Vancouver: Need an Olympics break? How about a bit of da Vinci?

With Robson Street completely pedestrianized between Bute and Beatty streets and Georgia Street now home to one of the city’s largest public squares, it’s inevitable that visitors will come across the Vancouver Art Gallery (vanartgallery.bc.ca). I love artist Michael Lin’s enormous mural of colourful Taiwanese fabric covering the entire Georgia Street façade, but with all the world’s attention on athletes and their bodies, two exhibitions inside are also worth a visit. Visceral Bodies is a collection of multi-media art inspired by advances in science and medicine, while Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man features 16th century drawings of the genius’ discoveries about the human body, hundreds of years before they were confirmed by, well, scientists. I took my two interns to their first press conference ever, where we got a preview and tour of the latter by its British curator, Martin Clayton of the Royal Collection. Our conclusion? If you’re in need of a mid-Olympics break (or perhaps just some well-deserved quiet time), we suggest checking out these exhibitions.