INTRODUCTION

Mountaineering courses at Capilano College culminated in a successful climb of Mt. Waddington. A chance conversation led to eight years of employment on the B.C. Rail Rock Gangs, where he qualified as a driller-scaler, blaster, and then Foreman of High Scaling Gang 152. Refer also to Patrolling the Budd and Railway Tales for more information on this chapter of his life.

Drafting courses at V.V.I. in 1988 led to helping design and build a no-till seed drill for an engineering firm. He started full-time employment in architecture in 1989, a career that continues in 2010 with his position as Senior Architectural Technologist and Construction Administrator with DGBK Architects, Vancouver BC., specializing in healthcare facilities.

His spare time activities include drawing and print making, photography, Vancouver art history, research and writing, volunteer work, and bicycle riding. In the past ten years he has created over 200 original artworks and shown them in more than 40 exhibitions. With his imprint Sim Publishing he produces illustrated monographs and catalogues, greeting cards, artist stamps, and the major historical research project Art & Artists in Exhibition: Vancouver 1890 - 1950.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Senior Architectural Technologist, TRBP Architects (2006 - 2007)
     Job Captain & Construction Administration: Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre, Whistler
     Drafting & coordination: Totem Park Student Commons building renovation, UBC
     Asst. IT/CAD Manager: Workstation setup, training, network support & planning
     Proposals: research, support, graphics, proofreading.

Production Manager, Parallel.AT Services Inc. (2004 - 2005)
     Managed working drawing teams for architectural projects:
     Parkside Resort (Hulbert); Thunderbird Parkade (DYSA); Rosewood Manor (DGBK)
     Quality control; hiring; marketing and business development.

Production Services Manager, Stantec Architecture, Vancouver (2001 - 2004)
     CAD Manager; in charge of office intranet & AIBC CES courses
     Managed Tenant Improvement drawings for Sun Microsystems Newark expansion
     Condition assessment report for Royal Columbian Hospital Tertiary Care Expansion
     Design & Construction Admin: St. Paul's Hospital Site Consolidation project
     Centennial Pavilion as-built drawings and window replacement projects at VGH
     Job Captain: Nutrition Research Lab, Level A4 at Childrens & Womens Hospital
     Design & Construction Admin: Breast Health Clinic, RCH, New Westminster
     Produced proposals including Richmond Works Yard & Centre for Plant Health

Draftsman / Job Captain / Network Administrator, TRBP Architects (1998 - 2001)
     Job Captain: Stave Falls Visitor Centre, Margranite Phase 2, Clarkdale Motors
     Working drawings: residential, commercial, federal, & industrial projects
     3D drawings: auto dealer, office tower, credit union exterior, museum gift shop
     Network administrator: backups, archives, computer management, training, upgrades
     Graphics: scanning, image editing, promotional page layout, brochure design

Technical Sales Representative / Authorized Autodesk Dealer, PacBlue Digital (1997 - 1998)
     Sales, training & support: AutoCAD, CAD Overlay, Reprodesk, Encad
     Technical Support: Oce 9800’s, colour plotters, CD-burner, scan-to-file
     Project Manager: scan & archive 12,000 City of Richmond Engineering Dept. drawings

Draftsman / Job Captain, Dalla-Lana Griffin Dowling Knapp Architects (1997)
     Job Captain: $3.2 million retail/residential development (‘The Heights’)
     Working drawings: residential, aviation, commercial, healthcare, scientific projects
     3D modeling and rendering: YVR South Terminal, Winnipeg Library Millennium proposal

Draftsman / Network Administrator / Graphic Production, TSHW Architects (1989 - 1997)
     Network Administrator & Computer Manager: Novell 3.12 network (10-user)
     Working drawings: residential, healthcare, commercial, institutional
     3D modeling, rendering, animation: residential, healthcare, commercial
     Architectural scale models: massing, study, presentation
     Proposals: graphics, page layouts, proof-reading, research

Draftsman / Head of Drafting, Agrisystems International (1988 - 1989)
     Developed drafting standards, hired and managed one draftsman
     Completed manufacturing set of agricultural mechanical working drawings
     Created presentation graphics, logo design, colour schemes, patent illustrations
     Drawings published in Agrisystems Advisory, Soybean Digest, Wellington Times, AgWeek
     Helped build working prototypes of No-till Opener and Seed Drill

