For anyone taking a Saturday stroll through the Northeast False Creek seawall tomorrow (November 26), be sure to keep an eye out for some innovative public experiments.

Students enrolled in the Simon Fraser University semester at CityStudio—an experimentation and innovation hub for the City of Vancouver—will be launching The Imagination Zone, which are projects co-created with Vancouver artists and Vancouver city staff.

The day-long event (noon to 7 p.m.) will showcase five different experiments created to help the city achieve its goals of being healthy, creative, and vibrant.

The featured projects include:

1. IllumiLane: An illuminated interactive cyclist and pedestrian path through Creekside Park that integrates art into transportation to promote walking and cycling as safe and fun transportation choices.
2. StairChairs: An urban furniture installation that invites community members to sit and participate through interactive mural art on the steps of the Plaza of Nations.
3. Food Recovery Project: A food waste reduction initiative aimed to build a zero waste food future located at the Science World Gazebo.
4. TeaTalk: A traveling mobile tea cart offering rich conversations over free cups of tea.
5. Umbrella Taxi: A whimsical walk through Northeast False Creek inspiring friendly citizen behaviour.

Artists participating in this event include Stuart Ward & Ben Z Cooper of Hfour; Nick Gregson, Vancouver mural artist; Michael Bean, Biz Studio; George Rahi, Hadden Park Fieldhouse; Bryce Aspinall, visual artist; and Clara Tsang, SFU systems engineering student.

The Imagination Zone was developed in collaboration with the City of Vancouver’s public art program. Students engaged with city staff, artists, urban planning mentors, and other local creative throughout the duration of their project development process.  

“I am really excited to bring more public art to Northeast False Creek,” says Nick Gregson Vancouver mural artist, in a press statement. “It is my hope that painting interactive murals in the Imagination Zone will really help shift people’s perspectives about interacting with and becoming a part of art in Vancouver.”

For more information, click here.