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Bob Rennie (born 1956) is an art collector and a real estate marketer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the founder and executive director of Rennie, a Vancouver based real estate marketing firm. [1] The company's business divisions include Rennie developer services, Rennie consumer services (real estate brokerage), Rennie advisory services, Rennie rental services, technology and more. Some of Rennie's top competitors include Key Marketing, [2] MLA Canada (McNeill Lalonde & Associates Canada), [3] and Magnum Projects. [4] He is known colloquially as the "condo king". [5] Nominated by ArtNews Magazine as one of the top 200 collectors in the world, [6] Rennie is deeply involved in the art community locally and internationally, and he maintained his own art museum in Chinatown's Wing Sang building until fairly recently gifting it to the Chinese History Society.
Bob Rennie was born in 1956 and raised in East Vancouver on East 5th. His mother was a homemaker and waitress, and his father a truck driver for Carling Brewery. Rennie started selling East Side homes at the age of 19. He began selling condos in Vancouver in 1990 with Dan Ulinder, forming Ulinder Rennie Project Marketing. In 1997 Rennie bought out Ulinder and established Rennie Marketing Systems. [7]
Bob Rennie lives in Vancouver with his family, including his son Kris Rennie who is president of Rennie. [8]
He has marketed such projects as Fairmont Pacific Rim, Living Shangri-La (Vancouver's tallest tower) and Vancouver's 2010 Olympic Village. Other projects include the Woodward's Building and One Wall Centre.
Rennie Collection, one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Canada, has evolved since 1974, [9] when the first acquisition was made, to focus on works related to identity, social injustice, appropriation, painting and photography. The collection is dedicated not only to the acquisition of established international artists, but also the work of emerging artists. Currently, there are approximately 48 artists collected in depth with over 370 artists in total. The collection, while based in Vancouver, is usually spread across the globe, on loan to institutions like Guggenheim Museum New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Centre Georges Pompidou, Smithsonian and Tate, amongst many others.
A former chair of the North America Acquisitions Committee (NAAC) at Tate Museum in London, [10] [11] Rennie currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Tate International Council. In 2015, Rennie joined the Board of Trustees at The Art Institute of Chicago. [12] Rennie sits on the Dean's Advisory Board to the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia since 2003 and the University Art Committee since 2006 and is a former member of the Board of Governors at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Since 2015, Rennie has been featured in ArtNews Magazine's annual top 200 collectors list. [13]
Rennie had a museum in Chinatown's Wing Sang building, the oldest (1889) building in Chinatown. Four years and over $10 million [14] were spent renovating the building to transform the heritage landmark into an exhibit space for the Rennie Collection, open to the public free of charge. On top of the museum was an art piece by world-renowned artist Martin Creed, "EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT" (Work No 850). Creed's installation inspired the title of Julia Kwan's 2014 documentary film about Chinatown, Everything Will Be , in which Rennie is interviewed. [15] [16]
The first Dan Graham pavilion in Canada used to sit on the roof of the museum. [17] There is also a sculpture by Thomas Houseago. [18]
The Wing Sang Building received multiple awards including the 2010 Architectural Institute of British Columbia Special Jury Award, [19] the 2011 City of Vancouver Heritage Award [20] and the 2012 Vancouver Heritage Foundation Honour for Exceptional Heritage Conservation.
Rennie is a vocal opponent to the proposed move of the Vancouver Art Gallery from the current location in Robson Square to a newly constructed building on the city-owned Larwill Park (formerly the bus depot) next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. He questions the fiscal responsibility of the move, estimated to cost $400 million, as well as the plan to hire an international architect. [21]
Rennie has been criticized for trying to gentrify Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, one of the poorest communities in Canada, with the Woodward's Building project, which includes 536 condominiums and 200 non-market homes. Critics said that the project pushed residents out and increased rent for the neediest members of the city. [22]
Rennie is also the marketer for condominiums at the former 2010 Olympic Village, a project that has been the subject of controversy and extensive media attention around the project's financial challenges for several years. [23]
Since 2004, he has accumulated over two hundred parking tickets, of which he refers to as "the cost of being busy", [24] all of which have been paid.
Amidst a growing housing affordability crisis [25] in the run-up to the 2014 Vancouver municipal election, Rennie raised eyebrows and some outrage organizing an exclusive $25,000 a plate lunch [26] for developer colleagues to have a private audience with then-mayor Gregor Robertson. The $25k lunch became the subject of a popular local internet meme. [27] [28]
In 2012, Rennie made a major contribution to the National Gallery of Canada with his donation of Brian Jungen's 2004 artwork Court. Consisting of 210–240 factory sewing tabletops repainted to look like a basketball court, the work has previously never been shown in Canada. [29] A further 197 artworks were donated to the National Gallery of Canada in honour of Canada's 150th anniversary. The works, by some of the most internationally recognized Canadian artists (Geoffrey Farmer, Rodney Graham, Brian Jungen, Damian Moppett and Ian Wallace) as well as globally acclaimed artist Doris Salcedo, are valued at more than $12 million. [30] [31] [32] [33]
As well as his extensive work with museums and art-related organizations, Rennie sits on the board for the Streetohome Foundation, a local organization that aims to help ensure the homeless in Vancouver have access to safe, decent, affordable housing and support services. The project has raised $26 million to date and resulted in the building of 1000 non-market homes. Rennie is also a noted supporter of Vancouver General Hospital. His past memberships include the University of British Columbia Art Committee, Board of Governors for Emily Carr University and Commissioner of BC Housing Management Commission Board. His current memberships include Council for Canadian American Relations (CCAR), BCIT Inspire Campaign Cabinet, British Columbia Centre on Abuse Community Engagement Board, Urban Development Institute (UDI), Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics Advisory Board and Mayor's Economic Advisory Committee.
