Vancouver Street Banners

Decorative street banners have been part of Vancouver’s landscape since 1958, under the administration of the Vancouver Street Decoration Committee. 

The three banners in the Feckless Collection include two by Sam Black (1990; silkscreen on cotton) and one by Alistair Bell (1996; nylon). These are 80" high by 32" wide.

Feckless has just acquired two more banners, by Jack Shadbolt, ca. 1992. Photo to come.

For more about the artists included in the Vancouver street banner collection, visit the City of Vancouver Archives.

From the City of Vancouver fonds: The banners have provided a palette of unique scope and scale for artists. Many of these artists are well known, and include Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Rudy Kovach, Jack Shadbolt, Barbara Shelly, Gordon Smith, Takao Tanabe, Len Norris, Tony Onley, and Sam Black.

The Councils of the City have funded the program every year since 1958, when the banners were an element of a comprehensive, widespread decoration theme as part of Vancouver’s participation in the celebration of British Columbia’s Centenary.