{"id":35587,"date":"2025-07-31T00:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T00:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/35587\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T00:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T00:09:14","slug":"plans-to-install-car-tower-sculpture-next-to-granville-bridge-cancelled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/35587\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans to install car tower sculpture next to Granville Bridge cancelled"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City of Vancouver announced this afternoon it has put a stop to plans to reinstall Trans Am Rapture \u2014 a well-known public art installation previously known as \u201cTrans Am Totem\u201d \u2014 at the south end of the Granville Street Bridge, citing concerns over its size and scale in relation to the site.<\/p>\n

This also follows complaints by local residents in recent weeks<\/a> after the new permanent location for the sculpture was publicly revealed. Some residents also created an online petition opposed to the installation, which has collected nearly 260 signatures<\/a> to date.<\/p>\n

On June 25, Daily Hive Urbanized reported Trans Am Rapture\u2019s new location<\/a> \u2014 within the grassy area in the large informal green space at the southwest loop of the bridge. At that point, construction crews had already excavated a hole and begun the concrete foundational work ahead of the previously planned completion and reveal in late Summer 2025.<\/p>\n

This bridge loop is prominently located between West 4th Avenue and West 5th Avenue, and next to the Anderson Street entrance into Granville Island. The large installation would have also been highly visible for passing vehicle, pedestrian, and cyclist traffic on the Granville Street Bridge, which saw the opening of its new Granville Connector walking and cycling pathways last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, following a review by the City Manager\u2019s Office, City staff have been directed to re-examine previously considered sites and explore new potential locations that can better accommodate the massive artwork, which weighs more than 25,000 pounds.<\/p>\n

The towering 33-ft-tall sculpture features five crushed, salvaged cars \u2014 all perched on top of an old-growth cedar tree trunk.<\/p>\n

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New permanent location of Trans Am Rapture at the southwest loop of the Granville Street Bridge. (Google Maps)<\/p>\n

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Construction progress on the foundation for Trans Am Rapture at Granville Street Bridge\u2019s southwest loop, as seen on June 19, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)<\/p>\n

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Construction progress on the foundation for Trans Am Rapture at Granville Street Bridge\u2019s southwest loop, as seen on June 19, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)<\/p>\n

While the original site will no longer host the sculpture, the City states the concrete pad at the location previously intended for Trans Am Rapture will be repurposed for a future, smaller-scale public art installation. They also emphasized the municipal government\u2019s commitment to celebrating the sculpture and ensuring it finds a permanent home.<\/p>\n

When the Trans Am Rapture was first installed in 2015 at its original location on the median of Quebec Street in Northeast False Creek, it was intended to be a temporary piece as part of the Vancouver Biennale\u2019s 2014-2016 exhibition.<\/p>\n

It was\u00a0made permanent in 2019<\/a> when lululemon founder Chip Wilson\u2019s family donated US$250,000 for its retainment in Vancouver\u2019s urban landscape. Through a $1.5 million donation, Wilson is also known for previously securing the Vancouver Biennale\u2019s \u201cThe Amazing Laughter\u201d (Laughing Men) statues at English Bay in downtown Vancouver\u2019s West End as a permanent fixture.<\/p>\n

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Trans Am Rapture at its previous location on Quebec Street. (meunierd\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

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JBdV\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

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Trans Am Rapture at its previous location on Quebec Street. (meunierd\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

In an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized in March 2018, Marcus Bowcott, the local artist behind the piece, said having Trans Am Totem sponsored by the Vancouver Biennale was \u201cout of the blue \u2013 unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vancouver Biennale\u2019s sponsorship has been great and there\u2019s been tremendous public engagement, beyond anything we could have imagined,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Trans Am Rapture was dismantled<\/a> for much-needed cleaning, maintenance, and bird-proofing, and to prepare the Quebec Street site for the 2022 Formula E race track \u2014 an event that ultimately never took place.<\/p>\n

Since it was dismantled, the sculpture was thoroughly decontaminated and cleaned of all remnants of bird droppings and nesting materials. In recent weeks, ahead of its previously anticipated installation next to the bridge, the cars were in the process of being repainted, and a new internal armature \u2014 a supporting framework to hold up the cars \u2014 was being designed and built.<\/p>\n

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July 2025 final preparations for the rehabilitation of the Trans Am Rapture. (Marcus Bowcott)<\/p>\n

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July 2025 final preparations for the rehabilitation of the Trans Am Rapture. (Marcus Bowcott)<\/p>\n

In the online petition, those expressing opposition to the installation of the sculpture at this location called it an \u201ceyesore,\u201d took issue with how it would block views of the North Shore mountains, and expressed concern that the informal green space within the loop would eventually become toxic from birds nesting and guano droppings.<\/p>\n

City staff further stated today that they will provide updates in the future on identifying a new permanent home for Trans Am Rapture.<\/p>\n

When the sculpture was removed from Northeast False Creek in 2021, City staff noted in an internal memo at the time that they were seeking a location where the piece could be displayed for at least 10 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Vancouver announced this afternoon it has put a stop to plans to reinstall Trans Am…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-35587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}