Blanketing the City

Granville Island, Vancouver BC

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)

Debra Sparrow · Granville Street Bridge Pillars · 1457 Anderson Street, Vancouver, BC

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: Mural · Series: Blanketing the City

The bridge holding up Granville Island has been holding up something else — the visual history of the people whose territory it stands on.

The Work

Before you cross onto Granville Island, look up. Two concrete pillars rising thirteen metres from the ground have been transformed by Musqueam weaver and designer Debra Sparrow into something the city has never quite seen before — ancestral Coast Salish weaving patterns at a scale the bridge itself can barely contain.

Blanketing the City — Granville Island is the first installation in a city-wide public art series conceived by Debra Sparrow with the Vancouver Mural Festival. The series takes its name from its intent: to blanket Vancouver in traditional Coast Salish patterns — to reclaim, panel by panel and pillar by pillar, the visual landscape of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ancestral territory.

The geometric designs covering the pillars are drawn from ancient weaving techniques that were actively suppressed for generations under colonial policy. Coast Salish weaving nearly disappeared. What stands on these pillars is part of its return.

Sparrow's choice of surface is deliberate. By placing these patterns on the concrete foundations of the bridge — on infrastructure, on industry, on the literal underpinning of one of Vancouver's most visited destinations — she holds up history.

Know Before You Go

Outdoors and fully accessible year-round. The pillars are visible from street level on Anderson Street and from the water. Best viewed on foot from the base of the pillars, where the full scale of the patterns becomes apparent.

Best time to visit: Early morning before market crowds arrive, or late afternoon when direct light catches the colours of the murals. Weekdays are significantly quieter than weekends.

Getting There

By Transit — Bus 50 False Creek South to the Granville Island stop on Anderson Street. Or take the Aquabus or False Creek Ferries from the Vancouver waterfront — a 5-minute crossing that lands you steps from the installation.

On Foot — 15 minutes south from the Granville Street Bridge on the south side of False Creek. Accessible from the Seawall path.

By Vehicle — Enter Granville Island via Anderson Street from West 2nd Avenue. Street parking and paid lots available on the island. Weekends fill quickly — transit recommended.

By Bike — The False Creek Seawall cycling route passes directly beneath the bridge. Bike racks throughout Granville Island.

From the VCC: 15-minute walk along the seawall, or 5 minutes by Aquabus from the Hornby Street dock.

From YVR: Canada Line to Broadway-City Hall, then Bus 9 or 99 to Granville, walk south to Anderson Street. Approximately 40 minutes.