The Bourbon has taken Vancouver back to the roots of good old Country music culture. Rodeo nights, live Country music bands, fun music on an awesome sound system, great staff (and cowboy hats), and - of course - bourbon and tequila. With free bull riding every Friday and Saturday night, it would be hard to not have an exciting throwback night out in the neighbourhood.

Part 2 of our Gastown Jazz Fest Guide. The event is in full swing down in Gastown today, but there is still so much more to come!

We have the details on the many talents who will be shaking the walls of the Lamplighter (92 Water Street) this week.

There could not have been a better way to welcome the summer solstice. For the first time ever, our own city and neighbourhood became a part of the international Fete De La Musique to make music, dance, and enjoy the beginnings (however late they may be) of summer.

Words by Christina Lanteigne

Tomorrow night: Thursday July 22nd - Aveda will be throwing a "Welcome to Gastown" block party.  What better way to celebrate their arrival to the neighbourhood!  The latest Aveda Institute opened their doors in Gastown just a few weeks ago at 101-111 Water Street in a stunning space featuring a salon, styling institute, academy and shop.

Get Your Jazz On In Gastown This Weekend!
Words by Christina Lanteigne

Gastown Jazz June 26th & 27th
At the Maple Tree Square Free stage & the Steam Clock from 1-8pm.

The 2nd Annual Gastown Shuffle Tonight!
Words by Christina Lanteigne

It's time again for round two of the Gastown shuffle, as the shopping by day neighbourhood prepares to celebrate it's after-dark side tonight from 7-11pm with free drinks and 5 great bars.  Walk through Gastown and visit these shops to pick up your shuffle badge:  Complex, JD’s Barbershop, Livestock, Sharks & Hammers, Stussy, Two Of A Few or ALIFE.  Then head over to the participating bars for your free drink:  The Diamond, The Lamplighter, The Met, Revel Room and newly opened Guilt & Co.  Finish off your shuffle at Post Modern for an after party featuring Villains & Rico Uno.

Art Books Galore in Gastown

Motto Storefront
Organized by Artspeak and Fillip, with Motto, Berlin

If art and design is your thing, then you’d best head to the new temporary Motto Storefront by Vancouver’s Artspeak Gallery.  Located at 233 Carrall Street - the pop-up bookstore and art space is filled with hundreds of rare volumes dedicated to contemporary art.  Motto, a Berlin and Zürich-based bookstore and distributor, specializing in experimental, small run and self-published artist books, magazines, and fanzines, has compiled the amazing selection of printed works.

Gallery Gachet Fundraiser at The Met

Next Wednesday May 19^th from 7-10pm, stop by The Met in Gastown (320 Abbott St.) to view some amazing art and support a great cause.

In their first collaboration, Gallery Gachet and The Donnelly Fund present Mindscape, a showing of the Gachet Collective’s work. The event will feature an art exhibit and auction with 100% of proceeds going directly to Gallery Gachet.

Public Art in Gastown

Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971 by Stan Douglas

It’s hard to miss and if you haven’t seen it yet, you are missing out!

At 50 by 30 feet, the groundbreaking mural 'Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971' by Stan Douglas hangs on display as public art in the main public atrium of the Woodward’s complex.  The photo installation depicts a crucial conflict and an important piece of history where on that date; Vancouver police broke up a peaceful marijuana protest using full force and riot gear.  This later lead to the zoning of the area as strictly commercial by the city, which greatly impacted the neighborhood of Gastown socially and economically.

Working alongside Woodward’s architect Gregory Henriquez to develop the concept, Douglas created a replication of the riot scene based on historical research of the area.

With a film crew, actors and a designed set of the intersection at Abbott and Cordova Street just as it would have been in 1971.  Douglas’ piece evokes a remembrance of the past and also a look towards the future of the downtown Eastside neighborhood.  It has the potential to create conversation and dialogue about the new Downtown Eastside community.

While in the area, you will also want to check out the public art installations by Andrew Owen  A01 at the Cambie Annex Front (W Cordova St. between Cambie and Abbott.) Photographs of people in the neighborhood including construction workers and the “Public Private Cubic Couple” are displayed cubically on photographic tableaux.

Checkout Owen’s work named Cubic Carpenters which refers to  “The fractured authenticity of here and now as compared to seamless fiction in the guise of historical representation.”

Photography and words by Christina Lanteigne

After a long day of shopping, strolling or working in Gastown, head east along Water Street to discover one of Vancouver’s best kept secrets.  As you cross the Main Street overpass you’ll see two statuesque Chinese lion’s mounted on both sides. A narrow pathway leads past a quaint Asian garden into Crab Park at Portside (101 Waterfront at Main) which overlooks the Burrard inlet, where the views are as sweeping as they come.

