Museums of False Creek – Presented by the BC Museums Association

The BC Museums Association presents a full-day tour of three of our Vancouver members located in the heart of picturesque False Creek.  The tour will visit Science World, Vancouver Maritime Museum, and the Museum of Vancouver.

This tour is limited to 30 people due to collections storage space limitations.

Tour schedule and highlights (exact tour content may vary slightly; tour will be split in half for behind the scenes tours at each location):

• 8:50 – Meet the group at the Sheraton Wall Centre North Lobby.
• 9:00 – Guests depart Sheraton Wall Centre and walk approx. 12 minutes to the Burrard SkyTrain Station. Enjoy a ride on the iconic EXPO86 monorail system directly to Science World. (Tickets provided)
• 9:30-11:30 – Tour at Science World
• 11:30-12:00 – Float down False Creek to our next destination on chartered False Creek Ferries
• 12:00-2:15 – Lunch (provided) and tour at Vancouver Maritime Museum
• 2:15-2:30 – Short walk to Museum of Vancouver (approx. 3 minutes)
• 2:30-4:00 – Tour at Museum of Vancouver
• 4:00 – Guests depart Museum of Vancouver and return to Sheraton Wall Centre (by chartered bus)

Science World: Experience BC’s iconic science centre located in one of Vancouver’s most recognizable buildings. A behind the scenes tour will feature staff from several departments discussing innovation and community engagement. There will also be time for a guided exploration of the current feature exhibition: Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Vancouver Maritime Museum: behind the scenes access to the collections space where staff will discuss experiences implementing AR and VR into the exhibit space, unexpected community partnerships, and other digital initiatives relating to the collection. The tour will also have a chance to see the digital work in the exhibit spaces while touring the museum’s centrepiece St. Roch vessel (the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America, and the second sailing vessel to complete a voyage through the Northwest Passage) and the feature exhibition, The Lost Fleet. The feature exhibition examines an important element of local history: when 1,200 Japanese-Canadian fishermen had their boats confiscated following the bombing of Pearl Harbour. The boats were eventually sold at unreasonably low prices to local canneries and many Japanese-Canadian families forcibly relocated away from the coast.

Museum of Vancouver: behind the scenes access to the MOV’s collections storage and digitization spaces with staff discussing their digitization efforts over the years, especially on the challenges of digitizing the costume collection. The behind the scenes tour may also include discussions about the challenges of using DAMS. Tour of the feature exhibition, Haida Now!, which showcases past and present Indigenous culture in BC. The MOV is the largest civic museum in Canada and the oldest museum in Vancouver.

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Please note that not all portions of this tour may be accessible.  SkyTrain stations and trains, general exhibit spaces, and most working areas can be accessed by wheelchair or with other mobility aids, but some collections areas and the False Creek Ferries are not accessible by wheelchair.

Participants are expected to walk or otherwise move themselves for approximately 15 minutes at a time down city streets.

False Creek Ferries are a famous sight on the waters of False Creek. These little passenger-only ferries make regular scheduled stops along the waterway, including at Science World and Vancouver Maritime Museum.  The ferry docks are located just around the corner from Science World (at the 2010 Winter Olympic Village) and at the Vancouver Maritime Museum Heritage Harbour.