ART
outdoor art tour
MORRIS AND HELEN BELKIN ART GALLERY
A walking tour of 28 artworks on the UBC Campus
UBC OUTDOOR ART TOUR
Since the late 1950s works of outdoor art have been collected by
The University of British Columbia to enrich the campus environment.
These artworks tell stories about the history of UBC and Vancouver,
and are part of an ongoing narrative of the history of art. The Provost’s
Committee on University Art, a diverse body of faculty and students,
provides leadership on the acquisition, installation and maintenance
of artwork on campus. With support from the staff at the Morris and
Helen Belkin Art Gallery, the Committee develops the curatorial vision
for the outdoor collection and works to ensure a place for art at UBC
in the future.
In 2003, the outdoor art program was reinvigorated with the installation
of Rodney Graham’s Millennial Time Machine, a late nineteenth-century
carriage converted into a camera obscura. Graham is a Vancouver artist
who studied at UBC in the late 1970s, and whose work is celebrated
internationally. This award-winning installation draws visitors from
around the world. Recent additions to the collection include Jamelie
Hassan’s billboard, Because...there was and there wasn’t a city of
Baghdad, Myfanwy MacLeod’s Wood for the People and Edgar Heap
of Birds’ Native Hosts.
The UBC Outdoor Art Tour features twenty-eight sites, including works
from the University Art Collection, objects of interest, and artwork
that has been commissioned or donated to specific departments and
faculties. The tour varies in length from one hour — to see works in the
vicinity of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery — to approximately
three hours for every site on the map. Enjoy the tour at your own pace
and feel free to create your own route. A map detailing the location of
each site can be found at the back of this brochure. For a complete
version of the tour, including full descriptions and colour images, visit
the Gallery website: www.belkin.ubc.ca. Guided tours can also be
scheduled by appointment through the Belkin Art Gallery.
Photos: All photographs by Howard Ursuliak unless otherwise noted.
01 Myfanwy MacLeod (b. 1961)
Wood for the People, 2002
cast concrete
91 x 30 x 460 cm
Installed along the entry staircase to the Belkin Art Gallery, Wood for
the People features 230 identical, cast concrete logs stacked in the
form of a woodpile. The work suggests a romantic pastoral landscape
and appears misplaced on the manicured grounds of UBC, creating
a sense of irony. Because of their texture and arrangement, the logs
convincingly resemble firewood stacked and ready for use, though the
material betrays their status as an architectural folly and lends them the
appearance of a ruin, or even a fossil. Seen in this light, the work makes
a statement about environmental and economic issues particular to
British Columbia. You may have noticed too that the work references
a barricade, a reading that transforms it from a benign woodpile to
a politically charged piece that raises questions about control and
access at the University.
Myfanwy MacLeod was born in 1961 in London, Ontario, and currently
resides in Vancouver. She completed her BFA at Concordia University
in Montreal, and received a MFA from UBC in 1994. Her work has
been exhibited across Canada and abroad.
02 Jamelie Hassan (b. 1948)
Because... there was and there wasn’t a city of Baghdad, 1991
digital print on mesh flex
385 x 650 cm
This work, located on the front facade of the Belkin Art Gallery, features
a photograph Hassan took on her first visit to Baghdad in the late
1970s when she studied Arabic at the University of Mustansyria. The
photo depicts the colourfully tiled dome and minaret of the Haidar Khan
mosque and the text evokes Arabic literary traditions as exemplified in
One Thousand and One Nights.
Hassan’s billboard project was conceived in 1991 in response to
the Gulf War. Within six months of the war’s outbreak, hand-painted
versions of Hassan’s billboard were exhibited in the city centres of
Windsor and London, Ontario. In 1992, it was displayed in downtown
Vancouver at the intersection of Richards and Pender Streets. Although
more than fifteen years have passed since the Gulf War, Hassan’s
evocative combination of text and image continues to resonate with
contemporary politics.
Jamelie Hassan was born in 1948 in London, Ontario, where she
continues to live and work. She has travelled extensively throughout North
America, Mexico, Cuba, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and works as
an artist, writer, curator and lecturer. Her work frequently engages with
contemporary political issues and themes of cultural identity. Hassan
received the Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts in 2001.
03 Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds (b . 1954)
Native Hosts, 1991-2007
12 aluminum signs
signs 46 x 91 cm, steel posts 183 cm
Native Hosts consists of twelve aluminum signs that address the
relationship between First Nations and British Columbia. The signs are
sited at different locations throughout the northwest sector of the UBC
campus. On the white background of each sign, “British Columbia”
is spelled backwards in red text, followed by the phrase “Today
your Host is...” The phrase is completed by one of twelve names of
British Columbia Indian Bands. Employing the format of official public
signage, the artist asks viewers both to consider and to question their
authoritative power. The importance of language in Heap of Birds’
work is evident here in the signs’ imaginative and challenging use of
text to provoke responses to queries around history, public space, land
claims, as well as to notions of generosity and sharing.
Native Hosts was exhibited on the grounds of the Vancouver Art Gallery
in 1991 as part of the exhibition Lost Illusions; a similar series was also
shown in New York in 1988, and at the Portland Art Museum in 2004.
