This year’s Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) allows participants to see projects come to life as artists paint on giant “canvases” throughout the city.
This year’s Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) allows participants to see projects come to life as artists paint on giant “canvases” throughout the city.
During the 11-day celebration (Aug. 4-14), 50 artists will bring 30-plus murals to eight neighbourhoods. The mural tours, which have been expanded this year, are presented by Herschel Supply.
Guided walking tours in Mount Pleasant and Strathcona will be led by DeTours, while five new tours in Downtown, West End, Cambie Village, Marpole, and River District will be offered by Curated Tastes. Participants can also download the free VMF app for a self-guided tour and learn about the festival’s nearly 350 murals (and artists) across the city.
During the 11-day celebration (Aug. 4-14), 50 artists will bring 30-plus murals to eight neighbourhoods.
This year’s VMF project highlights include:
- City Centre Project—Mount Pleasant’s iconic City Centre Motel has been transformed into a temporary creative and community space. The motel rooms have been converted into artist studios and the exterior has been covered with the festival’s largest mural-to-date.
- Blanketing The City—For the fifth instalment of this ongoing public art series, acclaimed
Musqueam weaver and artist, Debra Sparrow invites Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh weavers to
collaborate and create a mural on traditional Squamish lands.
- Low Barrier Arts Program—VMF is examining opportunities to remove barriers to accessing its public art and programming. This year, the focus is on supporting access and removing barriers. The programming consists of interconnected initiatives including:
○ Crowder: Crowd-sourced description event featuring VMF murals with VocalEYE
○ Murals Without Walls: Four temporary mural installations by artists with disabilities, preceded by a series of capacity building workshops led by Kickstart.
VMF continually seeks to connect, highlight, and reflect diverse cultures and communities through its public art and events. It works with local creatives and neighbourhood stakeholders to collectively reimagine public space as the heart of every community.
