Vancouver's Public Art Plan

Vancouver is home to a growing and ever-evolving cultural ecosystem, with a variety of artists, arts and cultural organizations, institutions of higher education, a historical museum, a national historic site, and other arts and cultural venues such as festivals, outdoor concerts and markets, and a monthly First Friday Artwalk.

The City of Vancouver’s Strategic Plan affirms the importance of culture, arts, and heritage for the future of our community. The City of Vancouver’s Culture, Art and Heritage Plan, adopted in 2018, outlines objectives and action items for the next several years that will steward Vancouver’s exceptional heritage assets, as well as contribute to the cultural identity of Vancouver through the arts and public events.

A team of professional artists and art business people have gathered to collaboratively create a comprehensive Public Art Plan. This plan will provide a solid framework for the City's Public Art Collection that is both purposeful and sustainable.

Why does the City need a Public Art Plan?

The purpose of this plan is to provide direction for:

• Establishing a diverse collection of public artworks
• Creating works of public art in cooperation with the community
• Engaging local, regional and national artists of diverse backgrounds
• Providing ongoing opportunities for artists to advance their art with temporary and/or permanent public artworks
• Considering economic development and cultural tourism when advocating for public art
• Encouraging understanding of public art and sparking public dialogue
• Incorporating high quality art and design projects throughout the community- in essence creating a museum without walls and making art accessible to all
• Providing a legacy of art and culture for future generations

Who provides oversight of the Public Art Plan?

The City of Vancouver Culture, Arts and Heritage Commission is a nine member public development authority appointed by the City Council. The Commission is charged with overseeing the implementation of the City’s Culture, Arts and Heritage Plan, including the Public Art Plan.

The Public Art Committee is a sub-committee of the Culture, Arts and Heritage Commission. It is convened on an as needed basis to review, interpret, and provide recommendations for qualified artists and art proposals, based on criteria provided in this Public Art Plan. This board is comprised of a minimum of five members; a representative from the Culture, Arts and Heritage Commission serves as the chair; one member of the board must be a working professional artist; depending on the proposed location of the art a representative from the business district or neighborhood association will be included as an ad hoc member of the Committee.

The City is no longer accepting public input on the draft Public Art Plan.