Opening October 13, 2011

Did Vancouver’s flashing neon signs signal glamour, excitement and big city living?  Or was neon part of a tawdry display that disfigured Vancouver’s natural beauty?

People were of two minds in Vancouver in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Neon signs that we now love were at that time, objects of deep civic controversy.

Neon was one highly visible sign of Vancouver’s transition from a sleepy west coast port into a striving, happening city. Neon became a lightening rod for critics of change, and at the same time, became the focus of a civic conversation about values in Vancouver.