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<\/p>\nSculptor George Norris never achieved the renown of some Vancouver artists.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s responsible for one of Vancouver\u2019s most beloved public artworks, The Crab, which sits in front of the Museum of Vancouver and the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s iconic,\u201d said Ryan Hunt, CEO of the museum. \u201cEven people who aren\u2019t aware of the name of the Museum of Vancouver or the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre often know our building as the building with the crab in front of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris received the commission for the sculpture on May 16, 1967, at an event at Hycroft, the Shaughnessy mansion run by the University Women\u2019s Club of Vancouver.<\/p>\n
The Crab is about 6.7-metres high and five-metres wide, and is made of stainless steel. The sculpture is also a fountain, with water spraying out of jets.<\/p>\n
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May 16, 1967: George Norris with his winning model for the sculpture known as The Crab, which sits outside the Museum of Vancouver and the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre.<\/p>\n
The water can\u00a0be\u00a0operated\u00a0manually, to vary the speed and intensity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sculpture explodes with water,\u201d Norris told The Province on May 16, 1967. \u201cThe fountain will have moods, as the sea does. When the pool (around it) is empty, the crab will be a free-standing sculpture. When the pool is full and all jets off, the sculpture will reflect in the still water. When the jets are on, there are three water systems which can be changed and combined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris told The Vancouver Sun that the sculpture\/fountain was designed to change with the weather or events.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a rainy day you might want to shut off the water entirely; at a special event such as the Sea Festival you might want the jets to be on full-blast,\u201d said Norris. \u201cThis gives an element of surprise \u2014 a change from our very organized lives. I didn\u2019t want to restrict this by a limited interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Funds for the $20,000 artwork were raised by the women\u2019s subcommittee of the Vancouver Centennial Committee. Oddly, the design wasn\u2019t chosen by women \u2014 it was chosen by a six-man jury. Another $24,000 was spent on the fountain.<\/p>\n
The sculpture\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0actually have\u00a0a\u00a0name,\u00a0The Crab is just what\u00a0people\u00a0call it. But\u00a0there is\u00a0a reason\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0in the shape of a crab.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to (First Nations) legend, the crab is the guardian of the harbour,\u201d Mrs. Charles Hillman of the women\u2019s subcommittee said when the sculpture was dedicated on May 4, 1968. \u201cIt is also the sign of the zodiac at the time we celebrate Canada\u2019s Confederation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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An Oct. 4, 1968, file photograph of the eye-catching giant stainless steel crab sculpture being set up outside the Centennial Museum (now the Vancouver Museum), and Planetarium at Vanier Park, by welder Gus Lidberg, left, and sculptor\/creator of the piece, George Norris Ross.<\/p>\n
The 1,360-kilogram sculpture is made of several pieces that were welded together by Gus Lidberg. It was made at Ellett Copper and Brass at 92 West 2nd Ave., put on a barge and floated the length of False Creek to Vanier Park and the Vancouver Centennial Museum, the original name of the Museum of Vancouver.<\/p>\n
Norris said Lidberg deserved a lot of credit for the finished sculpture. Lidberg was proud of his work, calling it \u201cthe best piece of sculpture ever done in Vancouver.\u201d<\/p>\n
George Alexander Norris was born in Victoria on Christmas Eve, 1929. He studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University), Syracuse University in New York and the Slade School of Art in London, England.<\/p>\n
According to his Museum of Vancouver bio, he did a lot of day jobs (carpenter, miner, millworker and logger) and taught art at the University of B.C., the Vancouver School of Art, and the Banff School of Fine Arts.<\/p>\n
He was a prolific sculptor and artist in metal,\u00a0stone\u00a0and wood, with many pieces in\u00a0Vancouver and Victoria,\u00a0including Mother and Child outside the UBC library and an abstract,\u00a0Dynamic Mobile Steel Sculpture,\u00a0at the Victoria Public Library.<\/p>\n
One of his most prominent works went up outside Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver in 1974, but the 41\/2-storey abstract work was removed in 1988 and donated to the City of Surrey. But it didn\u2019t find a home. A city worker mistook part of the sculpture for scrap metal in 1996, and a portion of the work was destroyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s upsetting,\u201d Norris told The Province at the time. \u201cYou put a lot of work and part of yourself into something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris died on March 12, 2013, at age 84. His friend, artist Gordon Miller, said: \u201cHe was probably the most unrecognized and unappreciated talent in B.C. He was an incredible artist who never tooted his own horn.\u201d<\/p>\n
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