A super-sized video screen, just like the ones at NYC’s Times Square and downtown Vancouver’s Robson Street and Granville Street intersection, is coming to a prominent corner in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

According to a release, the ‘Mount Pleasant Urban Screen’ will be located on the second floor of the new RIZE mixed-use building at the southwest corner of the intersection of East Broadway and Kingsway.

Measuring 13 ft. by 22 ft., it will be located on the second floor of the building along its Kingsway facade.

This will not be an ordinary screen that shows advertising, as it is dedicated purely to showcasing public art.

The Grunt Gallery is behind the installation, which will provide a dynamic digital canvas for videos, photography, and digital works of art created by the gallery. Through funding from the provincial government’s Creative BC program, the screen will also have interactive features such as an external camera, streaming audio, and SMS capabilities.

“Grunt Gallery is very proud to present this new community initiative that will act as a community focal point featuring artwork and archival photos from and about the neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant,” said Grunt Gallery program director Glenn Alteen in a statement.

The screen will be ready in July 2018, just ahead of the Vancouver Mural Festival, and will remain at the location for a five-year period.

Meanwhile, last December, Vancouver City Council approved the installation of two new larger and brighter screens at the intersection of Robson and Granville. The new screens are meant to be an energy-efficient replacement of the ageing screens that were first installed about 15 years ago.

The RIZE building screen will be approximately the same size of the existing ones at the downtown intersection.

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