Monument for East Vancouver

Being born and raised here in East Van. I remember in High School we used this logo to represent the neighborhood to all the other districts. You could get your self in trouble writing this in the wrong area of town at one time. Great to see it has come back as a friendlier form of art. There are even T-​Shirts available to.

This to me feels so good to see, especially on the way home from the sky train station. I am proud to be partially East Van, I am a Marpole chick by residence, however, always associated myself as an East Van chick. There is just way too much East Van to take out of me even if you tried. I’ve seen this now iconic monument on postcards on some local art and photography. I’ve sent some postcards back home to relatives in the UK to distribute amongst themselves. Ken Lum is amazing for making this simple yet newly iconic symbol of a neighborhood that means so much to so many different people. I love Commercial Drive, the type of people and the hippy alternative culture that it has provided. East Van is the only place where I am not judged for my colored hair, piercings in non traditional places and where people with tattoos aren’t judged.

One of the cooler-​looking landmarks in the city.
Parking is available on the side streets, but not directly in front of the monument itself.
It’s not the world’s biggest sign, but it actually is pretty cool to look at as you walk or drive by. East side, represent.

Somehow this Sculpture has developed a cult following, It cross shape projects a shield of Christian like protection from the evils of downtown. Similar to the Hamza Symbol of Middle East. I like my Talisman more nondemonational in a mutliculture democary

This 57 foot sculpture looks cool at night — it lights up — but I tend to ignore it during the day when I drive pass it. I used to live in East Van, but I don’t remember the East Van graffiti cross symbol on walls or on clothing, but it was created to bring back the memories of the days when this symbol was widely used in East Van.
Yes, it’s different, but it’s also an original piece of artwork that tells a piece of history of one part of Vancouver, and I do like it!

I moved to East Van from the Burbs when I was 17. It was a wake up call being on my own, fending for myself, living in an illegal converted office above a butcher-​shop and pretty much always on the brink of starvation; living on cheap beer, rice and pasta while attending art school. Living the dream I suppose…
15 years later — almost as long as I had been alive at the time I moved here — and I have lived exclusively within the confines and boundaries of East Vancouver and spent a great deal of time working, dreaming drinking and fucking here as well. I know this place intimately and by sight and by smell.
East Van is a mentality, a place, a concept, an ideology. It’s punk, it’s do-​it-​yourself, it’s indie, it’s art, it’s hipsters and immigrants and youth and the elderly and culture and decay and gentrification. It’a melting pot with problems all it’s own. But most of all it’s a unique urban space and such a space demands demarcation and recognition so who better than an artist son of East Van to design and have built the iconic sign that shines it’s white light beacon across the blighted train-​yards toward the glass and steel towers of the downtown. Part warning, part defiant stand. The sign is a part of all of those who make their home here and for this we are and should be proud. I know I am.

The famous luminated art piece by Ken Lum. He really represents the Canadian Chinese heritage of Vancouver through thick and thin in the art industry. The very iconic sign can be seen when passing by on the sky train or driving along Clark street. One of the busiest streets in Vancouver.
Ken Lum really changed street art into high art just by representing in a different type of media and by placing it in such an amazing part of town. This monument is made of LED lighting tubes and just placed on a cemented pedestal.
The cement really represents the East Side of Vancouver as it has that view of the new technology at the same time give that essence of pure science and stone to the aspect of the art piece. I really don’t like the cross representation as it gives a very religious view on the city, but I know the city very well. The cross does represent a type of wanting to be Liberal and want change, but at the same time want true values of the Christian/​church view.
I love the art piece and it was placed at the perfect part of town. The piece is so iconic through out Vancouver, and Ken Lum, one of the most well known in Vancouver has deserve to get this perfect piece to be placed in the city of beauty.

I really do not know how to rate this, not one of my favorites at all but built up prior to the Olympics this cross is considered a piece of art. Thinking of this symbol, it has real ‘east-​side’ flare on more of a ‘gangsta’ point of view. I can see this as a tattoo, but not a huge lit up sign. It is located on Clark Street near the Skytrain station, and whenever I cross it, I still wonder why, but I will say it is not for everyone but still worth a look.

