Vancouver abandons plan to relocate stacked car sculpture to south end of Granville Bridge

From July 7: Residents in South Granville have launched a petition hoping to block a well-known art piece from rolling into their neighbourhood.

Trans Am Rapture – the 10-metre-tall artwork featuring five partially crushed cars stacked atop an old-growth cedar tree trunk that stood for years on Quebec Street near Science World – will not be relocated to the south side of the Granville Street Bridge, after all.

The City of Vancouver announced Wednesday that it is “ceasing work” on the reinstallation of the sculpture, which had caused consternation among some in the South Granville neighbourhood.

Residents had circulated petitions and organized letter-writing campaigns to the mayor and council, asking the city to reconsider its decision to install the public art piece between West 4th and West 5th avenues.

• Read more: Some in Vancouver’s South Granville neighbourhood reject stacked car artwork relocation

The city did not mention opposition from residents in its statement explaining the decision not to install the sculpture.

“The decision was made by the City Manager’s Office following further consideration of the size and scale of the artwork in relation to the site,” the city said. “City staff have been asked to revisit previously assessed locations and explore potential new ones that can better accommodate the artwork.”

Work had already begun to prepare the site for the installation of the artwork, which was scheduled to be completed in “late summer.”

“While the Trans Am Rapture will not move forward at the south end of the Granville Bridge, the existing concrete pad at the site will be repurposed to support a future, smaller-scale public art installation,” the city said. “More information will be shared as planning for a new location progresses.”

Formerly known as Trans Am Totem, the sculpture created by artists Marcus Bowcott and Helene Aspinall was originally installed as part of the 2014-16 Vancouver Biennale, which is independent from the city’s public art program.

The sculpture was donated to the city in 2019. It remained in its former location on Quebec Street until August 2021, when it was removed for restoration.

A memo to city councillors from the time indicates reinstallation of the work in a new location was originally anticipated for the summer of 2022.

Instead, the piece has remained in storage ever since.

The 2021 memo indicates that restoration work would be focused on ensuring the structural integrity of the piece and “bird-proofing” it to ensure it can be displayed for “at least 10 years.”