Some in Vancouver’s South Granville neighbourhood reject stacked car artwork relocation

Residents in South Granville have launched a petition hoping to block a well-known art piece from rolling into their neighbourhood.

Darlene Forst found out about the City of Vancouver’s plan to relocate the public art piece known as “Trans Am Rapture” in the same way most people did: through the media.

That didn’t sit well with her, given that she lives in the neighbourhood near the south end of the Granville Street Bridge where the artwork – an old-growth cedar tree trunk with five partially crushed cars stacked on top of it – is being reinstalled.

“The city has given absolutely no notice about this installation,” Forst told CTV News on Saturday.

“There’s been no consultation and, shockingly, there hasn’t even been any consideration of the residents in this neighbourhood when they chose to put this piece here.”

Forst said the piece, which stands 10 metres tall, will dominate the green space bounded by the bridge off-ramp and West 4th Avenue.

She said green space in the neighbourhood is limited, and the sculpture’s history of contamination with bird droppings seems likely to be repeated in the new location, further worsening the space that remains.

“This particular piece, because it’s very edgy and very mechanical and very industrial, the discussion in the neighbourhood is that it would be far more fitting to be in a place where there is more traffic, more industry, and not in a residential green space,” Forst said.

Formerly known as “Trans Am Totem,” the artwork has been under restoration and in storage since August 2021, when it was removed from its original location on Quebec Street near Science World.

A memo to city councillors from the time indicates reinstallation of the work in a new location was originally anticipated for the summer of 2022.

“It took some time to find a site that was suitable for both the city and the artists,” the city said in a statement, adding that “full details on the artwork in its new location will be shared with media and the public in coming months.”

Installation at the south end of the Granville Bridge is expected to be complete “in late summer,” the city said.

Forst hopes she and the signatories to her online petition will be able to stop that from happening. As of Saturday, a total of 59 “verified signatures” were listed on the petition website, though Forst says additional signatures have been collected on paper around the neighbourhood.

She’s also been encouraging her neighbours to write to the mayor and city council to voice their opposition to the relocation.

In its statement, the city says the work has been “thoroughly decontaminated and cleaned of all remnants of bird droppings and nesting materials.”

The 2021 memo indicates that restoration work would be focused on ensuring the structural integrity of the piece and “bird-proofing” it to ensure it can be displayed for “at least 10 years.”