Driller-Scaler / Powderman / Foreman, B.C. Rail Rock Gangs 151, 152, 153 (1978 - 1987)
     Achieved position of Permanent Foreman, High Scaling Rock Gang 152
     Specialized in high cliff work: scaling, drilling, bolting, falling danger trees
     Blasted for 9 years, with safety fuse and single-series electrical Blasting Ticket
     Introduced modern rope and climbing techniques to B.C. Rail Rock gangs
     Trained & qualified men in high cliff face rope work
     Assisted with track repair, heavy salvage, equipment operator, and train patrol
     Awarded W.C.B. Gold Safety Medal, two letters of commendation
     At Horseshoe Bay, Porteau, Squamish, Garibaldi, Pemberton, Seton, Lillooet, Tumbler Ridge

Central Office Equipment Installer, Canadian Telephones & Supplies (1973 - 1977)
     Installed Central Office telephone switching equipment: step, Strowger toll-ticketing, EAX
     At Whalley, Williams Lake, Kamloops, Penticton, Chilliwack, Victoria, Vancouver, Burnaby

Labourer, B.C. Forestry Service, Mackenzie, B.C. (Summer 1972)
     Construction of 4 log cabins for air tanker base, Ingenika Forks
     Construction & maintenance of Forestry campsites & trails, Mackenzie

Labourer, A-1 Steel & Iron Foundry, Vancouver (Summer 1971)
     Worked on foundry floor helping dump and pour from 2 furnaces

Cook, Terrace Welfare Hostel (Summer 1968, 1969)

Labourer, Crown Zellerbach box plant, Richmond (Summer 1966, 1967, 1968)

EDUCATION

MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS

HONOURS, AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

VOLUNTEER WORK

SIM PUBLISHING

PUBLICATIONS - WRITING

CONFERENCE PAPERS

COMMISSIONS - WRITING

COMMISSIONS - ART

ARTWORK - SOLO EXHIBITIONS

ARTWORK - CURATORIAL

"Check out the wicked print at the top of this column. That's by Gary Sim, a Vancouver artist who's got a bunch more linocut and vinyl-cut prints up at this library, as part of an outreach program by the Burnaby Art Gallery. This particular piece is entitled Higher Rises, and is reminiscent of at least a half-dozen vistas in my West End neighbourhood. Très local cool."
      Hans Ongsansoy, Vancouver Province & on-line E-list, September 17 2007

"This slender little disk holds a wealth of information. There are capsule histories of arts organizations, short biographies of artists, lists of exhibitions and titles of paintings included. There are exhibition review, bibliographic citations and artists' statement. All of these are linked together to make easy work of finding the information you're looking for. ...
      This reference tool is of great value to a busy librarian who gets many queries about artists who were working during these early years. The sheer volume of information is astonishing. Like many references in Canadian art, it was created by an author who wanted to share the results of his research. ...
      This electronic resource will be a useful collection of information for libraries, schools, galleries, dealers, curators, and students of Vancouver history. We are indebted to Mr. Sim for the staggering amount of research and planning that went into this project. And, a very positive aspect of electronic resources, it is still growing!"
      Art & Artists in Exhibition: Vancouver 1890 - 1950 (electronic resource)
      Review by Cheryl Siegel, B.C. Historical Journal, Vol. 38 No. 3 pg. 26, 2006

"The work of the two artists presented in Viewpoints was influenced by their past, where they have been, what they have seen. The result (sic) were representations of familiar places through the eyes of the creators, in media that included watercolours, pen and ink drawings, block prints and mixed media."
      Gallery: Viewpoints, Editor, architectureBC, page 8, Fall 2005

"Gary Sim is an architectural technologist whose artwork is a mix of realistic and abstract ideas in various forms that include pen and ink drawings, three-dimensional work, and experimenting with glass, clay, wire, wood, cut gems, and found materials. ...
      Editor, AIBC Intern Architect Update, September 2005

"In addition to the books offered for auction, this year we are pleased to announce that one of our members, local artist Gary Sim, has contributed original art works to the auction. These have particular interest to our members, as all of them have appeared in various of the Society's publications. As well as two of his own works (which appeared in Amphora), there are eight original page layouts for the 1966 Alcuin publication A Theatrical Trip for a Wager, and one test print of the front cover image."
      The Alcuin Society Citations Book Auction and Lunch, Vancouver, November 2005

"Kudos to Gary Sim for this impressive resource which documents artists and exhibitions in Vancouver from 1890 - 1950."
      Art & artists in exhibition (electronic resource)
      Vancouver Public Library new books listing, October 2005

"The Viewpoints show at the Architecture Centre Gallery is a two-artist affair. ... On this page are sketches by Gary Sim. An architectural technologist, Sim is an active member of the local arts community, as a founding member of the Richmond Community Arts Council, a member (and former chair) of the Vancouver Public Art Committee and as a volunteer for the Vancouver International Writers Festival. Viewpoints runs until Oct. 6 at the gallery, 100 - 400 Cambie, Vancouver."
      Show highlights Viewpoints of two local artists
      Editor, Vancouver Sun, pages F1 & F15, September 10 2005

