Pictured are 1930s dockyard and railway workers in Vancouver’s harbour, painted by a trio of well known BC artists. They are scaled-down examples of two panels, which formed part of a 12-piece exhibition mural.

The full-size versions were created as part of a series commissioned by the Minister of Trade and Industry for Space No.10 – the British Columbia portion of the Western States Building at the Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939. Held on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay, the exposition – themed “The Pageant of the Pacific” – ran from February 18 through October 29, 1939, and from May 25 through September 29, 1940. The British Columbia Exhibit was completed on February 10, 1939.

The 12 huge panels were painted as the pavilion was being constructed, and complemented a series of paneled sections built exclusively from commercial softwoods from the province – namely fir, spruce, hemlock, clear and knotty cedar, and clear and knotty pine. Each panel represented a specialized and typical form of British Columbian industrial, social and sporting life.

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