day weekend, July 1, 2, 3, 2016. It is one of 11 different woodcut prints produced in this fashion. Four prints, two on cloth and two on paper were created for each of the 11 woodcut prints.
BIG PRINT PROJECT’S theme was Music and the City and is part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival 2016. It is a production of Creative Cultural Collaborations Society (C3), The Society for Contemporary Works on Paper (SCWOP) and the 2016 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. It brought together local and national professional artists who worked collaboratively on the giant prints. The team included: Mariko Ando, Ben Bonner, Bobbie Burgers, Leonard Brett, Taiga Chiba, Ian Forbes, Saskia Jetten, Barbara Klunder, Arnold Shives, Kelly Shpeley, Tracey Tarling, and Richard Tetrault.
The print being produced in this picture was designed by Kelly Shpeley. It’s a surrealistic woodcut of crows straddling over the mouthpieces of trombones. There are more pictures on The Source website, among them a giant grizzly bear standing erect and playing a harmonica entitled: Coastal Harp by Barbara Klunder.
There will be another BIG PRINT PROJECT at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Plaza July 29, 30, 31 & Aug 1. This will also be a collaboration between SCWOP, C3, but in conjunction with the Chinese Cultural Centre. Chinese Canadian and First Nations artists will carve wood blocks and use a steamroller as a press. They will produce 4’ X 8’ woodprints on cloth and on paper to be displayed on‐site. With both BIG PRINT PROJECTS, there will be silent auctions that will benefit nonprofit groups as well as the artists.
It’s important to note the role of C3 in these projects. From their website:
“An exciting Vancouver-based society dedicated to stimulating, developing and executing unique art projects and activities including: building networks, promoting understanding and enhancing cooperation between local, national and international artists and arts organizations by facilitating exchanges of artists, developing and brokering creative collaborative projects, and promoting awareness of the role of the organization.”
Some of their projects along with other collaborators include:
The Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association (SPOTA) Mosaic at 658 Keefer St. (may not be installed yet), a tribute celebrating the association’s efforts in stopping the freeway from being built through their community in the late 1960’s. Instrumental in conceiving, developing and designing the SPOTA Mosaic were C3 co-artistic directors, Ester Rausenberg and Richard Tetrault.
The Radius Mural located at the Firehall Arts Centre representing the Aboriginal, Chinese and Japanese communities that converge in the Downtown Eastside.
Video Stories on Black Strathcona which can be watched online: www.blackstrathcona.com – highly informative and entertaining!
It’s worth a visit to the C3 website which provides an inspirational education in itself: www.creativeculturalcollaborations.com
