The Lego-like art installation Human Structures Vancouver will be leaving the shores of Olympic Village--one of three public-art installations moving to Montreal in March after showing in the 2014-16 Vancouver Biennale.

They'll be showing as part of the La Balade de la Paix / An Open-Air Museum exhibition sponsored by the City of Montreal and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal to celebrate the Quebec city's 375th anniversary and Canada's 150th.

Jonathan Borofsky's colourful sculpture of interlocking human figures had been an uplifting sight along the bike path since its installation in the summer of 2014.

“For public art, it’s not up to me to put up my most depressing moments out there. I think a museum is a good place for that because people go there more open to that. In public art, people need something that reflects their own optimism—even if it’s been beaten down,” the artist told the Straight at the time of installation.

Montreal's gain is our loss: the Guardian recently featured Human Structures as one of readers' best public artworks in the world, saying "Vancouver boasts incredible natural beauty but also displays remarkable public art throughout the city. This sculpture suggests diversity and connectivity, while its colourfulness inspires joy.’

Also leaving town, are Magdalena Abakanowicz's Walking Figures on Lonsdale Avenue, which will take their leave one by one in the next two weeks to adorn the Golden Mile along Montreal's  Sherbrooke Street.

The third piece leaving is The Meeting, the eight squatting red monks in Rey Sargent Park in front of the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art in North Vancouver. 

The biennale temporary installations are for sale. Donors or sponsors sometimes step up to keep Vancouver Biennale sculptures here as a legacy, most famously as lululemon founder Chip Wilson and his wife Shannon did for the 2009-11 event's A-maze-ing Laughter—the 14 smiling figures at English Bay. Thanks to a $1.5-million donation, the art will permanently remain in the greenspace at the corner of Denman and Davie streets. “I’d like to extend my most sincere gratitude to the Vancouver Biennale and the Chip Wilson family, who helped me realize my dream to have my work, A-maze-ing Laughter, become a legacy public art work in Vancouver,” artist Yue Minjun said at the time.