Vancouver Mural Festival's best of the neighbourhood: West End
The Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) has unveiled its full lineup of events for its 2020 celebration and this year, it’s expanding to more neighbourhoods than ever.
From August 18 to September 7, artists will paint and unveil more than 60 murals in nine different neighbourhoods — not to mention the vast amount of art that already decorates Vancouver streets.
Live artist painting for Pride 2020 by Paige Bowman. (VMF 2020)
By expanding to more neighbourhoods and creating more murals than ever, VMF organizers are aiming to support local artists, communities, and businesses, while inviting attendees to safely enjoy nearby neighbourhoods.
Here’s a look at where to go and what to see in the West End:
Things to do
Celebrate Pride with a sneak peek of the 2020 Vancouver Mural Festival
Before VMF takes off, Pride Week in Vancouver will be displaying plenty of stunning artwork. From now until August 2, a Pride Art Walk will take over Downtown Vancouver. In the West End, expect six large-scale art pieces by local Two-spirit, Trans, and Queer artists, as well as live painting at Jim Deva Plaza.
An addition to the Pride Art Walk by Paige Bowman. (VMF 2020)
This year’s theme for the Art Walk is “Travelling through Imagination” — something that’s truly fitting since most travel plans have been turned upside down. Live painting will take place every day starting at 4 pm, while three Pride murals will see completion in Davie Village.
A Pride-inspired piece of public art by Ben Cooper. (VMF 2020)
Patio hopping and people watching
One of the West End’s many outdoor patios. (VMF 2020)
With a focus on outdoor dining and more patios and gathering spaces in Vancouver than ever, there’s no shortage of patios to check out in the West End. Not to mention, many of the patios come with a stunning view of English Bay.
Eat your way around the world
Whether it’s Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Mediterranean, or Malaysian, there’s an eatery to fit every craving. Don’t forget to end off with ice cream!
Bike the city
(VMF 2020)
The West End also has plenty of businesses that rent out bikes, making for a great day of exploring the Seawall or taking advantage of the closed roadways at Stanley Park.
Murals to see
A mural painted by Mandy Tsung. (VMF 2020)
Mandy Tsung is a Banff-born painter and tattooer. While she moved to Vancouver in 2016, many of her years were spent in Calgary and Hong Kong.
Tsung’s work engages themes of multi-racial identity, queerness, and neurodivergence. She tells Daily Hive that her piece is a “celebration of the multitudes of identities that are part of the LGBTQ2S+ community and is a depiction of a non-binary and trans-feminine couple.
Her mural can be found on 1022 Davie Street at the back wall of Celebrities.
(Mandy Tsung/VMF 2020)
Pearl Low is a Queer, Afro-Asian artist based out of Vancouver. Her works are rooted in themes of self-love, culture, race, acceptance, and Chinese and Jamaican-Canadian experiences. In addition to working in comics and animation, she won an Oscar in 2020 for her work in the short film, “Hair Love.”
Low hopes to complete her mural, titled Precious Fruit, by August 7. The piece hopes to showcase a form of Black joy that Low finds beautiful to her and show how growth occurs, even in a world that may not support it.
Low’s piece can be found on 1138 Davie Street at the back wall of The Junction.
A mural in progress by Pearl Low. (VMF 2020)
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Margaret August is a Two-Spirited Salish Artist who was born and lives in Victoria. Their art piece, which is nearing completion, depicts two Coast Salish thunderbirds that surrounds a human figure in the middle.
August says the human in the piece represents Two-Spirit people “because they bring special gifts to the world and offer spiritual medicine to the people.”
“The combination of thunderbird and Two-Spirit people represents transformation,” they say.
Carson Ting and Annie Chen
Carson Ting and Annie Chen will begin painting a mural on August 18, coinciding with the start of VMF 2020. Their piece will be located at 990 Nicola Street.
Daily Hive is a proud media sponsor of the 2020 Vancouver Mural Festival
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