Rennie is consistently listed in Vancouver Magazine's annual Power 50; in 2011 he was named No. 8. [34] In 2002 he was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, and in 2012 the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, both of which are awarded to Canadians who have made a significant contribution to their fellow citizens, their community, or to Canada. Simon Fraser University awarded him the 2012 Chancellor's Distinguished Service Award, "for his role in bringing the Woodward's redevelopment—and SFU's new home for the School for the Contemporary Arts—to fruition." [35]
In recognition of his dedication to the arts and art community, Rennie received an honorary doctorate of letters from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2008. Rennie was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2014 for demonstrating "exceptional dedication to strengthening and enhancing arts and culture in BC." [36]
Arthur Charles Erickson was a Canadian architect and urban planner. He studied Engineering at the University of British Columbia and, in 1950, received his B.Arch. (Honours) from McGill University. He is known as Canada's most influential architect and was the only Canadian architect to win the American Institute of Architects AIA Gold Medal. When told of Erickson's award, Philip Johnson said, "Arthur Erickson is by far the greatest architect in Canada, and he may be the greatest on this continent."
Emily Carr was a Canadian artist who was inspired by the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia. She also was a vivid writer and chronicler of life in her surroundings, praised for her "complete candour" and "strong prose". Klee Wyck, her first book, published in 1941, won the Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction and this book and others written by her or compiled from her writings later are still much in demand today.
The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a 15,300-square-metre-building (165,000 sq ft) adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Francis Rattenbury, the building the museum occupies was originally opened as a provincial courthouse, before it was re-purposed for museum use in the early 1980s. The building was designated the Former Vancouver Law Courts National Historic Site of Canada in 1980.
Chinatown is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is Canada's largest Chinatown. Centred around Pender Street, it is surrounded by Gastown to the north, the Downtown financial and central business districts to the west, the Georgia Viaduct and the False Creek inlet to the south, the Downtown Eastside and the remnant of old Japantown to the northeast, and the residential neighbourhood of Strathcona to the southeast.
Living Shangri-La is a mixed-use skyscraper in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is the tallest building in the city and second tallest in the province. The 62-storey Shangri-La tower contains a 5-star hotel and its offices on the first 15 floors, with condominium apartment units occupying the rest of the tower. The building's podium complex also includes a spa, Urban Fare specialty grocery store, a Vancouver Art Gallery public display, and a curated public sculpture garden. The high-rise stands 200.86 metres (659 ft) tall and there is a private roof garden on floor 61. It is the 34th tallest building in Canada.
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Dempsey Bob, is a Northwest Coast woodcarver and sculptor from British Columbia, Canada, who is of Tahltan and Tlingit First Nations descent. He was born in the Tahltan village of Telegraph Creek on the Stikine River in northwestern B.C., and is of the Wolf clan.
Eric Hotz is a graphic artist and illustrator.
Michael James Audain, is a Canadian home builder, philanthropist and art collector. He is the Chairman and major shareholder of the privately held Polygon Homes Ltd., one of the largest multi-family builders in British Columbia.
Patkau Architects is an architecture firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a full-service firm practicing in Canada and the United States. Its project scope includes, but is not limited to, gallery installations, art galleries, libraries, university buildings, urban planning and private residences. The firm has received numerous national and international architectural awards. Patkau Architects also represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2006.
Ian Gillespie is a Canadian real estate developer. In 1992 he founded Westbank Projects Corp. based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which now has more than $25 billion of projects completed or under development. The company is active across Canada and expanding into the United States with projects including residential, rental, affordable housing, office, retail, hotels and public art.
Everything Will Be is a 2014 documentary film about the changing face of Vancouver's Chinatown, directed by Julia Kwan and produced by David Christensen for the National Film Board of Canada. Everything Will Be was the first documentary film for Kwan, whose first feature Eve and the Fire Horse was a fictional comic account of growing up Chinese in Vancouver.
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Arabella Campbell is a Canadian artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia in 1996, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2002. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute from 1998 to 2000. She has exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. She works out of a warehouse studio in False Creek Flats, Vancouver.
Kathy Slade (1966) is a Canadian artist, author, curator, editor, and publisher born in Montreal, Quebec, and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is currently a Term Lecturer at Simon Fraser University's School for the Contemporary Arts.
Jordan Bennett is Canadian a multi-disciplinary artist and member of the Qalipu First Nation from Stephenville Crossing, Newfoundland, also known as Ktaqamkuk. He is married to Métis visual artist Amy Malbeuf.
Kent Tate is a Canadian artist and filmmaker living in British Columbia. Tate is known for his single-channel video installation works.
Cindy Mochizuki is a multimedia Japanese Canadian artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her drawings, installations, performance, and video works created through community-engaged and location-specific research projects, Mochizuki explores how historical and family memories are passed down in the form of narratives, folktales, rituals and archives. Mochizuki's works have been exhibited in multiple countries including Japan, the United States, and Canada. Mochizuki received MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the School For Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University in 2006. She received Vancouver's Mayor's Arts Award in New Media and Film in 2015 and the VIVA and Max Wyman awards in 2020.
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