The story of Crab Park began in the early 1980’s when a group called Create a Real Available Beach (CRAB) led by Downtown Eastside activist Don Larson, lobbied for the creation of a neighborhood waterfront park.  Although it's formally named Portside Park; most Vancouverites simply call it Crab Park.

With several large benches overlooking the North Shore, the park is a great place to sit, relax and take in the sights. Gaze out at helicopters lifting off from the nearby heliport, SeaBuses shuttling across the Burrard Inlet and boats arriving at the Main Street Dock with their daily catch.  Or simply take of your shoes and feel the sand on your feet.

Crab park also boats a lovely garden full of lush indigenous plants and flowers, a newly built playground and a large off-leash dog park.  It’s the perfect place for an outdoor lunch break or watching a serene Vancouver sunset.  On your stroll back through to Gastown, stop at one of the many outdoor patios and enjoy an early evening pint or cocktail.

This post was written by Christina Lanteigne.

No one can argue that Gastown has become an area associated with creative thinking and expression. This tight-knit community has always been dedicated to promoting arts, fashion, dining and nightlife. Over the years Gastown has attracted critically acclaimed galleries, artists from all corners of the arts spectrum, forward thinking restaurants, and edgy fashion boutiques/retailers.

Amongst those galleries is Gallery Gachet. Gallery Gachet will be holding their latest exhibition called, "Coming Forth By Day" by Deborah Thompson until March 26th. Checkout the details below!

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Coming Forth By Day, a title taken from her research into Egyptian mythology and specifically the Egyptian Book of the Dead which captured her curatorial attention in a project called, SALT: the distillation of matter, which included the work of two Vancouver artists, Haruko Okano and Nicole Dextras.

The installation consists of four stations which are intended to be seen as various stages of transformation as we journey through the underworld. The construction of a dress form - a metaphor for the body - is central to the installation. Thompson’s overt laborious and repetitive process of the stitching of hand sized pieces of bees waxed encased rice paper into life sized garments in what she refers to as, re-membering the body both somatically and psychologically echoes the journey of Isis in the throws of her longing for the dismembered body of Osiris. This longing Thompson says, is something all humans share and desire speaks to this need for uniting what has been separated.

Supplementing the dresses is her altar piece sculpture, Memorables. Thompson created this piece as part of a community art project through the Oxygen Art Centre which paired artists with social agencies. Thompson worked with ANKORS the region AIDS service agency to create an altar commentating the difficult pain of loss and grief as a result of the death of a loved one from AIDS.

The third and final part of her Gachet exhibit consists of paintings selected from her series, The Maternal Body: The Paradox of Desire. This work holds personal meaning for her about her relationship to the maternal as well as bringing awareness to our culture's relationship to the feminine and specifically the maternal aspect of the feminine.

St. Patrick's Day is coming soon and people are already looking for four leaf clovers and getting their Irish top hats ready. Ahem, well, maybe not, but still it's going to be a big day! In this post, the Gastown Blog team listed the top three places to celebrate St. Patties Day in Gastown. So eat, drink, and party like Irish.

"St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time - a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic."  ~Adrienne Cook

#1 Blarney Stone
216 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC
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The BIGGEST ST. PATRICK'S DAY Celebration in Vancouver. It's so big, we're celebrating for three days! Party like the Irish ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT over THREE DAYS! Saturday, March 13th and Sunday, March 14th, it’s the St Patrick's Day Weekend Warm Up! Then on March 17th, it's St Patrick’s Day, the Finale! We're OPEN at 9am on all three days. Enjoy a brunch and kids Menu, Irish Dancers, Live Music by day and night! The late night party starts at 6pm. Enjoy Green Beer, Irish Dancers, Full Irish Menu and more! The Pat Chessell band, The Legendary Killarney! $5.00 Cover charge for adults during daytime events but, FREE for kids under 12. Night events start at 6pm and so does a $12.00 Cover. Day time Cover includes day events ONLY, No cash or credit value towards night cover. No Guest Lists.

#2 Lamplighter
92 Water Street
Vancouver, BC

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ST PATRICK'S DAY AT THE LAMPLIGHTER
The Guinness House of Gastown
Featuring prizes and samples from Guinness & Bushmills
A special food menu & Guinness cocktails
Plus DJ Mike Dobbs & Dana D

#3 The Cambie
300 Cambie Street @ Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC

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Despite not having an official St. Patrick's Day event, people already know The Cambie is a definite hotspot. It's affordable drinks, rowdy atmosphere, and good pub food make for an automatic St. Patties Day destination. For this reason, we've listed the Cambie as the number 3 spot in Gastown to party like the Irish.

