• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Heavy Petal

Gardening for everyone

  • About
  • Journal
  • Small-Space Vegetable Gardens
You are here: Home / Resistance is fertile / Hogan’s Alley guerilla art

Hogan’s Alley guerilla art

July 25, 2007 by Andrea Bellamy 4 Comments

public_art.jpg

I want to tell you about a really inspiring guerilla art project and accompanying blog.

Though I have lived in Vancouver almost all of my life, I’d never heard of Hogan’s Alley until a member of the Vancouver Guerilla Gardening Group put out a call for help with an installation for the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project.

Hogan’s Alley was the first and last neighbourhood in Vancouver with a substantial concentrated black population, and prior to 1935, was a happening red-light district. It was demolished in the 70s by the construction of the Georgia Viaduct.

The Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project is a grassroots cultural organization dedicated to keeping this history alive; one of their members, artist Lauren Marsden, spearheaded this floral tribute to the neighbourhood. She writes, of the project:

The civic powers write — sometimes in floral text — messages welcoming you into the municipality. But what about the unofficial spaces? Those that were not named by the city, but named themselves? The municipalities within municipalities? The lost ‘hoods? The ghost ways?

Hogans_Alley.jpg

Red impatiens welcome you to the old commuity. If you’re in the vicinity of the green space near the Dunsmuir Viaduct, at 200-block Union Street — the old site of Hogan’s Alley — check it out. Hopefully they last through the summer.

The Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project’s blog is a fascinating look at this forgotten neighbourhood.

Images from Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project.

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailCard-carrying guerilla gardener Default ThumbnailVancouver guerilla gardeners meet-up Default ThumbnailGuerilla Gardeners Default ThumbnailWhat is guerrilla gardening?

Filed Under: Resistance is fertile

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. John says

    July 25, 2007 at 11:27 am

    They look very nice. Someone is designated to water them right?

  2. Andrea says

    July 25, 2007 at 12:45 pm

    Yes, but they haven’t needed to. It’s been raining like crazy here for the past week. Nice summer we’re having!

  3. degan says

    July 25, 2007 at 1:11 pm

    very cool! i will have to go check that out.

  4. Robin (Bumblebee) says

    July 26, 2007 at 6:25 pm

    I always enjoy seeing examples of urban gardening by groups. I am reminded of the wide-spread efforts in European cities, where it even becomes a competition. But a beautification project seems especially fitting given Lady Bird’s recent passing. Is there a Canadian equivalent for an early advocate for beautification and environmental efforts?

    Great!

    –Robin (Bumblebee)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

My latest book

The bright, illustrated cover of Small-Space Vegetable Gardens
Small-Space Vegetable Gardens by Andrea Bellamy

newsletter

Subscribe to receive occasional email updates (I promise never to spam you!)

Reader Favourites

Round, cookie-dough-like balls of clay and seed

How to make seed balls

Colourful quinoa plants in bloom

Would you grow your own grains?

This proves it. Chickens are hot.

Categories

  • Annuals
  • Blogging
  • Bulbs and Tubers
  • Composting
  • Critters and wildlife
  • Events
  • Garden Design
  • Garden Tours
  • Gardens to Visit
  • Green Gardening & Living
  • Holiday
  • How To
  • Indoors
  • Inspiration
  • Miscellaneous
  • My garden
  • Outdoor Living
  • Pacific Northwest
  • Perennials
  • Ponds & Water Gardening
  • Raving and Whining
  • Resistance is fertile
  • Resources
  • Retail Therapy
  • Shrubs & Trees
  • Small-Space Vegetable Gardens
  • Sugar Snaps and Strawberries
  • Uncategorized
  • Veggies & Edibles
  • WTF?
  • Home
  • About

Copyright © 2023 · Infinity Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in