Monument for East Vancouver, commissioned in 2009 by the City of Vancouver as part of the Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program, provided Ken Lum with an opportunity to pay tribute to the place where he was born and raised. His contribution transformed a decades-old symbol familiar throughout East Vancouver into a public artwork.

City of Vancouver Public Art Program – Monument for East Vancouver, 2010 by Ken Lum (Clark Drive at East 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC) | Photo by Robert Keziere

City of Vancouver Public Art Program – Monument for East Vancouver, 2010 by Ken Lum | Photo by Robert Keziere

The artwork features a Latin cross formed by the intersection of two illuminated words: a vertical “EAST” and horizontal “VAN” with the two words sharing the letter “A.” The origins of this symbol are shrouded in mystery but possibly linked to the once-sizable Roman Catholic population living…