"Congratulations to our very own artist and writer Gary Sim who received kudos for his work for the Alcuin Society in the Fall 2004 issue of architectureBC. I don't know of anyone who does more to promote the Society and its works than Gary! Many thanks.
      News and Notes, Richard Hopkins, Amphora Issue 136, page 27, September 2004

About the Artist /Author
      Amphora Issue 135, page 36, June 2004

"Amphora, the journal of the Alcuin Society, has selected Gary Sim as the feature artist for Issue Number 135. ... The selection is a great honour and includes the design for the colour front cover, numerous images printed throughout the journal, and a one-page artist's biography. ... In addition to this the editor selected an article by Sim on "the care and feeding of antiquarian booksellers" for publication in the same issue."
      Amphora Art, architectureBC, Fall 2004, pages 13-15
      Illustrated: Public Art on Alberni, Nine O'Clock Gun, Burrard Bridge

"A labour of love by Vancouver architectural technologist Gary Sim, this CD-ROM compilation of information about Vancouver's earliest artists, exhibitions, and art organizations is an invaluable contribution to Canadian cultural research - and a boon to all art historians who have struggled to piece together the history of West Coast painting. ... "
      Art & Artists in Exhibition: Vancouver 1890 - 1950
      Paula Gustafson, Artichoke magazine book review, Summer 2004

"On the more positive side of the ledger this issue has represented for me the discovery of a multi-talented new friend in the person of artist, researcher, and writer Gary Sim. Initially I visited Gary's studio just to see the woodcuts we might feature in Amphora #135. I took away a handful of great art pieces to pass along to Stuart Isto for the issue in hand. Then, however, Gary proceeded to get busy and cut an original piece of work involving the entrance to the Lions Gate Bridge especially for the cover of the journal. Stunning! And then, since I had taken him a few sample back issues of Amphora, I received a wonderful piece of writing from him entitled "On the Care and Feeding of Antiquarian Booksellers", written in response to an article he had read on the future of bookselling in Amphora #134. Believe me it is a pretty darn exciting thing to latch on to such a talented individual. I hope to feature more of his artwork and writing in future issues."
      From the Editor's Desk, Amphora Issue 135, June 2004
      by Richard Hopkins, Chair, Alcuin Society publications committee

"Zeidler's stylistic opposite in this show is Gary Sim, who does drawings of such taut precision and emotional control as to raise the question of what a drawing is. Whereas Zeidler relies on the quick freehand gesture, Sim uses perfectly straight lines. Sim became an architectural technician in 1988, as he puts in his artist bio, "seeking a safer career after nine years as a blaster and rock gang foreman for B.C. Rail". Every line in his four drawings in the show is handled as purposefully as lit dynamite. The best of his four riveting little pen-and-ink compositions pictures the salvage of Locomotive 705 from Cheakamus Canyon."
      from "Architectural Art", Sean Rossiter, The Georgia Straight, September 19-26, 2002.

"Gary Sim has been one of the Festival's most outstanding and long serving volunteers. Gary has been a volunteer of the Festival for 10 years. As a volunteer Gary has done many things for the Festival. He has escorted authors, co-ordinated the Great Canadian Spelling Bee, performed (several times) at the volunteer appreciation parties, worked with Festival's Writer Services Co-ordinator at the Festival's hospitality suite and most recently persuaded Stantec, the company he works for, to become a corporate sponsor of the Festival. He was also responsible this year for hosting the readings at our volunteer party. (For those who didn't know or didn't guess, lots of the Festival volunteers are wonderful aspiring writers and they get a chance to express their talents at the party.)
      These are the things he has done for the Festival. In his other life Gary has blown up mountainsides, scaled rocky cliffs and put himself in dangerous positions on behalf of BC Rail. He is a very talented artist and has an extensive knowledge of artists and their work. Maps fascinate him; he writes; he sings; he plays the guitar; he enjoys good food and he has incredible contacts in all aspects of his creative life.
      Gary is very modest about his skills and accomplishments, so we wanted those of you who have perhaps worked with him as a volunteer or who have seen him around the Festival quietly "doing his thing" to know how valuable he is to our team and how much we appreciate his contribution. Thanks Gary and we trust you'll keep us on your priority list of volunteer opportunities."
      "Friend of the Festival: Gary Sim"
      by Alma Lee, Creative Director, Vancouver International Writers Festival
      Published in the Festival's Fall 2002 newsletter, and posted on Festival website.