An exploration of Vancouver's formal
and informal art scenes
Vancouver is a city known for its art, from Granville Island's bespoke art galleries, large installations at Coal Harbour and the sprawling totem poles at Stanley Park. Vancouver and its surrounding areas have a rich history of artists stretching back millennia to the First Nations groups, the xÊ·mÉ™θkÊ·É™yÌ“É™m (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and sÉ™lilÌ“wÉ™taʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), artworks like wood carving, weaving beading and more. As Vancouver has developed, its art scene has changed drastically and today consists of a diverse landscape of mediums, styles, and artists which is reflected by the physical art in public places. We, as a city, even care so much about our art that The City of Vancouver has an open portal database detailing the location, name, artist's name and statement and images of the work for residents or visitors to enjoy or plan visits to.
The city divides the categories of art into 15 different categories that attempt to encapsulate the different mediums scattered throughout the city. This bar graph reveals that the most popular medium in Vancouver for Public art is sculpture and that there is a heavy emphasis on physical 3D installations due to the higher frequency of categories with those characteristics as totem poles, monuments and fountains are all 3D as well. However, Murals are situated in the top 4.
While some categories like sculpture are self-explanatory, categories like site-integrated work, Media, Relief or Socially Engaged art are vague or may not be familiar to the viewer without prior art-specific knowledge. A site-integrated work is an “artwork which is incorporated into the landscape or the architectural features of a building or complex” (City of Vancouver, n.d.). Media refers to an electronic work. A relief is a “form of sculpture that is carved or cast; design elements project outward in varying degrees from a background plane.” Socially Engaged Art refers to works that require interaction from viewers.
However, there is not an even distribution of city artworks throughout the city and we want to know what areas have the most art and which have the fewest. In this graph, we compare the frequency of artwork across Vancouver neighbourhoods and the direct coordinates of the artwork sites. Clearly, Downtown Vancouver has the highest concentration by far! As the densest area in Vancouver with a high concentration of people and businesses, Downtown garners most of the art. Furthermore, Downtown is a central area of importance that draws lots of tourism which could possibly influence the aesthetics of the area. The Waterfront leading into Stanley Park also garners high numbers of art as it is a major tourist attraction and highlights Indigenous art such as totem poles. The next highest frequencies are given to Strathcona and Mount Pleasant (which border Downtown) that also play a central role to the heart of Vancouver. The rest of the map shows a generally even distribution of the remaining artwork with a higher concentration of sites around central Vancouver.
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We want to highlight Strathcona, as it is a neighbourhood that often carries with it a negative connotation due to the homelessness and opioid crisis in the area. James Hardy (“Smokey Devil”), a graffiti artist who lives in Strathcona, has been painting there as a way to motivate and provide critical information to the less well-off community (​​CBC/Radio Canada; Kulkarni). Hardy says he hopes his “nice big murals” remind those struggling in the community “that society… [did] not forget them”. His art is an excellent example of how graffiti can function as a “substantial cultural contribution” (Kulkarni, 2024).
The graffiti landscape is constantly changing, being painted over, removed, or altered. This is due to cities like Vancouver implementing anti-graffiti laws and removal programs, as well as the varying civic response from different communities. Graffiti, in all its forms, is extremely present in Vancouver as it has a high concentration of it spread over a large area. The graph shows a wide diffusion of graffiti throughout the city, but it stays clumped in certain lines that follow major roads and transit lines. Graffiti is concentrated in the central areas like Downtown, Strathcona, Mount Pleasant, Grandview-Woodland, and Kensington Cedar; this could indicate these neighbourhoods' openness to street art and cultural expression or possibly reflect areas where urban art is tolerated or even encouraged.
Map of Vancouver
Image Courtesy of Jerrett Walker
Vancouver's approach to urban art is complex, it balances the promotion of public art within the city's aesthetics and recognizes graffiti as a form of cultural expression. Some neighbourhoods show a higher frequency of regulated public art, while others display a mix of graffiti and public art. This highlights the ongoing discussion about art's role in public spaces and the importance of including various artistic styles like graffiti in the urban landscape. It is clear that residents want a space to create art due to the overwhelming presence of graffiti. Thus, Vancouver has started to consider a hybrid approach. In 2022, the city created its first legal graffiti wall, which encouraged artists to use the alleyway of the Vancouver Native Housing Society as a place of expression. The project was positively received by artists, the Society, and residents of the Downtown Eastside where the wall is located. Interactive graffiti installations have had great success in promoting artistic expression and encouraging people to engage in the arts. Sanctioned graffiti zones add colour and life to spaces, and can even have historical significance (such as the Cadillac Ranch installation by Ant Farm in Amarillo that has been an interactive graffiti zone for 50 years).
Vancouver Graffiti by prominent artist Johnny Cashola
Photo courtesy of Johnny Cashola
Vancouver Graffiti by MR.HBAK
Photo courtesy of Reddit user Top-Calligrapher-266
Legal graffiti wall at Pendera building at 133 W Pender street
Photo courtesy of Trey Helton
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Images of Cadillac Ranch overtime
Photos courtesy of Wyatt McSpadden
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Examples of the City of Vancouver's Public Art
Spirits of the Realms
Mural by Haisla Collins, Jerry Whitehead, Sharifah Marsden, Mehran Razmpoosh, Richard Shorty and Vanessa Walterson
Three Watchmen
Sculpture by Jim Hart
Watch Your Step
Mosaic by Leah Decter
Graffiti is an often misunderstood or unaccepted art form that reflects urbanism and unique cultural and personal identities through spatiality, imagery and dynamism. Graffiti is often a blanket term for highly diverse artworks comprising tagging (use of specific lettering), drawing, symbolism, and colouring to differentiate an artist from one another. Graffiti covers a wide range of topics but largely reflects the identities of the artist, their cultures, idols, hobbies and neighbourhoods. For our graphs, we would like to acknowledge that it is not possible to find and plot every piece of graffiti as it can be hidden in alleyways or newly sprayed. Additionally, we acknowledge that graffiti promoting racism and hate speech is not an artistic form accepted in Vancouver or any city.
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