Our Work: 2025 By-Election Candidate Survey (Updated): Question 5

5. What piece of public art do you like the most? How satisfied are you with the City’s approach to public art? Is there anything you would change?

Guy DUBÉ (100) - I would love to see the city help our artist have more chances to showcase their work. I want to see the Mural festival continue, public art and colour is good for the soul. I do love the Rainbow Crosswalks and Jim Deva Plaza art work.

Karin LITZCKE (101) - I don’t feel strongly about most of the public art that I have seen, but appreciate these are difficult decisions, and I can live with most of it. I particularly enjoy the laughing figures at Davie and Denman, although I thought they were more charming when surrounded by wood mulch, which harmonized better with the original patina.

Jeanifer DECENA (106) - Public art is a living expression of our identity, culture, and community spirit. Among all forms of public art, murals resonate with me the most because they tell powerful stories—stories of resilience, migration, Indigenous heritage, activism, and creativity. They bring neighborhoods to life, turning forgotten walls into vivid, meaningful landscapes that celebrate our diversity.

However, I believe there are areas where the City can improve its approach to public art:

1. Better Lighting for Murals and Public Art – Many beautiful murals fade into the darkness at night, becoming invisible or even attracting vandalism. Proper lighting installations would make these artworks more accessible, visible, and safe for people to enjoy at all hours.
2. Expanding Artist Representation – We need to ensure opportunities for Indigenous, immigrant, and marginalized artists to contribute to our city’s visual storytelling. Public art should reflect all of Vancouver’s voices, not just a select few.
3. Community-Driven Art Initiatives – Public art shouldn’t be limited to large commissions; it should be something that residents can take part in. Community-led mural projects, sculpture parks, and cultural installations should be funded so that neighborhoods can create and shape their own artistic narratives.

Art is one of the most powerful forms of civic engagement—it educates, provokes thought, and brings people together. It should be celebrated, protected, and expanded across Vancouver.

Sean ORR (108) - I’m a big fan of unsanctioned art, of community murals, and the stuff that Smokey D is doing can become what James C. Scott calls a “hidden transcript” – a confrontation between the powerful and the powerless. So it’s a little disappointing when they did a big anti-graffiti blitz called “Vancouver Beautification Day”, while at the same time celebrating murals which can often act as ‘artwashing’ in the aid of gentrification and displacement. I’d love to see more sanctioned spaces for community artists like Smokey D to do their work.

I’m loathe to spend too much time critiquing city-funded public art in general -because most of it is frankly rooted in a reactionary hysteria-, I still think things like the Spinning Chandelier are a bit tone deaf. But I don’t mind the poodle, I think it’s funny.

Colleen HARDWCK (109) & Theodore ABBOTT (110) - Prioritize local artists for public art. Ensure art and design are incorporated into more open space to enhance culture.

List of Questions