       |
Next to the Royal British Columbia Museum
Victoria, BC V8W 9W2
View Map
Thunderbird Park is home to an impressive array of totem poles. The original poles at this park were collected from various coastal First Nations villages in the early twentieth century, and they were then recreated in the 1950s by Kwakiutl artist Mungo Martin. While the stories and legends represented here have been lost in the sands of time, these magnificent poles still speak volumes of the pride and artistry of British Columbia’s original caretakers. And, right next door is the Helmken House, one of the oldest surviving homes in all of British Columbia, built right on this site in 1852.
Vancouver Art Gallery
750 Hornby Street
Vancouver BC V6Z 2H7
Phone: 604-662-4719
View Map | Website
This magnificent building started life as the city courthouse in the early twentieth century, and its classically styled architecture and high rotunda make the building as much a work of art as anything on display. The gallery’s permanent collection includes more than 9,000 items, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada. Especially of note are the works of British Columbia’s own Emily Carr, whose distinctly Canadian style gained her great acclaim in the first half of the twentieth century. Add the Carr paintings to the rest of the works on display here at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and you’ve got the makings of a pretty full afternoon of cultural enrichment.
Vancouver Public Library
350 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 6B1
Phone: 604-331-3603
View Map | Website
Near the Robson Street shopping area is the Vancouver Public Library. While you may not be in the market for any recreational reading at the moment, Library Square is a great place to hang out and take a mid-day break on a sunny afternoon. This impressive building was completed in 1995, and its classic Roman architecture makes you half-expect a chariot race to come by at any second.
6393 Marine Drive Nw
Vancouver, BC V6T 1A7
Phone: 604-822-5087
View Map | Website
The highlights of this impressive museum are many, from the massive hall of wooden sculptures, to the tiniest artifacts kept in the museum’s unique Visible Storage cabinets. In addition to its focus on the cultures of the Pacific Northwest, the MOA has excellent collections of Asian and European pieces as well. The Museum of Anthropology is also home to artist Bill Reid’s masterpiece, The Raven and the First Men. This dramatic depiction of the Haida people’s creation myth is one of Reid’s most famous sculptures, and is featured on the back of the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. More of Reid’s work is on display outside. On the grounds behind the museum are two longhouses built in the traditional Haida style, and numerous totem poles created by Reid and fellow First Nations artist Douglas Cranmer.
Museum of Vancouver
1100 Chestnut Street
Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9
Phone: 604-736-4431
View Map | Website
The ornate Christian Science Center is the headquarters of the worldwide church. This denomination was founded by Mary Baker Eddy right here in New England in the late 19th century, and this huge complex has grown to occupy fourteen acres of Back Bay real estate. The center’s main basilica alone can accommodate up to five thousand worshippers, and the 700-foot-long reflecting pool outside has become one of the best spots in the entire city for a brown bag lunch or a mid-afternoon stroll.
Royal British Columbia Museum
675 Belleville Street
Victoria, BC V8W 9W2
Phone: 250-356-7226
View Map | Website
This massive museum traces the history and pre-history of British Columbia through a series of fascinating exhibits and galleries. The Living Land/Living Sea Gallery presents realistic dioramas of the regions’s earliest days. The First Peoples gallery has the original versions of many of the totem poles that are on display out in Thunderbird Park. Then, in the History Galleries, there are life-size recreations of a frontier town, complete with cobbled streets, old-time storefronts and a sawmill with a working waterwheel. Plus, you can find a realistic replica of the H.M.S. Discovery, the ship of Captain George Vancouver, who explored the waters of British Columbia in 1792.