Vancouver Mural Festival shuts down
The organization cites financial challenges as the reason it’s ending after nine years
Vancouver Mural Festival, Odera Igbokwe. Photo by Mavreen David
VANCOUVER MURAL FESTIVAL has announced it’s shutting down after nine years, citing financial hardship as the reason.
“This decision was not made lightly,” the organization states on its website. “Like many arts and non-profit organizations, we have faced growing financial challenges in the past years. Despite our best efforts and significant progress to stabilize the organization, it is no longer viable for us to continue.”
VMF is operated by Create Vancouver Society, a registered B.C. non-profit. Over the past nine years, VMF was involved in the creation of more than 400 murals across the city, dedicated to supporting mostly local artists who don’t typically have the chance to work in public spaces. In addition to adding colour and creativity to outdoor places, the artworks also helped deter unwanted graffiti, following the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.
Granville Island Brewing, Andrew McGuire.
“Together, we’ve brought colour, culture, and conversation to the streets of Vancouver,” the organization states. “We’ve celebrated creativity, uplifted diverse voices, and shown the world the power of public art. VMF wasn’t just a festival; it was a movement – one fueled by connection, collaboration, and an unshakable love for this city.
“While VMF may be coming to an end, the impact of its murals, festivals, and programs will continue to inspire Vancouver’s cultural landscape for years to come,” the statement adds. These works of art stand as a testament to what is possible when creativity, collaboration, and community come together.”
Vancouver Mural Festival was founded in 2016 and started out as a summertime mural-painting event in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. It went on to expand, adding an annual summertime festival and a ticketed concert at Jonathan Rogers Park in partnership with Live Nation and Blue Live, drawing more than 100,000 people at the Mount Pleasant Street Party. It staged other events throughout the year such as the Winter Arts Festival, broadening beyond Mount Pleasant. It hosted official mural tours and VMF After Dark, two nights of art, music, and dancing at The Bunker. Its Blanketing the City series was a public-art mural series and reconciliation process in collaboration with acclaimed xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) weaver and designer Debra Sparrow.
Vancouver Mural Festival, Grace Cho. Photo by Mavreen David
VMF’s annual budget reached over $3 million. It also received more than $1 million in funding from the federal government in 2022-23.
The average lifespan of a mural ranges from a couple years to decades, depending on location, weather, upkeep, and other factors. The City of Vancouver mandates that all murals must stay up for a minimum of two years.
Since 2017, the VMF’s artist lineup has included over 45 percent female-identified artists, more than 45 percent self-identified minorities and non-binary people, and 15 percent Indigenous artists. The fest invited new guest curators to work with them each year. Since 2018, VMF was committed to always having a guest curator from one of the three host Nations.
In 2016, the City Centre Motel was home to several of Vancouver Mural Festival’s very first murals. In 2022, K.C. Hall, Fiona Ackerman, and Joon Lee completed a mural there, the largest produced by VMF to date. The exterior facades and parking lot are a collage of traditional North Coast Formline, contemporary abstract work, graffiti, and floral patterns in a palette that incorporates some of the old motel colours. The project was sponsored by Nicola Wealth Real Estate, the proprietors of the site. VMF worked alongside The Narrow Group, which made 79 motel rooms available as studio spaces to over 100 practising artists and creatives.
Vancouver Mural Festival, Carson Ting.
Musician David Vertesi founded the festival, working to select artists with Drew Young. Vertesi stepped down in 2020, when VMF efforts ramped up amid the pandemic with its #MakeArtWhileApart initiative. Over six weeks in April and May of that year, VMF teamed up with local artists, business associations, Vancity Credit Union, City of Vancouver, and Goodbye Graffiti to create temporary murals on storefronts boarded up because of COVID-19. The result was 60 murals that aimed to “inspire hope, brighten streets, celebrate resilience and connect communities”, according to the organization’s website, across nine neighbourhoods. When stores reopened, most murals were removed but they live on on the fest’s website.
Reaction to news of VMF’s shutdown has been swift, with some people questioning why the City of Vancouver isn’t stepping up to help cover costs. Over the years Create Vancouver Society received varying levels of civic support, from $190,293 in 2018 to $6,000 in 2019 and $10,000 in 2020. In 2021, the City of Vancouver gave the organization $43,385 and provided another $39,623 in 2022. In 2023, the society received a $4,000 civic grant.
“So grateful for the artistic contributions VMF made to Vancouver,” Charmaine Carpenter, executive director and curator at Pemberton & District Museum & Archives Society, said on VMF’s Facebook page. “You transformed the visual landscape, level of community engagement across neighborhoods and pushed the City past their comfort zone.”
Freelance artist Elin Roz stated, “This city is losing whatever is left of its spirit.”
“You inspired our festival in Nelson to start 8 years ago,” said Sydney Leigh Black. “We are so grateful for the path you paved for us all.” 
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