Edgar Heap of Birds, born in 1954, is an well-known scholar and artist of
Cheyenne and Arapaho descent. Since earning his MFA from the Tyler
School of Art in Philadelphia in 1979, he has exhibited internationally. He
frequently engages with issues around colonial history and contemporary
experience. In addition to his practice, Heap of Birds is a curator and
lecturer, and is currently Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma.
The 12 host nations represented in Native Hosts are:
Squamish
Lillooet
St'at'yemc
Gitksan
Nuu'chah'nulth*
Chilcotin*
Kwagiulth
Wet'suwet'en
Musqueam
Haida
Lil'wat
Cree
* These works to be installed after completion of Museum of Anthropology renovation.
04 Gerhard Class (1924-1997)
Configuration, 1960
welded sheet copper
213 x 198 cm
Located on the exterior wall of the Main Mall entrance to Buchanan,
this abstract sculpture was selected by jury specifically for this site and
was funded by a grant from the Canada Council. It was commissioned
to mark the opening of the new Buchanan Building in 1958 and was
completed by the artist in 1960.
Configuration is made of welded and soldered sheet copper and marks
the first time Class used these techniques and material in his work. Metal
became a material he used frequently for his sculpture, another example
of which is Untitled (Tuning Fork) located in front of the Music Building at
UBC. For Configuration, Class used copper for its unique colour. Originally,
the work would have had a shiny, warm bronze hue, but over time and
exposure the sculpture developed the greenish patina visible today.
Gerhard Class was born in Germany. The tradition of sculpture ran
in his family; both his father and grandfather worked in stone. Eager
to follow in their footsteps, Class attended the School of Art in
Strasbourg, the School for Granite Sculpture in Wunsledel and the
State Academy of Fine Arts in Germany. He also attended the Instituto
de Allende in San Miguel, Mexico. Class arrived in Canada in 1951
and taught sculpture at the Vancouver School of Art, at UBC, and at
the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Class completed many large
commissions in Vancouver and Victoria.
05 Robert Clothier (1921-1999)
Three Forms, 1956
concrete
218.5 x 86 x 115.5 cm
This work by Robert Clothier consists of three concrete forms, each
resembling a slightly squared C, stacked and turned to present
a configuration that appears to change, depending on the angle at
which it is approached. Although Three Forms is an abstract work, the
arrangement of its simple geometric forms evokes the human body.
Clothier came to UBC in the late 1940s where he studied in the
Department of Architecture before shifting his focus to theatre. He
then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London, England).
Clothier is well known for his role as “Relic” in The Beachcombers, the
popular CBC television series about rural West Coast life that aired
from 1972 to 1990.
As a sculptor, Clothier had his first exhibition at UBC in 1956 when
Three Forms won first place in the UBC Purchase Prize competition,
judged by English author and art critic Herbert Read. Clothier also
exhibited in Art Encounter ’82 in Vancouver and was a member of
the Pacific Northwest Society of Sculptors. He often spoke about the
parallels between acting and sculpting, noting that a sculpture must
work 360 degrees around, much like “an actor can play upstage and
let you read what he’s thinking about from his back.” Clothier, who
was known to cover his scripts with drawings, found that art-making
provided a certain balance to his life.
Top right: Robert Clothier (left) and Herbert Read, UBC Historical Photograph Collection.
06 Robert Murray (b. 1936)
Cumbria, 1966-67
corten steel
425 x 900 x 450 cm
Cumbria was first exhibited on the plaza of Toronto’s City Hall in
Sculpture ’67 and then at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The large-scale
work was selected by New York’s Parks Department Office of Cultural
Affairs to open its Sculpture of the Month program. It was shown at
Battery Park in Manhattan, the city where Murray made his home.
The sculpture returned to Canada in 1969 for the newly-opened
Vancouver International Airport in the hope that the sculpture would reflect
the international aspirations of both the Airport and the city of Vancouver.
Cumbria generated much public controversy because it departed from
traditional sculptural forms. It was initially sited in a prominent place but
was later moved to a median on Grant MacConachie Way. By 1993,
the Airport removed Cumbria with bulldozers, causing irreparable
damage, and once again, public controversy.
In 1995, with the intervention of artist Toni Onley, Transport Canada
agreed to donate the work to UBC and fund its re-fabrication. Cumbria
was the first large-scale public sculpture installed at UBC since 1975.
Robert Murray is well known in Canada and the United States for his
large, nonrepresentational, painted steel and aluminum sculptures. His
early training as a painter is evident in the attention to the surface of the
sculptures, and his use of colour.
Above: UBC Historical Photograph Collection, Courtesy UBC Archives. Below photo: Greg Gibson.
07 Jack Harman (1927-2001)
Portrait Bust of Dr. Norman A. M. Mackenzie, 1976
bronze
76 cm, plinth 132 cm
Located between Frederic Lasserre Building and Frederic Wood Theatre,
this work was donated to UBC in 1976 by the Alumni Association, and is
a naturalistic depiction of Norman Archibald MacRae “Larry” MacKenzie
(1894–1986). MacKenzie served as the third President of UBC from
1944 to 1962.
Mackenzie was born in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, had a brief farming career
in Saskatchewan, and earned the Military Cross and Bar for his service
in WWI. He attended Dalhousie University and studied law at Harvard
and Cambridge Universities. MacKenzie was Professor of Law at the
University of Toronto and President of the University of New Brunswick.