Ken Lum’s masterful public art work evokes pride for East Van residents and mystery and confusion for outsiders. Being a former resident of East Van, I remember seeing it on sidewalks written with chalk, on back of garage doors and on unexpecting business near Commercial Drive. For all those who grew up near Templeton or Van Tech know what I’m talking about.
The East Van cross has religious connotations but it’s cancelled out by it’s sacrilegious content and affiliation to gang insignia. This iconic symbol has never been officially recognized and that was the only way ken Lum was able to erect this underground symbol with public financing.
The sign sits proudly on the corner of Clark and East 6^th Ave on a concrete base. At night, it shines to the West facing False Creek flats warning outsiders, «you ain’t in Kansas anymore».
This is the stuff of legends as no one really knows the real origin of the symbol. East Van residents can take pride in such a rich and historic symbol, «East Van Rules».

The west side of Vancouver may have the beaches, the high-​end restaurants and boutiques, but East Vancouver has the heart and soul of the city. Ken Lum’s Monument for East Vancouver is my absolute favourite public art installation in town. Rising up defiantly to face the west, the East Van Cross is at once religious and sacrilegious, beautiful and gritty. I remember seeing the East Van cross tagged around the city as a kid, and I love how the symbol has been re-​appropriated as something the community can be proud of. I must admit, my heart feels full with pride every time I see it. I often have to fight the urge to thump my chest and shout «this is MY house!»
Certainly, this art installation has evoked strong reactions from many residents, which is something all powerful art does. Giving a nod to East Van’s rich and colourful history as a place many immigrants called their home, the cross doesn’t come without socioeconomic and religious parallels; Lum has been quoted as saying «Christ suffered on the cross. East Van suffers on the cross. The point is: someone is suffering. And immigrants suffer more than most.»
The best way to view the Cross is from the skytrain in the evening heading from Main St. station to Commercial Drive/​Broadway station. Shining like a beacon into the night, the East Van cross blows the bat symbol out of the water.

As someone who has spent most of their adult life in the Republic of East Vancouver I can say I love this piece.
I am a huge advocate for public art and I am a big fan of the art that the City of Vancouver has commissioned over the last few years. There have been some really amazing pieces to grace the streets and I think that this is one of them.
While I have struggled with the implied imagery of the cross I believe that the food for thought created out of the whole project is quite spectacular.
I am a huge fan of Ken Lum’s work and listening to him speak a few years ago about this piece only further cemented his brilliance in my mind.
I love East Van, it’s my home, and I’m a fan of this monument.

It’s cool to be in a gang right? You hang out as a pack, stick up for eachother, rob convenient stores… okay maybe not the last bit, but the first two fo’ sho!
Gangs don’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, the definition from Wikipedia is: A gang is a group of people, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. So why are people making gangs such a negative word? Hey man, why can’t we start a Red Cross gang filled with people who like to give blood? Or an SPCA gang filled with people who like to volunteer with animals? Or an East Van gang that represents the people in the community who can’t afford to live in North Van, or the West End?
And if you don’t have your panties in a twist about the gang symbolism, maybe you hate this monument because it looks like the shape of a cross? But I bet all of you people who are hatin’ non-​believers just got presents for CHRISTmas. The day that celebrates the birth of our lord. So you wanna party for the birth of Jesus but you don’t wanna come together as a community as the East Van Gang? That’s fucked up.

I agree with Lex B. I think that those who think that this has to do solely with contemporary religion or gang symbols are missing the point in an astonishing way.
It’s not up to me to interpret it for everyone, but I like to think it represents the fierce identity that East Van residents cultivate as a community. I also think it embodies a certain amount of irony, meant to speak to the ways that the church and mainstream Canadian society have forsaken East Van.
Rather than a civic monument, this is public art, more of which is ALWAYS welcome in my city.
For visitors to Vancouver, a great way to view this monolith is from the VCC Clark Skytrain Station. :)

As a resident of East Van who can see this sign after a quick stroll down the street to a break in the trees, as an atheist, and as not-​a-​gang-​member, I like it.
I’m tired of the haters, and people who can’t see past what the iconography represents to them specifically and who assume the same translates to everyone who sees it. Art is subjective, you can take the history and breath new life and ideas into an old symbol.
It’s both powerful and playful. I love it and I love my neighborhood.

