How do you make public art fun and interactive for everyone?

We're making Art for Everyone at the North Vancouver Shipyards! Studio Meanwhile is bringing interactive fun to the shipyards with the help of Vancouver-based artist Pablo Zamudio in our latest City Pong table tennis table. Created in collaboration with the Lower Lonsdale Business Improvement District, this interactive piece of public furniture is meant to spark play, connection, and creativity in the heart of the Shipyards—adding a splash of colour and a fun new way for people to enjoy the space together.

Not your papa's ping pong table.
It's actually Pablo's.

Client

Lower Lonsdale Business Improvement Area

Year

2025

Contributors

Studio Meanwhile, City Blocks Urban Furniture, Pablo Zamudio

Location

The Shipyards, North Vancouver

The OPPORTUNITY

In April 2025, City Blocks teamed up with Vancouver based artist Pablo Zamudio and the Lower Lonsdale Business Improvement Area to deliver a vision for public amenities.

The APPROACH

Art for Everyone is a Studio Meanwhile and City Blocks program that merges the intersection between street art and urban furniture. The result at the shipyards is playful, purposeful, and unapologetically bold, demanding your attention for a rally of ping pong. Pablo’s work, rooted in geometric abstraction, pulls from his Mexican heritage—vibrant colors, layered patterns, and a deep connection to movement and rhythm. This is his third piece in his artist series collaboration with City Blocks. Fittingly, Pablo’s table debuted at an exclusive one-night only installation hosted by the Lower Lonsdale Business Improvement Area and City Blocks at the Polygon Art Gallery before taking its permanent home in the Shipyards bringing Pablos vibrant art and ping pong to everyone who passes by.

The City Pong table in its first location, outside the Polygon art gallery.

The City Pong table in its second location, supporting a summer conference event held at the shipyards.

As a mobile but permanent fixture around the shipyards, many people get to enjoy a game of ping pong daily!

The Outcomes

This is Art for Everyone.

Pablo Zamudio is a Vancouver-based artist with an immediately recognizable and vibrant style.

‍Pablo was born in Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico in 1974 where he began painting at the age of 15. In 1998 at the age of 24, Pablo moved to Canada where he worked as a graphic designer while always continuing to paint. Between 2003 and 2020, Pablo ran a legendary streetwear boutique El Kartel, where he curated numerous successful art shows featuring hundreds of artists, photographers and designers over the years. In 2020, Pablo decided to focus exclusively on his career as an artist. Pablo’s painting practice is deeply rooted in geometric abstraction, op-art illusion with hard edged monochromatic fields of vibrant colors. However, the true power and strength of Pablo’s unforgettable images comes from a sacred meditative process of connecting to one’s higher self.

North Vancouver Shipyards

How do you make public art fun and interactive for everyone?