A great proponent of the arts, Mackenzie helped establish the UBC
Schools of Architecture and Music and the Departments of Theatre
and Fine Arts. His statue gazes upon the Belkin Art Gallery and his
secretary, Helen Belkin, is the gallery namesake.
Jack Harman was born in Vancouver and studied at the Vancouver
School of Art and the Slade School in London in the early 1950s.
Harman is well-known for works such as the Peace Keeping Monument
in Ottawa and the statue Queen on Horseback at Parliament Hill. He
received the Order of British Columbia in 1996 for his contributions
to art in B.C.
08 Otto Fischer-Credo (1890-1959)
Asiatic Head, 1958
Replica by Gerhard Class, 1977
concrete
190 x 70 x 51 cm
This work features a large stylized head with Asian characteristics, and
has been variously interpreted as both a man and a woman. The original
sculpture, executed in 1958 by Otto Fischer-Credo was replaced in
1977 with a replica made by Gerhard Class. The replica sculpture is
constructed of marble sand and polyester resin and is located at the
north end of the covered walkway between the Music Building and
the Frederic Lasserre Building. Its position under the walkway frames
the view of the work and creates a sense of drama. Asiatic Head was
the generous donation of Mrs. Astrid Fischer-Credo, and was originally
exhibited on the UBC campus as part of an exhibition of outdoor
sculpture organized by the Northwest Institute of Sculptors. FischerCredo was born in Berlin and died in Vancouver in 1959. He studied at
the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin from 1908 to 1915, and the Royal
Academy of Art in Paris from 1919 to 1921. Fischer-Credo lived in
the Philippines, Mexico, Cuba and the United States before coming to
Vancouver in 1957. His first solo show was in Manila in 1926.
09 Gerhard Class (1924-1997)
Untitled (Tuning Fork), 1968
corten steel
700 cm
Located in front of the main entrance to the Music Building, Alfred Blundell
donated this sculpture to UBC in 1968; the design was selected by jury
in a closed competition. Class created the work specifically for this site
in UBC’s Arts precinct, where students study music, fine art, theatre
and architecture. The sculpture’s two free-standing forms complement
one other and articulate the close relationship between the Arts. Class
envisioned that Tuning Fork would dominate the plaza and rise above
the horizontal line of the covered walkway, which connects the buildings
in the precinct.
The artist fabricated the sculpture in corten steel, anticipating the deep
rust colour that it would eventually turn. The work presents different
configurations depending on the position of the viewer, and the twisting
forms seem to suggest a dance. Musicians will also recognize this
form as an abstracted tuning fork, a two-pronged tool made of steel,
which resonates at a constant pitch when struck. Class intended the
work to bring to mind “a giant tuning fork large enough to have served
Pythagorus and his theory of music and the harmony of the spheres”
(artist statement, 1967).
10 Stone Garden
Stone Garden, 1996
dimensions variable
Located in the Asian plaza at the southeast corner of the C.K. Choi
Building for the Institute of Asian Research, the stone garden is a gift
of the building’s namesake and donor, Cheung-Kok Choi, who also
chose the Confucian virtues inscribed on each of the five stones.
These virtues, selected from traditional Confucian philosophy, are
meant to provide individuals with ethical guidance in all aspects of life.
Chinese characters representing each virtue are carved into the stone
with an explanation of its significance also translated into English. The
five virtues are Ren (humanity, benevolence), Yi (righteousness), Li
(propriety, rites), Zhi (wisdom, knowledge), and Xin (trustworthiness).
The massive rocks, which each weigh between 4,000 and 5,000
pounds, were shipped from the Shandong Province in China, the place
where Confucius was born.
11 Richard E. Prince (b. 1949)
Script for an Asian Landscape, 1996
granite, zinc, epoxy, bronze powder, aluminum, brass and paint
dimensions variable
Script for an Asian Landscape, a sculpture comprised of six separate
but interrelated units, can be found outside the west entrance of the
C.K. Choi Building, at the central entrance and stairwell of the building,
and in the dome of the reading room.
The first element of the sculpture is a large boulder at the Main Mall
entrance, carved with the Thai word for granite. At the west entrance
are four granite boulders arranged in a grid, each carved with a different
Asian script — Chinese, Japanese (Kattagana), Korean and Hindi –
with the term for “granite stone.” A third element is a small glazed box
engraved with images of the leaf, fruit and seed of the gingko tree. An
image of the Ganges River is carved into the surface of the 3rd floor
hallway, adjacent to which is a zinc plaque that reads: “The Ganges
River”. Finally, in the reading room is a sculpture of the black-hooded
oriole, which has a wide range in southern and eastern Asia and it is
known for its beauty and melodious song. The bird holds a small ring
in its bill through which a similar larger ring is visible beyond the rim of
the dome. This view looks toward Polaris, the North Star, a feature of
the landscape shared by all in the northern hemisphere.
element to represent those cultures, this sculpture instead derives its
imagery from that which is shared by all in Asia — the land.
Richard E. Prince was born in Comox, B.C. in 1949. He attended UBC,
graduating in 1971 with a BA in Art History. He began teaching sculpture
and studio arts in 1973 and joined the faculty at the Department of
Fine Arts (now Art History, Visual Art and Theory) at UBC in 1975,
where he is currently a professor. He has exhibited across Canada
and internationally and his works are included in the collections of the
National Gallery of Canada, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Canada
Council Art Bank, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Mendel Art Gallery.