I love seeing this thing from the sky train! It feels me with a bit of glee every time I see it.
I am a huge fan of East Van and think this sign is fun! I am not well versed in the history behind it, and I guess you should have grown up in East Van to fully appreciate all that it stands for… but I think it’s pretty to look at at night and just sort of cracks me up.
Maybe if the West End had a welcome sign this monument could get a little more love :)

I kept looking for the church that this sign belongs to, wondering how they got a permit for such a huge display. Only after finding this on Unilocal did I find out that it’s more historical than religious.
I still don’t get why East Van would want to be represented by (what used to be?) a gang logo, but I guess that makes me an outsider :-/

I love the East Van monument. I love the way it lights up the night. It’s a recognition of our neighbourhood — this symbol has been around since the ’50’s, and maybe earlier, as a tribal identifier; we’ve even displayed it at a Parks Board meeting when advocating for more park space east of Main Street. I regard it more as a scrabble image than any religious icon.
And young or old, most long time residents recognize the Van East emblem.
I smile when on the east bound skytrain at night –I know I’m close to the comforts of home. I’ve even pulled some later shifts just so I can be driving along Clark when the sign lights up! This monument bears silent witness to a wonderfully diverse, hard-​working bunch of folks. And, Dave K., what a rich visual image — a flaming East Van sign. Maybe stage 2!

Brooklyn has their bridge — East Van has our cross.
I bleed East Van and my heart swells with pride and nostalgia whenever I see the sign. I’ve seduced into altering my driving routes to pass by here whenever I can. [*cue up ‘Woke Up This Morning’ and drive-​by with a Tony Soprano scowl*]
Being raised in East Vancouver is an education that I will never trade for anything. Growing up, the East Van cross was ubiquitous — it was sprawled as graffiti, carved into jungle gyms and desks, and drawn in book jackets. Why? Well — it was the gang symbol for the once-​notorious East Van Saints. However, despite it’s shady origins and obvious religious implications, no one can deny its aesthetic appeal and how it iconic it is for East Van. Over the years, the symbol has been co-​opted by bikers and slightly twisted into a Maltese cross. And most recently, it’s been a symbol of the resurgence of East Van pride. The artist, Ken Lum, built the perfect monument for East Vancouver and I’m pleasantly surprised that the COV allowed him.
The monument is raw and defiant — it doesn’t shy away from East Van’s gritty past (and some would even argue it’s still gritty today). It’s an old school symbol — get that regentrification and sanitization shit out of here. The kicker is that the sign faces out west — I think of it as a warning to non-​native West Enders that this is the ‘bad’ part of town. But for anyone in the know, you’re entering the cultural heart of Vancouver. When people talk about Vancouver being a beacon of ethnic diversity, they are talking about East Van exclusively.
While it’s not as impressive engineering-​wise as the Brooklyn Bridge, illuminated by white LEDs and towering in the sky like the Star of Bethlehem, the East Van cross is equally iconic. East Van: STAND UP!

I like that East Van is «officially» trying to identify its culture, and how supportive the city seems to be about this display, and that I can see it from so far away, etc. The design is very bold and well known, and takes this scribble from an East Van Saints jacket patch to an institution representing old and young generations alike. And you can see it from downtown, and along the skytrain entering East Van. So its bold too. Awesome.
I dont like how people are looking in to the cross as symbolism for East Vans religious ties, as the new generation living here seems more athiest and free thinking than ever before! A lot of leftist based idealogies in the city spring from these neighborhoods, and libertarianism seems the expected norm. For some reasone, this didnt strike me as the best symbol for East Van at all, but I cant make another suggestion — I didnt even grow up here (although i’ve been calling it home for over two years). So again, leave it to the artist to be creative, and the critic to be snobby.

Mark me down as a fan of the East Van sign. I think the only way it could better would be if it was a flaming East Van sign — now that would be a sight to behold!
It reminds me of some kind of Bat Signal — I’m thinking that some Drive-​ster superhero may leap from the shadows at any moment, to confront his Evil Yuppie nemesis and force him back into the bowels of Yaletown from whence he came.