A new recap video showcasing the highlights of the 5th annual Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) has been released to encourage art lovers to continue discovering artists and murals throughout the city.
Over three weeks during the summer, local artists painted and unveiled more than 60 murals in nine different neighbourhoods. VMF also featured a Pop-Up Patio live performance series with guided mural tours, live and online art shows, talks and more. The festival also debuted the new VMF Mobile App , which enabled thousands of people (locally and globally) to explore Vancouver’s over 250 murals, year-round, while safely social distancing.
By expanding to more neighbourhoods and creating more murals than ever, VMF organizers aimed to support local artists, communities, and businesses while inviting attendees to safely enjoy nearby neighbourhoods.
Diversity and inclusivity remain at the core of VMF’s values. This year’s festival included 60% BIPOC artists, 34% first-time muralists, and 15% of the artists, and 57 % of the performers identifying as LGBTQ+/non-binary.
In case you missed it, here are some of the murals and artists you can still discover from Vancouver Mural Fest 2020.
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✤Presence @vanmuralfest 2286 Ontario St, Vancouver, Canada 2020. . 🇬🇧~ Ignoring uncomfortable feelings won’t make them disappear. I tried putting them in this small ball of darkness and embrace it. This loving gesture is guided by the other side of the spectrum: a cloud of light floating above the head, and two rainbows acting as ears, listening carefully to what emotions tell us. Framing the scene, a big rainbow in the front, and a dark shape in the back symbolize this same positive/negative duality, but on circumstances out of reach. Uncertainty will always keep on flowing. And yet, the expression on the face of the main character says it’s ok. ✨This mural is part of a collaborative/multiplatform project. You can find the full story, the collaborative list of emotions, and the zine at animalitoland.com (Also working on the video, stay tuned) Thank you all for sharing this adventure! *Special hugs for Lisa, Steff, Amira & Britt for helping me surf the dark blobs and bringing sparkles to my cloud 💖 Annie for the daily visits, and the list continues (I should make another post only to thank all of you). . 🇪🇸 ~ Ignorar las sensaciones desagradables no las hace desaparecer. Probé ponerlas en este ovillo de oscuridad y abrazarlas. Este suave gesto está guiado por el otro lado del espectro: una nube de luz flotando sobre la cabeza y dos arcoíris que actúan como oídos, escuchando atentamente lo que nos dicen las emociones. Enmarcando la escena, un gran arco iris por delante y una forma oscura por detrás, simbolizan esta misma dualidad positiva/negativa, pero en circunstancias fuera de nuestro alcance. La incertidumbre seguirá fluyendo. Sin embargo, la expresión en la cara del personaje principal dice que así está bien . ✨Este mural es parte de un proyecto colaborativo/multiplataforma. Podés encontrar la historia completa, la lista colaborativa de emociones, y el zine en animalitoland.com. (de momento en inglés- pero ya estoy preparando el video subtitulado al español) ¡Gracias por compartir esta aventura!
A post shared by Animalitoland (@animalitoland) on Sep 9, 2020 at 9:07am PDT
Presence can be found at 7 W 7th Avenue (east wall viewable from the Ontario St. bike route).
Tafui – South Granville
Diaspora Diary can be seen at 3101 Granville.
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Check this out with me… Give it Time – Thomas Cannell 2020 In Coast Salish culture, we teach our children that whenever a creature shows up frequently, this is a sign telling us to focus on areas of personal growth. I’ve created this imagery of caterpillars and a butterfly to bring awareness to the transformations we take for granted. I designed a Butterfly story because she symbolizes great transformation and personal growth within the young and young at heart, in many different cultures around the world. With such power attributed to something so gentle, Butterflies are a symbol of life, so fragile. Every action, no matter how large or small, will bring an opposite reaction. The Butterfly reminds us to be aware and create balance and unity in our mind and spirit. What if that change you’ve been afraid of is the one that gives you wings, for, when the caterpillar could not go any further, she began to fly. @vanmuralfest check out the SAD Mag Article https://www.sadmag.ca/blog/2020/9/9/artists-celebrating-diversity-vancouver-mural-festival-reclaims-spaces @sadmagazine
A post shared by Thomas Cannell (@thomascannell) on Sep 10, 2020 at 11:50pm PDT
Give It Time is located at 403 East Hastings.
Spectrum of Emotions is part of the 10 Artist Mural Gallery on East Kent Ave South, Vancouver.
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Last Friday we finished our studio mural, which covers the northwest side (except the coffee shop) and southwest of the building. It took us about 9 days to complete. This mural is smaller than my previous one, but it’s more challenging to paint because of tricky surfaces and tight corners. It was really fun to work on though because it’s right at our studio, and we all got to hang again like pre-Covid time. We also have been talking about painting a mural together for a while, so it’s amazing that it’s finally happened!⠀ ⠀ @chairman_ting and I were in charge of the mural design. It took us quite a bit of back-and-forth to finalize it because our illustration styles are very different. In the end, we concluded that his work will be on one side of the building and my work on the other, with some simple, consistent elements mixing into the big picture. Carson’s wall features Joe Fortes, a prominent Vancouver resident and our city’s first official lifeguard; mine features some animals commonly seen in the West End. There’s also the “Bunny Van” on the side of our studio which features Carson’s bunny Bella and our bunny Waffles. They both lived to an old age and met at our studio, so I hope to honour their friendship through this mural. Our designs have evolved a bit from the original as we started to paint, such as the mashed-up racoon face. It was a last-minute change which turned out to be 100 times better than the original idea!⠀ ⠀ While working on our murals, many people who walked by were all very excited about it and were very encouraging. There was this old lady who even made a special trip to hand me a $20 bill. She said she’d love to express her appreciation for our work 😭 Another guy also gave us a gift card after chatting with Carson & Hubert. The amount of positive energy we’ve experienced during this time was incredible! I can’t express how grateful I am for our lovely neighbours ❤️(caption continues in comments…)⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀
A post shared by LEMONNI (@lemonni) on Sep 4, 2020 at 1:41am PDT
West End Best End can be found at 990 Nicola Street, Vancouver
The series of seven paintings titled Waste Wear is located at 22 Powell Street
All In is located at 813 Burrard Street.
Dream Weaver can be found at 1000 Eveleigh St, Vancouver.
Love All Your Neighbours can be 8337 Granville Street (north wall, Knights of Columbus)
DOWNLOAD THE VMF MOBILE APP to continue the VMF spirit year-round. Explore over 250 murals across the city. It’s the perfect socially-distanced activity for every season.
Daily Hive is a proud media partner of the 2020 Vancouver Mural Festival
