CHRONICLE

A film produced by Bianca Barnes in 1980 in which she examines the construction and opening of UBC's Museum of Anthropology. The film features interviews with architect Arthur Erickson and carver Bill Reid. The footage includes construction shots, the moving of the totem poles and the opening of the Museum.
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Reported by John Mackie in the Vancouver Sun (December 2, 2020): "As Arthur Erickson’s architectural partner in the 1960s and early ’70s, he helped design local icons like Simon Fraser University and the MacMillan Bloedel Building ..."
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As part of its belief in and commitment to supporting emerging architecture practitioners, today the Arthur Erickson Foundation and the Yosef Wosk Family Foundation announced a $110,000 donation to Indspire – Canada’s national, award-winning Indigenous registered charity – in support of Indigenous youth in Canada. The donation will fund an awards program focused on increasing Indigenous student success by growing the number of Indigenous architects and landscape architects in Canada.

The Arthur Erickson Foundation was founded as the Arthur Erickson House and Garden Foundation in 1993, and later became the owner of the Erickson property at 4195 West 14th Avenue in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Following Arthur Erickson’s death in May 2009, the Arthur Erickson Foundation expanded its mandate to include education, research and preservation.

Central to Arthur Erickson’s work as an architect and theorist was his belief in and commitment to education and research. Having served on the faculties of architecture at the University of Oregon and the University of British Columbia, Erickson understood the need of each generation to contribute to the training of the next. One of the ways the foundation honours Erickson’s belief is by working with donors to develop prizes and scholarships intended to reward and assist students studying architecture and landscape architecture.

“The Arthur Erickson Foundation and Yosef Wosk Family Foundation, along with Indspire, are pleased to announce the establishment of an awards program supporting Indigenous education in architecture and landscape architecture,” said Michael Prokopow, Vice President (East) Arthur Erickson Foundation. “The organizations recognize the profound importance of the shared work of decolonization and reconciliation in Canada for the transformation of society. These awards recognize the deep power of Indigenous thinking and wisdom around the making of habitation and space for wellbeing across generations and the vitally important stewardship of the natural world.”

Mike DeGagné, President and CEO of Indspire, stated, “This new investment is a significant step in supporting First Nations, Inuit and Métis architecture and landscape architecture students to achieve their potential through education and training. They can in turn enrich their communities and create positive change in Canada. We are grateful for the support of the Arthur Erickson Foundation and the Yosef Wosk Family Foundation for investing in Indigenous achievement and education.”

As reported by Kenneth Chan in the Daily Hive (October 8, 2020): "Thom and his namesake firm designed an architectural concept that adds a world-class art museum underneath Robson Square, demarcated by a new glass-enclosed atrium grand entrance on the west side of the plaza at street level — near the southwest corner of the intersection of Robson Street and Hornby Street ..."
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Over the past decades, the Erickson Garden pond has gradually become shallower as silt and organic material accumulated. One adverse effect of the shallower water was a relative increase in temperature, making it less hospitable as a frog habitat. A full restoration of the pond will come eventually, but in the meantime, remediation was called for. Neill Cumberbirch, member of AEF's House & Garden Committee, reports: "It took five days of digging and wheelbarrowing of material from the pond to the bins located outside the gate on the boulevard. There was 3 to 4 inches of fine silt on top of 8 inches of matted root material, leaves and astonishingly well preserved pine needles and below that the original membrane. We removed material down to the membrane being careful not to damage it. The total water depth is now at its original 18”. Before we started it was 6” ... We left approximately 20% of the original root mass in the pond for regeneration of the waterlilies and irises."

The photos show conditions before, during, and immediately after this remediation, which took place in Spring 2020.

The chair of the Arthur Erickson Foundation council, Phyllis Lambert, has written to Simon Fraser University president Andrew Petter and campus planning and development director Ian Abercrombie, demanding the school halt demolition and assess Madge Hogarth House for heritage value. An Erickson/Massey work, the Women's Residence (as it was then known) was one of the great original campus buildings of 1965.
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Reviewer Alex Bozikovic, writing in The March 15, 2019 edition of The Globe & Mail about Greg Bellerby's new book, "Eppich House II: The Story of an Arthur Erickson Masterwork": "It aligns Erickson with this moment in architecture ... He is ripe for discovery by a new generation ...".
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On March 2, 2019 CBC News reported: "Even for an architect whose wide range includes the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, the MacMillan Bloedel building in downtown Vancouver, and Simon Fraser University, Eppich House II — which is now up for sale — stands out for several reasons ..."
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AEF Director Michael Prokopow has published his new book: Smith House II. This monograph on the house of Gordon and Marion Smith, the second house designed by Arthur Erickson for the artists, is the seventh book in the UBC SALA West Coast Modern House series. The series was established to recognize and document significant, endangered modern residences in the region.

Guy Dixon, writing in the Globe & Mail 2018.05.08: "As with Mr. Erickson’s Robson Square in Vancouver and the Simon Fraser University campus in Burnaby, much of the late architect’s greatness was the dialogue he created between nature and modernism. And the possible loss of the atrium garden had conservationists particularly worried prior to the bank headquarters’ three-year, $460-million full-scale renovation, which was completed last year ... (read more)