The sculpture’s multiple components ask us to consider that Asia is
not a single unified entity but instead a place that incorporates cultures
as widely varied as any vast continent. Attempting to find one symbolic
Photo: Richard E. Prince
12 Gautam Pal (b. 1949)
Bust of Rabindranath Tagore, 2002
bronze
107 cm
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), the renowned Bengali writer,
educator, and early advocate for India’s independence, was awarded
the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 and knighted in 1919. Four years
after being knighted, he renounced the honour as a protest against
British policies in India. Tagore’s poetry became popular in the West
after being translated into English and in 1929 he visited Vancouver to
speak at a conference on Education.
The Consulate General of India and the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations presented the bust by Gautam Pal to the Centre for India and
South Asia Research at UBC. It was dedicated in 2002 in a ceremony
accompanied by performances, a seminar on the Cultural Heritage of
Rabindranath Tagore, an exhibition of his artwork and screenings of
films based on his writing.
Gautam Pal was born in 1949 in the small West Bengali town of
Krishnagar. He currently lives and works in Kolkata, India. Pal studied
art and sculpture in India and Italy and has created works in bronze,
stone, wood and concrete, including busts of Mahatma Gandhi and
Mother Teresa, for locations all over the world.
13 Jack Harman (1927-2001)
Transcendence, 1961
bronze
300 cm
Located at the southeast corner of the Thea Koerner Student Center on
Crescent Road, Transcendence was cast in bronze at Harman’s North
Vancouver foundry and marks his first commission. Transcendence,
which means to rise above, go beyond the limits, or exceed in
excellence, is an apt symbol for the University. Water is an integral
part of this work, creating sound as well as a sense of movement. The
upward thrust of the water is echoed by the raised arms of the figures,
each of whom face one of the cardinal points of the compass.
Harman was born in Vancouver and studied at the Vancouver School
of Art and the Slade School in London in the early 1950s. His first
solo show was held at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1962. Harman
taught at the Vancouver School of Art and the Emily Carr College of
Art, and is recognized for establishing the first sculpture foundry in the
Province. Harman is well-known for works such as the Peace Keeping
Monument in Ottawa and the statue Queen on Horseback which is
proudly displayed on Parliament Hill. He received the Order of British
Columbia in 1996 for his contributions to art in B.C.
Photo: Franz Lindner, circa 1978. UBC Historical Photograph Collection, Courtesy UBC Archives.
14 Lionel Thomas (1915-2005) Patricia Thomas (b. 1919)
Untitled (Symbols for Education), 1958
enamel tile mosaic
dimensions variable
Located on the exterior of the Brock Hall Annex entrance, this mosaic
was commissioned by the graduating class of 1958 for the new wing
of the building. Through the use of symbol and colour, the mosaic
represents the UBC faculties and departments. In total there are fiftyfour separate blocks of different sizes. Many of the symbols are easily
decipherable, such as the one for Music, located at the top centre of
the mural, which pictures a twelve-tone scale and ear. Others are more
esoteric, such as the image in the square at the bottom right hand
corner, which is an early Greek symbol for family and home, and in this
context is meant to represent Home Economics.
Like several of Lionel Thomas’ projects, this work was produced in
collaboration with his wife, Patricia Thomas, who became well-known
across North America as an architectural colour consultant during
the 1950s. She was a pioneer in this field. Lionel Thomas worked
predominantly as a painter until 1956; later, his practice shifted and he
became recognized for his murals and sculptures. Lionel Thomas taught
Fine Arts and Architecture at UBC from 1950 until 1980. The Thomas’
advocated an interrelationship between the arts and emphasized the
importance of collaboration between the disciplines of architecture and
fine art. They were committed to these ideals of the modern movement
and were instrumental in bringing them to Vancouver.
15 Ellen Neel (1916-1966)
Replica by Calvin Hunt, Mervin Child, and John Livingston
Victory Through Honour
first dedicated in 1948, replica dedicated in 2004
cedar
365 cm
Currently located outside Brock Hall on East Mall, this pole is a replica
of Neel’s original, which was purchased by the Alma Mater Society in
1948. It was presented to the AMS by the artist in front of a crowd of
six thousand people at the old Varsity Stadium during the intermission
of the Homecoming football game. Along with the pole, Chief William
Scow granted the University permission to place it on the land, which is
part of traditional Musqueam territory, as well as permission to use the
symbol and name “Thunderbird” for UBC athletics.
The pole tells the story of Tsi-kumi, who overcame four tests to
become Chief Shaman of the Red Cedar Bark Dance and founder of
Qui-Owa Sutinuk, ancestors of the carver. Neel wanted the pole to
acknowledge and empower Native populations, and make visible the
commitment made to them by UBC. Neel dedicated the totem with
the following statement:
To the Native people of the whole province we can give
our assurance that your children will be accepted at this
school by the Staff and Student Council, eager to smooth
their paths with kindness and understanding. We need
now only students to take advantage of the opportunity,
Photo: original pole, UBC Historical Photograph Collection, Courtesy UBC Archives.
so that some day our doctors, lawyers, social workers
and departmental workers will be fully trained University
graduates of our own race. (Ellen Neel, The Native Voice,
November, 1948)
After years of exposure to the elements and incidents of vandalism, the
pole was removed in 1973. The AMS hired Doug Cranmer, a nephew
of Ellen Neel, to restore the pole. After the repair, it was erected near
the Student Union Building.
