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an excellent w a y to spur interest in N o r t h V a n c o u v e r ' s p u b l i c a r t , w i t h t h e t e n p a r t i c i p a n t sites r e c o r d i n g o v e r three h u n d r e d visits i n o n e m o n t h . In 2 0 0 0 , D i s t r i c t a n d C i t y o f N o r t h V a n c o u v e r C o u n c i l s adopted an official Public A r t Program w i t h a mandate t o " c e l e b r a t e a n d s t i m u l a t e the c u l t u r a l s p i r i t a n d i d e n t i t y of the c o m m u n i t y t h r o u g h the c r e a t i o n o f art i n p u b l i c places." A t the D i s t r i c t o f N o r t h V a n c o u v e r , P u b l i c A r t C o o r d i n a t o r J o h n R i c e has been i n v o l v e d since 2 0 0 1 in i m p l e m e n t i n g the t r a n s i t i o n a w a y f r o m the p r e v i o u s " i n f o r m a l a n d slightly h a p h a z a r d " collection of w o r k s . s t o r a g e f o r y e a r s u n t i l a s u i t a b l e site c o u l d be f o u n d f o r its r e c e n t i n s t a l l a t i o n . A s R i c e p o i n t s o u t , " T h e r e w a s a lot o f learning attached to that piece." T o d a y , each w o r k o f a r t c o m m i s s i o n e d is s i t e - s p e c i f i c a n d a r t i s t s w o r k i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h staff to create pieces that are b o t h expressive a n d practical. A fine e x a m p l e o f t h i s p r o c e s s , a n d t h e f i n a l p i e c e t o be p u t i n p l a c e u n d e r t h e c u r r e n t D i s t r i c t p r o g r a m , is t h e a s t o u n d i n g glass s c u l p t u r e at the d i s t r i c t ' s n e w L y n n V a l l e y L i b r a r y . " A r b o r e u s , after R o d c h e n k o " b y J a c q u e l i n e M e t z and N a n c y C h e w hangs f r o m the library's three-story c o n c r e t e e l e v a t o r shaft. T h e s c u l p t u r e consists o f large, R i c e uses t h e piece " S a l m o n C r o s s i n g " b y P h i l i p R o b b i n s to i l l u s t r a t e the h i s t o r y o f the p r o g r a m . T h i s t h i r t y f o o t a l u m i n u m b a n n e r w a s o n e o f t h e f i r s t p i e c e s t o be c o m m i s s i o n e d i n 2 0 0 1 b u t p r o v e d u n s u i t a b l e ( a n d unsafe) for t h e t r a f f i c m e r i d i a n t h a t w a s t o be its h o m e . It sat i n t r a n s l u c e n t l a m i n a t e d glass p a n e l s d i g i t a l l y p a i n t e d w i t h a m a n i p u l a t e d d i g i t a l i m a g e o f a c e d a r tree. W i t h its a l l u s i o n to b o t h the tree o f k n o w l e d g e , the l o c a l e n v i r o n m e n t a n d the l o g g i n g t r a d i t i o n o f L y n n V a l l e y t h e p i e c e c r e a t e s a d i a l o g u e that is perfect f o r its p l a c e m e n t . Cathedral-DouglasSenit, W86 THE FUTURE more changes for pubhc art in North Vancouver. In March 2007, both District and City Councils approved the establishment of a bi-municipal department to oversee culture. The new North Vancouver Office of Cultural Affairs replaces the old arts commission with a fully integrated municipal department. Both Phillips and Rice feel that this will allow for better service to the all the client groups that interact to create public art. The first Director of Cultural Affairs, Ian Forsyth, assumed his position in September of last year. Forsyth brings a wealth of experience in arts management to the creation of this new department. "The biggest change to the public art program will be coming up in 2008. A full time public art coordinator will be hired. This will benefit both the city and the district, with one employee able to oversee the many upcoming projects," says Forsyth. In other ways, he says, public art is the least affected area of North Vancouver cultural services. "As capital projects, ownership of public art remains with the city or district and each will continue to set their own budgets and policies." With projects both big and small, hands-on and high-tech, public art has become a vibrant part of North Shore life. There are a number of projects in the works even now, including the commission of a major artwork for the city's new public library. As the North Vancouver Office of Cultural Affairs settles into its role, and the public art coordinator takes on the challenge of managing these programs, there is an opportunity to expand on past successes and embrace new challenges. All the rest of us have to do is keep an eye on parks, buildings and streets in our neighbourhood to see what the outcome is. w/ww.arts-alive.ca January|February 7