Downtown Vancouver now has a laneway art walk with 45 door murals (PHOTOS)

Canvas Corridor at Eihu Lane in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

A laneway just off downtown Vancouver’s popular retail strip has just been given a highly-Instagrammable mural treatment.

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Named ‘Eihu Lane,’ the building doors along the laneway wedged by Robson Street and Alberni Street — between Burrard Street and Bute Street — have been used as framed canvases for murals by local artists.

All told, there are 45 mural works along this two city block stretch of laneway.

Canvas Corridor at Eihu Lane in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) collaborated with the Robson Street Business Association (RSBA) on the ‘Canvas Corridor’ laneway project of turning an under-utilized public area into a more pedestrian-friendly and active space.

Artists for the project were arranged and selected with the help of the Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts and the organizers of Vancouver Mural Festival. A callout for artists resulted in hundreds of artist submissions, with a total of 27 artists selected to have their work featured in the laneway.

Property owners along the laneway then selected the designs they preferred for their laneway-facing building doors.

Canvas Corridor at Eihu Lane in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

“Public art adds so much life, character and culture to the urban fabric of a neighbourhood and we are pleased to have partnered with the Downtown Vancouver BIA to bring this idea to life in Eihu Lane,” said Teri Smith, executive director of the RSBA, in a statement.

Charles Gauthier, president and CEO of the DVBIA, added: “We were thrilled to partner with the Robson Street Business Association for this laneway project… These public art projects will not only make downtown more colourful and vibrant, but will also help to make public spaces feel safer and more inclusive.”

Canvas Corridor Eihu Lane Vancouver art walk

Canvas Corridor at Eihu Lane in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

The DVBIA has been spearheading laneway public realm activation projects for several years now, beginning in 2016 with Alley Oop (the bright pink and yellow laneway near Granville Street and West Pender Street) and followed in 2018 with Ackery’s Alley (the ‘psychedelic’ laneway near Granville Street and Smithe Street, just behind the Orpheum Theatre, with an interactive lighting installation).

The completion of Canvas Corridor concludes the DVBIA’s original project of performing three laneway transformations, and it now plans to revitalize other laneways in downtown at a pace of one activation project per year.

This particular laneway is also uniquely activated by the Off-White store, located in the laneway of The Carlyle building at 1076 Alberni Street.

Canvas Corridor at Eihu Lane in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

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