In 2001 UBC was forced to remove the pole again after it had been
severely damaged by vandals. Carvers Calvin Hunt, Mervin Child and
John Livingston were hired to create a replica, which was rededicated
in 2004 as a reaffirmation of the AMS’s commitment to stand in
solidarity with First Nations students, and to work towards increasing
their representation on campus. According to UBC Public Affairs,
in 2004 only one percent (equivalent to five hundred people) of the
student body identified themselves as First Nations.
Neel was an artist and carver from Alert Bay on Vancouver Island and
the granddaughter of Charlie James, a Kwakwaka’wakw carver who
produced the houseposts in Stanley Park. She moved to Vancouver
with her husband in 1943. Neel is known as the first woman carver
in the tradition of First Nations poles and helped revitalize the carving
tradition in the Kwakwaka’wakw community.
16 Charles Marega (1871-1939)
Monkey and the Bearded Man, 1925
stone relief
30.5 x 30.5 cm
This work, located over the front entrance of Main Library (now part
of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre), consists of two components,
a monkey holding a scroll bearing the word evolut, and a bearded man
holding a tablet with the text funda inscribed on it. This work was made to
commemorate the public battle between evolutionists and fundamentalists
famously fought in a United States courtroom. The “monkey trial” took
place in 1925, the very year that construction of Main Library at UBC
was completed. John Scopes, a teacher from Tennessee, was tried and
convicted for teaching Charles Darwin’s biological history of evolution in
his high school classroom. Scopes violated a state law that prohibited the
teaching of doctrines contrary to the Bible.
In 1912 the firm Sharp and Thompson was selected to design several
of UBC’s original buildings, including Main Library. Born and educated
in England, Sharp came to Vancouver in 1908 and became a wellknown architect, town planner and artist.
Charles Marega was commissioned to carve the stone on the façade
of Main Library. Born in Lucinico, Italy in 1871, he studied sculpture
at Zurich and Vienna, and worked in South Africa before arriving in
Vancouver in 1909. His many commissions include the lions at the
Lions Gate Bridge, the ceiling of the Orpheum Theatre, the Harding
Memorial at Stanley Park and the Burrard Street Bridge.
17 George Norris (b. 1928)
Mother and Child, 1955
cast bronze
112.5 x 89 cm
Located between the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and the Hennings
Building, Mother and Child was given to UBC by an anonymous donor
in 1957. This work was originally intended for the entrance of the new
Education Building and was meant to be accompanied by a pendant
sculpture entitled Father and Child. However, the building was not
finished until ten years after the commission and Father and Child was
never completed.
Norris was born in Victoria, B.C. and studied at the Vancouver School
of Art, Syracuse University and in London, England. He taught in
UBC’s Extension Department, and at the Vancouver School of Art.
In the 1960s and 1970s Norris was well known as a sculptor and
received several commissions at sites including churches, hotels,
commercial buildings and UBC. His projects were often conceived
in close collaboration with the architects of the building for which his
work was commissioned. Norris has several sculptures on campus,
including the UBC ceremonial mace. His large fountain, The Crab is
located at the entrance to the Vancouver Museum.
Photo: George Lenko. UBC Historical Photograph Collection, Courtesy UBC Archives.
18 Rodney Graham (b. 1949)
Millennial Time Machine, 2003
landau carriage converted to a mobile camera obscura
dimensions variable
Housed in a glass walled pavilion at the south-west corner of Main
Mall and Memorial Road, this sculpture is the first work of art to be
commissioned for the campus at UBC since 1976.
Millennial Time Machine is a nineteenth-century horse drawn carriage
converted into a camera obscura. The camera obscura, which produces
an image that is upside down and reversed, was an influential precursor to
the modern, multi-lens camera. During the late 1500s to 1800s, the camera
obscura was used as a model for explaining human vision and it stood as
a model, in both rational and empiricist thought, of how observation leads
to truthful inferences about the world. It was widely used as an instrument
of scientific inquiry, artistic practice and popular entertainment.
A lens, installed at the back of the carriage, is focused on a sequoia tree
across the landscaped bowl between Walter C. Koerner Library and the
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. The sequoia is a species indigenous
to the west coast of B.C.; it can grow to be one of the tallest trees in
the world and is particularly long-lived. The camera obscura captures
the image of the sequoia and projects it on a fabric screen inside the
carriage where it appears inverted. Graham has been working with
this technology and with the image of the inverted tree since the late
1970s. In this context, the image of the tree raises questions around
the economy, the environment and the ownership of land. The tree and
Photo: Martin Tessler
its location are also meant to provoke questions about the university as
a place where knowledge, technologies and histories are constructed,
and how this information is passed to generations of students.
The glass and concrete pavilion was designed by the artist in
collaboration with architects Tim Newton and John Wall. In 2006, the
pavilion was awarded a special prize by the Architectural Institute of
British Columbia. Its structure echoes that of a camera with the lenslike window on the door, and the round oculi which let in light through
the ceiling.
