One to Watch: Andrew Hibbs

Bright young thing Andrew Hibbs turns neon sign-making into a modern art form.

When he was still a teenager, Andrew Hibbs was already helping his neon-worker father pump gas into fire-bent tubes; today, the two still work together, but while dad runs the commercial side, Hibbs indulges his creative leanings with his side gig, Endeavour Neon.“I’ve always been happy doing the smaller stuff,” says Hibbs, who’s made a name for himself with his residential installations and hanging desktop lights (Endeavour’s heart-shaped lamp is a bestseller). But that’s not to say he doesn’t still have a connection to public spaces: Vancouver, along with cities like New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, is lit with giant neon quotes crafted by Hibbs, including Kit and Ace’s “Time Is Precious” sign in Gastown. It’s a fresh take on neon that brings life back to an art form that faded with the arrival of LED. Glow on.