Vancouver artist Joe Average receives Order of BC as mural marking 40 years of HIV rises
Massive Granville Street artwork is a colourful testament to painter’s advocacy and charity work
Joe Average stands by the new mural going up on the 1000 block of Granville Street. Photo courtesy @joebrockaverage
AS A NEW RENDITION OF his iconic One World, One Hope painting rises as part of the Vancouver Mural Festival on Granville Street, Joe Average has just been awarded the Order of BC.
He joins 16 others announced yesterday, on a list that includes Dr. Bonnie Henry, Chinatown Foundation chair Carol A. Lee, and Chief Joe Alphonse.
The mural, themed “40 Years Later”, is a testament to the long decades Average has spent tirelessly advocating for people living with HIV—all while struggling with the health issues of HIV himself.
Born Brock David Tebbutt, Average has said his diagnosis in the mid-1980s led him to focus completely on his art. Since then, his wildly coloured pop-inflected images of everything from flowers to insects have become instantly recognizable to Vancouverites.
As well as hanging in galleries and on the walls of art collectors, his work has emblazoned posters, t-shirts, and other items for countless fundraisers, including Vancouver’s annual AIDS Walk and A Loving Spoonful. In only his latest act of generosity, he created bee-bedecked face masks to raise money for BC Children’s Hospital during the pandemic.
As the Order of BC put it yesterday: “In addition to Average’s significant contributions as an artist and philanthropist, by sharing his personal story, he has quietly raised awareness of what it means to live with HIV /AIDS. His moving, painful honesty has encouraged his fellow Canadians to support community projects and has helped raised the profile of men and women who have struggled with isolation, rejection and stigma associated with AIDS.”
The image rising as part of Vancouver Mural Festival.
One of Joe Average’s fundraising Bee Safe masks.
That same “painful honesty” radiates from the image rising on the side of a Granville Street heritage building as part of the mural fest, in a work marking a meaningful anniversary—and. an important work for Average.
The original One World, One Hope image, which recalls stained-glass design, was commissioned for the tide-turning 11th International Conference on AIDS, held in Vancouver in July 1996.
“What I wanted to express in this image with the stained glass feeling is that we are all fragile in the face of AIDS but working together with love (the heart in the centre) is what we need to do,” Average has written.
The image, originally rendered in oil on canvas, also graced a postage stamp issued in 1996 promoting AIDS awareness as a lead-up to the conference. “The new stamp, issued on May 8th, marks this important event and reminds us of the courage that many Canadians have mustered in the face of a tragedy,” Canada Post wrote at the time.
The mural on Granville reminds us, again, of the long fight behind us—and of the virus that continues to take a toll.
The Order of BC is just the latest honour that Average has received. Others through the years include the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award, and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for Outstanding Community Achievement. In 2002, November 3 was proclaimed Joe Average Day.
You can find more information about all the Order of BC recipients here.
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