Welcome!

As you may know, I’ve been working on this project for some time now and I am more than excited to finally launch it!

In case you’re just tuning in – Artful City Walks is a project where different artists and creative minds document their neighborhood and favorite city spots through the lens of a disposable film camera. No photoshop in here, just candid on-the-go photographs. Along with the images you’ll get a few great recommendations of hidden spots and city gems that should not be missed. Yup, get ready to discover your city with a whole new set of eyes.

Today’s city walk (the very 1st one of the project!) is by Jessica Bell, a Vancouver-based artist who is as sweet and wonderful as her art. Check out her photos and tips! Enjoy

Watch | Low, low tide at Spanish Banks, rain or shine! The tide goes out so far that you feel like you will be able to reach out and touch the oil tankers that sit in the bay. And it is an amazing view of the city to the east that you can’t get apart from being on a boat.

Explore | Strathcona and its surrounding area. The studios I have worked in have all been in the industrial area that are part of this area of East Vancouver. There is so much going on in terms of art and industry; when I am there it feels like looking behind a watch face into the working parts of Vancouver. Ken Lum’s massive sculpture to East Van marks the boundary of it to the south, which was a brilliant addition to the neighbourhood just before the 2010 Olympics.

Walk | The Seawall. I spend so much time on the seawall in my commutes, and for recreation that I feel like I am in a relationship with it. One of my favourite things to do is to walk on the seawall until it feels like my legs are going to fall off. My husband and I did this on Easter weekend; we call it our ‘epic seawall walks’. If you do walk so long that it feels like your legs will fall off then you can always stop sit on a beach or hop on a water taxi to skip ahead a section. When I am away from Vancouver, the seawall is always the thing I miss first. 

Experience | The Rennie Collection at Wing Sang in Chinatown.  I feel like this is still a secret to a lot of Vancouverites. Bob Rennie is a really influential art collector who lives in Vancouver and he renovated the historic Wing Sang building in Chinatown to exhibit the artists he has collected and has held some of the best shows in Vancouver, I think. As an architecture buff, this building is equally as thrilling as the art it houses and the rooftop sculpture garden created by Considered Design is my favourite garden in Vancouver, hands down. The added bonus is that visiting the Rennie Collection is free; you just have to book into a guided tour on their website.

Hike | The university endowment lands / Pacific Spirit Regional Park. My husband works for The University of British Columbia so I have extra reason to travel all the way out to the Point Grey Peninsula where the campus is located. If I understand correctly, UBC is technically not even a part of Vancouver proper, and it is separated from the city by hectares and hectares of rainforest that riddled with trails that you can walk, run, cycle or ride horseback on.  It’s like Stanley Park, but so much bigger, more rugged and less utilized.

If you wanted to, you could walk through the forest from where it starts in the acreages of Southlands at the south, all the way to to low tide at Spanish Banks. It is another walk that has the potential to make you feel like your legs will fall off, but this forest is a stunning part of the city that is accessible by bus, or bike. Plus it’s mostly an off-leash area if you have a dog like I do, and the air in there is pure magic. It is actually my favourite place to go in the rain.

Thank you, Jessica!

|Jessica Bell Art|