Rodney Graham is an internationally renowned artist. He was born
in Abbotsford, B.C. in 1949, studied at UBC, and continues to live
and work in Vancouver. In 1997, he represented Canada at the Venice
Biennale. Graham works in a variety of media including sculpture,
video, photography, performance and music.
Appointments to view the Millennial Time Machine can be made
through the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
Bottom photo: Martin Tessler
19 The Maltese Labyrinth
The Maltese Labyrinth, 2006
dimensions variable
The octagonal labyrinth at the Vancouver School of Theology was
installed in 2006 and designed by Landscape Architects Perry and
Associates. This permanent version replaces the original, which was
set into the grass in 1997, and was the work of Rev. April Stanley,
JoAnne Tharalson, Rev. Lynne McNaughton and Ginger Shaw. This
modified design resembles in its pattern the stone labyrinth in the floor
of Chartres Cathedral in France.
Pavement or stone labyrinths are found in many twelfth century European
cathedrals and churches. Labyrinths are frequently confused with mazes
but serve a different purpose. A maze is a puzzle or game one attempts
to solve. The labyrinth, on the other hand, is meant to mirror the spiral
patterns of creation and to draw one into reflection, contemplation, or
prayer. It is a singular path that leads the participant to the centre and then
back out again. Walking a labyrinth can be a meditative act, a metaphor
for life’s journey. Several religious traditions — Christian, Aboriginal,
Eastern — have some form of walking meditation. The Maltese Labyrinth
is open to all; please enjoy walking it at your own pace.
20 Lionel Thomas (1915-2005)
The Lion and St. Mark, 1957
welded bronze
395 x 25 x 370 cm
Located on the exterior south wall of St. Mark’s College, Lionel Thomas
was commissioned to make this sculpture by the architects Gardiner,
Thornton, Gathe and Associates for the opening of the new building
in 1957. Thomas’ work depicts St. Mark, the namesake of Catholic
Theological College.
St. Mark is traditionally believed to have been the author of the second
Gospel. Thomas’ sculpture shows the Saint holding a quill pen in one hand
and a scroll in the other, ready to write the Gospel. St. Mark looks to the
brilliant sun for inspiration, which is meant to symbolize the light of Christ.
The lion, which symbolizes St. Mark, correlates with the opening of the
Gospel which tells the story of St. John the Baptist, “the voice of one
crying in the wilderness.” John the Baptist is described as a leonine
being, “clothed with camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his
loins” (Mark 1:3).
The welded bronze and gold sculpture, whose lines are reminiscent of
the technique of cloisonné, is set off the wall and designed to reflect
the afternoon sun, casting shadows on the white wall of the building.
This effect adds an important dimension to the work and creates a
sense of depth.
21 Joseph Caveno (b. 1938)
and Hung Chung (b. 1946)
Goddess of Democracy, 1991
white marble dust and epoxy
275 cm
This work, located at the Student Union Building Plaza, was sponsored
by the Alma Mater Society of UBC, The Chinese Student and Scholar
Association of UBC, and The Vancouver Society in Support of
Democratic Movement. It was commissioned in 1990 as a memorial
to the Chinese students killed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square
uprising. It was dedicated on the second anniversary of the massacre
before a crowd of five hundred, including local government officials
and students.
The original Goddess of Democracy was erected in Tiananmen
Square by students of the Central Academy of Fine Arts on May 30,
1989, to represent their hope for democracy in China. The sculpture,
constructed out of styrofoam and papier-mâché with a metal armature
for support, was ten metres high and towered over the crowd. It faced
the large-scale portrait of Mao Zedong situated on Tiananmen Gate.
In the early morning hours of June 4, 1989, the Chinese People’s
Liberation Army destroyed the Goddess of Democracy with their tanks
and killed protesters whose number is estimated in the thousands.
The statue at UBC is a replica of an existing bronze figure constructed
by Thomas Marsh, which stands in Portsmouth Square in San
Francisco’s Chinatown. It was cast from a fiberglass mould and is a
mixture of epoxy and white marble dust. Replicas of the statue have
been erected in locations around the world, including York University
and the University of Calgary.
22 Sir Charles Wheeler (1892-1974)
King George VI, 1958
bronze
280 x 110 x 120 cm
Located outside the main entrance to the Woodward Biomedical
Library, this sculpture was a gift to UBC from the Vancouver Branch
of the War Amps of Canada and funded by Mr. P.A. Woodward, a
veteran of WWII. This sculpture is a second casting of the original,
located on the Mall leading up to Buckingham Palace in London. It was
unveiled by the Lieutenant Governor in 1958 and dedicated by Queen
Elizabeth II when she visited campus on June 22, 1958.
In the 1970s the sculpture suffered at the hands of vandals when
George’s sword was stolen under the cover of night. Twenty-five
years later, a mystery caller telephoned the UBC President’s Office
confessing to the prank. All those years the sword had decorated
his living room. The anonymous caller returned the sword to the site,
hiding it under nearby bushes.
The statue was rededicated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
passing of King George VI and to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s visit on
the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002. The presence of this sculpture
on campus reminds us of the colonial history of B.C. and of Canada’s
continued membership in the British Commonwealth.
