Ken Lum spent months pining over his secret crush before deciding to do something about it.

The east Vancouver artist did not ask the "prim and proper" woman out on a date. Instead he declared his feelings on a large wooden board planted outside his Chinatown gallery.

"(It was) something I had to do to release that tension without actually being a stalker," Lum said.

The board is stenciled with the words 'I Have a Secret Crush On.' Beneath people have written the names of their secret desires.

Lum - not to be confused with the Vancouver artist who built Clark Drive's Monument of East Vancouver - won't say to whom his message is for. It's been there three months.

"I did this to not get caught," he said. It's possible his crush has a boyfriend who would rough him up for having those feelings.

The board's location at an art gallery on Union Street and Gore Avenue makes the concept that much dreamier to people wishing for a little romance, said Lum.

"If it was a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, that's a different story."

The 38-year-old said people have walked by and discovered their names on the board. Some have written 'I know' next to their names, perhaps a sign the crush wasn't so secret after all.

Lum attached a cup of pens to the board so other people could come write their own messages, but the idea took a while to get going.

It wasn't until a young neighbourhood girl took it upon herself to write the name of her brother's secret crush - much to the boy's dismay - that the board began to swell with notes.

For every message to a Morgan or Melissa on the crush board, there are notes to celebrities such as Neil Patrick Harris or Zooey Deschanel.

Even fictional characters like True Blood's Eric Northman and Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones have even made the cut.

Lum said it doesn't really matter whether people are joking or not.

"It's good to pay homage to that type of feeling."