Let us know where you're going to be by posting a comment below.

It took a small army on Monday morning, as John Fluevog Gastown unveiled its latest and perhaps most extravagant decoration. Over 8 ft high, and quite literally the size of a horse, the Gastown Blog team was there to check it out.

"This piece is called Equestrian," David Robinson, the sculptor tells us as he oversees its installation. "It's a take on heroism. In so many cultures and countries, an equestrian represents the very nature of heroism, and that is something that I want to portray to the audience."

The 600 lbs sculpture is yet another edgy and tasteful piece showcased at John Fluevog that will surely receive a lot of traffic and conversation.

"Everything is statement piece in here. People come here all the time to checkout the space, the fixtures, the building - oh yeah, then they notice we sell shoes," one Fluevogger tells us. "I love this new piece."

Equestrian was developed in the studios of David Robinson.

If video is not working, use this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYyXQbuBMoU

With the help of the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver archives you can now learn about each building in Gastown through the Gastown Blog Building History Series. Enjoy and keep posted for more history from the Gastown Blog.

In this week’s addition, we are profiling Ferguson Block, home to the Diamond, Angel Paint, Café Dolcino and the Sitar Restaurant.

Check out our previous Building History posts on the Hotel Europe, the Landing, Leckie Building, Hotel Dominion, Holland Block, Packing House, Canadian Fairbanks Building, The Boulder and Springer-Van Bramer.

The Ferguson Block - #2 Powell Street
Built: 1886 - 1887
Architect: W. T. Whiteway
Architectural Style: Victorian Italianate

The Ferguson Block is one of the oldest buildings in Vancouver still standing in its original location on the South East Corner of Powell and Carrall Street in Maple Tree Square.

Alfred Graham Ferguson, a civil engineer and CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) tunnel contractor, built the first Ferguson Block out of wood.  When it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1886, he rebuilt it at the same location out of brick.

He sold the building in 1887 to Hugh Chamberlain and it was renamed the Chamberlain Block.  By 1889 Chamberlain had added a one-storey addition to the rear of the building and a two-storey addition to the side.

With the help of the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver archives you can now learn about each building in Gastown through the Gastown Blog Building History Series. Enjoy and keep posted for more history from the Gastown Blog.

In this week’s addition, we are profiling Springer-Van Bramer Block, home to Bambo Cafe, Greedy Pig Restaurant, Dutil Denim, Colour Box Hairdressing, Roden Gray and Mooncruise Gallery.

Check out our previous Building History posts on the Hotel Europe, the Landing, Leckie Building, Hotel Dominion, Holland Block, Packing House, Canadian Fairbanks Building and The Boulder

Springer-Van Bramer Block – 303 West Cordova Street
Built: 1888
Architect: Noble Stonestreet Hoffar
Architectural Style: Victorian Italianate

Located on the N. W. Corner of Cambie and Cordova Streets, the Springer-Van Bramer Block was built in 1888 for Captain James Van Bramer and Ben Springer. Captain Van Bramer was a ferry boat captain on Burrard Inlet.  Ben Springer was the Manager of the Moodyville Sawmill. Both gentlemen became major real estate investors in early Vancouver.

When built, the Springer-Van Bramer Block attracted retail and business occupants as well as social groups such as the Masons and Odd Fellows to the area.  Five retail stores were located on the first floor, offices on the second and Oddfellows and Masonic Lodges on the third.

The building is also known as the Masonic Temple Building due to that organization’s occupancy of the upper floor between 1888 and 1901. The building has undergone few alterations since it was built accept for the removal of the cornice due to safety concerns.

Shortly after the completion of the Springer-Van Bramer Block, construction began on the adjacent J.W. Horne Block which shares a common entrance on Cordova Street. The two buildings fill a wedge-shaped lot that was created where the city’s early surveys meet.

Photo Credit: VPL #21317  - 1922

With the help of the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver archives you can now learn about each building in Gastown through the Gastown Blog Building History Series. Enjoy and keep posted for more history from the Gastown Blog.

In this week’s addition, we are profiling the Boulder, home to Boneta Restaurant. Check out our previous Building History posts on the Hotel Europe, the Landing, Leckie Building, Hotel Dominion, Holland Block, Packing House and Canadian Fairbanks Building

The Boulder - 1 West Cordova Street (North West corner of Carrall and Cordova Street)
Built: 1890
Architect: Robert Mackay Fripp

The Boulder was built by Arthur G. Ferguson as one of Gastown’s earlier hotels.

