Go deep into the west side for some art and museum visits this July. UBC’s a great place to combine beach, forest walks, gardens, and art. There are some pretty decent food choices too! Here’s what’s going on and where…

THE SHADOW | You might walk over this and not know it’s art — a pixelated silhouette of a first-growth Douglas fir tree by artist Esther Shalev-Gerz, a Paris-based artist known for her public installations, photography and video work. The Shadow (2018) is made of 24,000 paving stones in three shades of grey, embedded within one of the University’s main plazas. Measuring 100 by 22 meters, the work references the old-growth forests that once existed on campus. You can walk over it and see fragments of it, or for a great view of the entire piece, go up to the rooftop balcony of the nearby student union building, The Nest (also worth a tour).

BELKIN ART GALLERY | A great spot to see high-calibre modern and contemporary art is the Belkin Art Gallery, which currently presents an exhibition of new and recent work by Skeena Reece. The exhibition centres around a specific piece by the artist, The Time it Takes (2017), an adult-sized cradleboard, recently acquired by the gallery. Earlier this year, the artist invited specific people to be wrapped in the moss bag, resulting in a new photographic series and video documentation of the wrapping process. ON UNTIL AUG 11 | OPEN TUES-SAT

MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY | The MOA is showing all things puppets in their current exhibition, Shadows, Strings, and Other Things. On display are over 250 puppets, traditional and contemporary, from 15 countries. Many are from the museum’s impressive, global collection, the largest in Western Canada. The exhibition explores five different forms of puppetry, from traditional techniques to digital technologies: shadow, string, rod, hand, and stop-motion. Theatrical displays allow you to experience the different types of puppet shows as they would be enjoyed around the world. Plus, the Arthur Erickson-designed museum is always a beautiful place for a walk. ON UNTIL OCT 14 | OPEN MON-SUN | $18

CHUNG COLLECTION | A treasure trove of rare and unique items on early B.C. history, and immigration and settlement, particularly of Chinese people in B.C., the Chung Collection is located in the Rare & Special Books Collection at UBC. As a young boy growing up in Victoria, Dr. Wallace Chung was inspired by a poster of the Canadian Pacific R.M.S Empress of Asia hanging in his father’s tailor shop. This was the ship his mother immigrated to Canada on in 1919. He went on to collect all things related to early Chinese immigration to B.C. In 1999, the Chung family donated the collection of over 25,000 items—documents, letters, posters, objects—collected over 60 years to UBC. The showstopper is a model ship of the Empress of Asia, meticulously restored by Dr. Chung, a retired vascular surgeon, who spent over 4000 hours working on the model. MON-FRI 10AM-5PM | UBC RARE & SPECIAL BOOKS COLLECTION

MUSQUEAM POST | A stunning, 34-foot tall post of featuring a double-headed serpent by Musqueam artist Brent Sparrow Jr. The post tells the story of the origin of the Musqueam name. Located at the eastern entrance to the University, the post welcomes visitors. Follow this map to see more Indigenous public art while on campus.

GOOD EATING

Outdoors