Wheeler was the first sculptor to hold the office of the President of
the Royal Academy (in 1956 and 1966) and was instrumental in
founding the Society of Portrait Sculptors. His public work includes
commissions for Sir Herbert Baker’s India House, South Africa House,
Church House, the Trafalgar Square fountains, and can be found at the
Tate Gallery in London.
23 Robert Weghsteen (b. 1929)
Untitled, 1971
ceramic
365 cm
This work was presented to UBC in 1971 by the Vancouver chapter
of the Alpha Omega Fraternity. It is located on the exterior wall of
the south entrance to the MacDonald Building, which is home to the
Faculty of Dentistry. Weghsteen aimed to create a work that would
integrate with the building’s architecture.
The surface of Weghsteen’s two-panel ceramic wall mural is a luminous
silver-grey with hints of brown. From a distance the colour appears
uniform, but a closer look reveals subtle variations in tone and texture.
Each panel is composed of fitted tiles which are connected by a rhythm
of abstract, organic forms, both raised and impressed into the ceramic.
Weghsteen was born in Belgium in 1929 and studied ceramics in the
late 1940s at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, England.
In 1956 Weghsteen came to Canada on holiday where the landscape
of Vancouver and its open spaces provided a sharp contrast to his
home in Belgium. Weghsteen decided to immigrate with his young
family and shipped all of the equipment from his studio, including his
kilns, by way of the Panama Canal.
Once in Vancouver, Weghsteen established himself as a ceramic artist
and muralist and had numerous commissions around the province.
Weghsteen was President of the British Columbia Potters Guild and
taught at the Vancouver School of Art.
24 László Józsa (b. 1938) and Arpád Gál (b. 1946)
Sopron Gate, fabricated 1992, installed 2001
yellow cypress wood
The Sopron Gate, located at the south end of the Forest Sciences
Building, was erected on campus in 2001. The large structure, carved
from yellow cypress wood, was first shown in 1992 at the Hungarian
Festival at the Plaza of Nations in Vancouver. The gate was put in
storage in anticipation of the completion of the Forest Sciences
Centre at UBC and was unveiled to coincide with the 50th anniversary
celebration of the Forestry Faculty.
László Józsa was one of the students who arrived at UBC from Sopron
in 1957. His passion for woodcarving is rooted in his Hungarian heritage
and his professional background. A forester by training, Józsa has
worked as a research scientist, specializing in training and education
about wood quality. He has been drawing and painting all his life and
has recently taken up carving in yellow cypress and western red cedar,
both trees native to B.C.
Built by Sopron Alumni and donated to UBC, the gate commemorates
the University’s adoption of nearly one hundred fifty forestry students
and faculty members from the University of Sopron in Hungary when
they were forced to flee after the 1956 Revolution. The gate is a gift
to the people of Canada from the one hundred forty-one Hungarian
forestry graduates who completed their studies at UBC between
1957 and 1961. Subsequently, they secured jobs in the industry and
took up permanent residence in Canada.
The Sopron Gate is based on traditional Hungarian folk art motifs from
Transylvania, Romania. Welcome greetings are carved onto the gate in
English, Hungarian, French and Haida. Arpád Gál, a Hungarian-born
woodcarver from Transylvania who has lived in Canada for the past two
decades, continues to employ traditional techniques associated with
Hungarian Transylvanian gates.
Photos: László Józsa
25 Zeljko Kujundzic (1920-2003)
Thunderbirds, 1967
concrete
each thunderbird 180 x 180 cm
Located high atop the supporting poles of the Thunderbird Stadium,
this work consists of twelve parts, each a giant thunderbird. This
sculptural project was commissioned by UBC for the opening of
the Stadium. Kujundzic’s piece enhances the architectural concept,
exposing the function of the stadium “through an aggressive aesthetic
symbolism of the team spirit” (artist statement, 1967).
The thunderbird was adopted as the symbol and name for UBC athletic
teams in the mid-1930s and was officially sanctioned by First Nations
leaders in 1948. The thunderbird is a sacred creature revered by First
Nations people of the North Pacific Coast. According to legend, this
spirit bird was so powerful that the motion of its wings caused thunder
and its eyes flashed lightning. The thunderbird is described in myths as
both a benevolent protector capable of granting supernatural blessings,
and as a terror who engages in warfare with humans and beasts.
Zeljko Kujundzic was born in Yugoslavia, educated at the University of
Budapest, painted in Scotland and later moved to Cranbrook, B.C. In
1958 he painted among the First Nations people of the Kootenay region
and the use of Northwest Coast motifs in Thunderbirds reflects this
influence. Kujundzic was a founder of the Kootenay School of Art and
served as its director. In the 1960s Kujundzic moved to the U.S., where he
was Head of the Fine Arts Department at Pennsylvania State University.
Above: Workman guiding concrete thunderbird onto pillar, 1967. UBC Historical Photograph Collection.
26 George Norris (b. 1928)
Untitled (Man about to Plant or Pick Alfalfa), 1967
granite
91.45 cm
This sculpture is located in the courtyard at the H.R. MacMillan
Building, which houses the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. Blythe
Alfred Eagles, who was a long-time Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture,
donated this work as a memorial to his parents, who were pioneers in
the settlement of B.C., and to all of those who have laboured to improve
agriculture in the province. Both families were actively engaged in
agricultural or horticultural pursuits.