The architect, Robert Mackay Fripp was a proponent of the Arts and Crafts Movement, a movement in architecture and decorative arts from about 1870 to 1920 that championed the individual craftsman, simplicity of design and the qualities of materials. Unlike the Victorian complexity of some of Fripp’s other work, the Boulder is simple, understated and reflects the Arts and Crafts philosophy of the use of natural materials in a simple manner.

The Boulder was one of the earliest buildings in Vancouver to have plain rectangular windows set into an unornamented masonry wall. Originally only two stories; the third story was added sometime prior to 1910.  The exterior of the building is sandstone quarried from Pender Island.  The sandstone blocks have a bassaged finish (the centre of the block is higher than the edges) and are unadorned by carvings or other decorations. Today, the Boulder is home to Boneta, one of Vancouver’s finest restaurants.

With the help of the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver archives you can now learn about each building in Gastown through the Gastown Blog Building History Series. Enjoy and keep posted for more history from the Gastown Blog.

In this week’s addition, we are profiling the Canadian Fairbanks Building, home to Vancouver Rug Import. Check out our previous Building History posts on the Hotel Europe, the Landing, Leckie Building, Hotel Dominion, Holland Block, and Packing House

Canadian Fairbanks Building (also known as The McLennan & McFeely Building) - 111 Water Street
Built: 1905
Architectural Style: Edwardian Commercial
Architects: William Tuff Whiteway & Edward Evans Blackmore

The Canadian Fairbanks Building is a three-storey masonary commercial building located on the North West corner of Water and Abbott Street. It was originally built for hardware merchants McLennan and McFeely; However they never occupied it as they had already started construction of a larger warehouse at 55 East Cordova Street.

The building was leased to the Canadian Fairbanks Company which was the largest machinery and mill supply company in Canada. This reflects the growing importance of the resource industry in B.C. and the need for a large-scale supplier of machinery and equipment to B.C.'s logging and mining industries

Like many of the buildings on the north side of Water Street, the Canadian Fairbanks Building was built on piles on infilled water lots. By the 1980's, it's foundation had decayed to the point where collapse was inevitable. Extensive renovations in 1987 reclaimed the nearly condemned building for office and retail use.

The Inuit Gallery, located on 206 Cambie Street, Gastown, is hosting their latest exhibition entitled "Small Treasures 2010 Collection." Join in the celebration this Saturday, January 24th at 10 AM. See below for details.

[from Inuit.com]
A new year means that it is time for our annual Small Treasures exhibition and 2010 marks our seventh.  Small Treasures is an appropriate title as a great many of these works beg to be picked up and handled and, regardless of size, they certainly are to be treasured.  The sculptures have been gleaned from a variety of sources and their small scale harkens back to a period when the Inuit first began making carvings.

We have acquired exquisite modern works made by leading sculptors and are also pleased to present some older works which have come from private collections.  This is a great opportunity to make them your new treasures.

Included in this year’s selection we have a lovely small John Kavik carving as well as a more generously proportioned example by his son, Thomas Ugjuk.  There are delicate posing birds by Napachie Sharky exquisite transformative works by Padlalik Shaa.  This is one of the largest Small Treasures exhibition we have ever mounted and we believe there is something for every taste and every budget.

Please join with us in celebrating Small Treasures 2010.

With the help of the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver archives you can now learn about each building in Gastown through the Gastown Blog Building History Series. Enjoy and keep posted for more history from the Gastown Blog.

In this week’s addition, we are profiling the Packing House, home to koolhaus and versus 21. Check out our previous Building History posts on the Hotel Europe, the Landing, Leckie Building, Hotel Dominion, and Holland Block

The Packing House – 1 Water Street

Built: 1910-12
Architectural Style: Edwardian Commercial

Designed by the Swift Canadian Company’s Construction Department, the original 1912 building was a four storey meat warehouse and packing plant.  The two storey addition to the east which included the loading bays was constructed in 1918.  The company continued to prosper and additional office space was required for the expanding business and in 1925 two storeys were added to the original building.

The Swift Canadian Packing House and Office Building is representative of the importance of Gastown as the trans-shipment point between the terminus of the railway and Pacific shipping routes.  It also illustrates the development of an extensive food distribution network that grew in response to the rapidly growing local population.

It is interesting to note that this was the site of Gastown’s first butcher shop. George Black, Gastown’s first butcher, located his butcher shop on this same site as early as 1868. He sold the business to Alfred Coughtrey in 1885 who in turn sold it to Van Volkenburg & Brothers about 1888. Van Volkenburg sold his business to B.C. Cattle Co. Ltd., which later became Swift Canadian Co. Ltd.