Lululemon Founder donates $1.5 million to keep laughing statues in Vancouver

Artist Yue Minjun’s public art installation A-maze-ing Laughter was on the brink of leaving our fair city. However, thanks to a donation by the founder of  Lululemon, Chip Wilson the laughing statues that put a smile on peoples faces are here to stay for good. He and his wife Shannon have given $1.5-million to the Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum to keep the 14 painted bronze figures in Vancouver, for good. 

Located at the foot of Davie and Denman, the statures have become quite the attraction for locals and tourists alike. They are fast becoming one of the more recognizable pieces of public art in a city sorely lacking it.

Not everyone is a fan of laughing statues. Many find them to be evil and quite menacing. At the end of the day enough people liked them and wanted them here and thanks to Chip Wilson they won’t be leaving.

Image by HereInVancouver