Vancouver Mural Festival to Showcase 40 Diverse Visual Artists
The Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) is set to showcase 40 diverse visual artists, inviting viewers to enjoy and reflect on public art in Vancouver. This year, new murals and art installations will be added to Downtown, Gastown, Hastings Sunrise, Mount Pleasant, New Westminster, Olympic Village, Renfrew, River District, and Strathcona.
To date, VMF has transformed the cityscape with over 400 murals and dozens of art installations connecting communities and celebrating diverse cultures. Many fantastic events will be taking place throughout this year’s Festival, including the Artist Talk & Tunes on August 7, the highly anticipated Mount Pleasant Street Party from August 8 to 11, After Dark events on August 9 and 10, daily tours, and more.
VMF is bringing people together through the power of public art, amplifying voices and creating platforms for artists. Equity, reconciliation, sustainability, and artistic excellence are at the core of what the Festival embodies. VMF has collaborated and made space for the leadership of dozens of Indigenous artists, aiming to affirm the resurgence and importance of Coast Salish culture on these lands in the hopes of directly combatting the systemic suppression of Indigenous visual culture. The diverse works of this year’s Indigenous artists are an inspiration of resilience, tradition, and creativity that push the boundaries of artistic expression.
Manuel Axel Strain is a 2-Spirit artist from the lands and waters of the Musqueam, Simpcw and Syilx peoples, based in the sacred region of their Katzie and Kwantlen relatives. Creating artwork in collaboration with and reference to their relatives, their shared experiences become a source of agency that resonates through their work. Strain designed a stunning mural for the City of Vancouver’s Sea2City Design Challenge, an award-winning design initiative to rethink the future of False Creek. Centering local Indigenous histories of the site through consultations with elders and knowledge keepers, Strain has chosen to acknowledge the three Host Nations through the petroglyph representation of the Wolf as a symbol of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, representing strength, leadership, and strong family ties; the Eagle as a symbol of the Musqueam Nation, representing power, protection, and vision; and the Two-headed Serpent as a symbol of the Squamish Nation, representing transformation, healing, and life. You can find the mural at 1800 Spyglass Pl, under the Cambie Bridge.
Joshua Conrad (Slow Studies Creative) is collaborating with artists Olivia George, Ovila Mailhot, and Diamond Point on an Augmented Reality (AR) installation at Le Magasin Alley in Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood commissioned by the Gastown BIA. Slow Studies Creative aims to venture beyond physical art and delve into the realm of AR as a tool to tell stories, share social movements, and contribute to meaningful interactions. Spark Indigenous is an AR creator accelerator program created and led by Slow Studies Creative in partnership with Meta to merge the richness of tradition with the limitless potential of XR technology. This dynamic Indigenous-led program aims to empower Indigenous creators to learn how to seamlessly integrate interactive AR experiences into their diverse artistic practices.
Randall Bear Barnetson will be joining VMF for the second time this year as one of the Emerging Artists supported by LaSalle College Vancouver. Bear is a multidisciplinary Indigenous artist from the village of Nadleh Whut’en, the Dakelh nation, and of the Duntem’yoo Bear clan, currently residing in East Van. Bear’s artistic practice interprets matters of modernity such as mental health and wellbeing, identity, culture, and spirituality through the framework of Northwest Coast Indigenous art forms. Bear’s art and traditional storytelling has aided in reconciliation and decolonization efforts with settler organizations in discussing Indigenous culture and heritage. Bear will be one of the panelists at the Artist Talk & Tunes event on Wednesday, August 7th and painting live at both After Dark events on August 9th and 10th. Tickets for both events are available on Eventbrite.
These are just a few of the incredible artists participating in this year’s festival. Find the full line-up here.
VMF is excited to announce LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) as the Presenting Partner for the Festival Main Stage. This partnership will contribute to over 90 live performers who will be energizing the stage over four days, as well as two VMF Emerging Artists, vibrant murals in their new state-of-the-art campus, and other impactful initiatives.
“LaSalle College Vancouver has a deep appreciation for the impact artists have in our community.”
"We sought to partner with an organization that provided a platform for this creativity and talent in our city, and VMF does exactly that. Their contribution to the lives of creatives and the quality of life in Vancouver is immense and we are proud to support this important organization”, said Jason Dweling, Chief Learning Officer and Executive Vice President at LCI Education.
“We’re thrilled to launch this multi-year partnership with LaSalle College Vancouver. It marks a significant stride for us to foster innovation and emerging talent in the visual arts in our city. Our institutions are brought together by our enthusiasm to nurture a society that values arts, culture, and education”, said Miriam Esquitín, VMF Executive Director.
To kick this year's Festival off, VMF is hosting an Opening Ceremony on August 8th at the Mount Pleasant Street Party. At 5:00pm, Musqueam Elder Mary Point will perform a territorial welcome, followed by opening remarks by MP Jenny Kwan, and Festival highlights by VMF Co-Chair Winki Tam and Executive Director Miriam Esquitín. RICECAKE will also be taking over the stage with DJs, drag, circus, and karaoke at 5:30pm.
Check out the daily schedule for full details on our weekend programming here!
Follow us at @vanmuralfest for more announcements about Vancouver Mural Festival 2024!