The Vancouver Sun offered a tribute to Eagles on the occasion of his
Great Trekker Award, lauding that under Eagles’ administration, the
Faculty of Agriculture, more than any other at the University:
…had the closest and most personal relation with problems
and progress of a large and important section of the people
of British Columbia…[and] was consistently accessible
and helpful to, not only organizations and industries, but
individual ranchers, farmers, dairymen and specialist growers.
(“A Proper Recognition,” The Vancouver Sun, Oct, 22, 1966)
Eagles’ commitment to the individual agricultural worker is highlighted
in Norris’ sculpture. The work depicts a smoothly curved, stylized
figure of a man who is bending down, either in the action of planting or
picking a seedling. The man’s action evokes both the cyclical nature of
the growing season and of the farmers’ work.
Below photo: historical photograph showing man holding alfalfa, currently missing. Photo: George Lenko
27 George Norris (b. 1928)
Untitled, 1968
brick
600 x 1525 cm
Located on the exterior entrance wall to the Frank Forward Building,
the sculpture was commissioned by UBC for the new building in 1968.
The architects asked Norris to design a work that would accentuate
the building’s entrance, which was otherwise difficult to locate.
Norris wanted to integrate the artwork with both the design of the building
and its purpose, providing a home for the Department of Metallurgy.
Norris’ abstract brick mosaic references a crystalline atomic structure
with hexagonal symmetry. This design is an artistic interpretation of a
mineral compound such as zinc, emerald or ice, all of which are six-fold in
character. Norris made many of the bricks himself and impressed designs
upon them with metallic components to create pattern and texture.
Frank Forward, after whom the building was named, was a pioneer
in metallurgy and Head of the Department of Metallurgy from 1945
to 1964. In the early 1990s the Department changed its name to
Materials Engineering.
28 Paul Deggan (b. 1932)
Untitled, 1965
copper, brass, aluminum
dimensions variable
Located at the north wall of the Neville Scarfe Building, this wall relief
was purchased with a gift from the B.C. Teachers Federation to mark
the opening of the new Education Building. Deggan’s work was chosen
by a jury from thirty proposals submitted by artists across the country.
The work consists of three separate components made of different
materials — copper, brass and aluminum — and over time each has
turned a different colour. Though the work is abstract, Deggan took
his inspiration from nature, and the sculpture’s design calls up the
patterns of leaves and the texture of tree bark.
Deggan was born in Britain and educated at the Kingston School of
Art, the Chichester School of Art and the Worthing College of Arts
and Crafts in Britain. He moved to Canada in 1957 and taught at
the Vancouver School of Art and Capilano College. In 1980 Deggan
and his French-born wife Babette, who works in pottery, created the
Centre Festival des Arts de Montaigut-le-Blanc in the Auvergne region
of France. The Centre offered summer workshops in painting, drawing,
French language, writing and photography. The Deggans ran this
program for twenty-four years until they retired in 2005.
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Myfanwy MacLeod (b. 1961) Wood for the People, 2002
Jamelie Hassan (b. 1948)
Because... there was and there wasn’t a city of Baghdad, 1991
Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds (b . 1954)
Native Hosts, 1991-2007 (multiple locations)
Gerhard Class (1924-1997) Configuration, 1960
Robert Clothier (1921-1999) Three Forms, 1956
Robert Murray (b. 1936) Cumbria, 1966-67
Jack Harman (1927-2001)
Portrait Bust of Dr. Norman A. M. Mackenzie, 1976
Otto Fischer-Credo (1890-1959) Asiatic Head, 1958
Gerhard Class (1924-1997) Untitled (Tuning Fork), 1968
Stone Garden Stone Garden, 1996
Richard E. Prince (b. 1949) Script for an Asian Landscape, 1996
Gautam Pal (b. 1949) Bust of Rabindranath Tagore, 2002
Jack Harman (1927-2001) Transcendence, 1961
Lionel Thomas (1915-2005) Patricia Thomas (b. 1919)
Untitled (Symbols for Education), 1958
Ellen Neel (1916-1966) Victory Through Honour
Charles Marega (1871-1939) Monkey and the Bearded Man, 1925
George Norris (b. 1928) Mother and Child, 1955
Rodney Graham (b. 1949) Millennial Time Machine, 2003
The Maltese Labyrinth The Maltese Labyrinth, 2006
Lionel Thomas (1915-2005) The Lion and St. Mark, 1957
Joseph Caveno (b. 1938) and Hung Chung (b. 1946)
Goddess of Democracy, 1991
Sir Charles Wheeler (1892-1974) King George VI, 1958
Robert Weghsteen (b. 1929) Untitled, 1971
László Józsa (b. 1938) and Arpád Gál (b. 1946)
Sopron Gate, fabricated 1992, installed 2001
Zeljko Kujundzic (1920-2003) Thunderbirds, 1967
George Norris (b. 1928)
Untitled (Man about to Plant or Pick Alfalfa), 1967
George Norris (b.1928) Untitled, 1968
Paul Deggan (b. 1932) Untitled, 1965
numbers correspond to map overleaf
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tour one (20 minutes)
tour two (45 minutes)
full tour (2 hours plus)
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