Overview

This is street art which enlivens a derelict industrial wall surrounding Vancouver's newest "pop-up park". The site is an urban garden dedicated to promoting pollinators — bees — in the city. The site is a former industrial site on a block which will eventually be developed entirely into park. Until the remaining structures are demolished, one corner of the block is being dedicated as a park with homes for bees.

Until the next stage of development, the borders of the park would have been stark grey walls. The client asked us to design something bold and fun which could be quickly and simply installed, indicate that change was coming soon and engage the local residents. Designed to be a simple, repeating, circular pattern in as few colours as possible, the giant friendly bees reinforce the theme of pollination in the city. We created a four colour illustration which was easy to replicate across the wall with two sizes of circles along with simple straight lines that could be marked out with tape. Our team reviewed the site, determined the visual and conceptual content of the mural, explored different ways to depict themes around pollination, experimented with patterns and prepared dimensioned concept drawings. We consulted with suppliers around graffiti resistance, prepared final artwork templates for the painters and performed site reviews to approve positioning, recommended minor adjustments where necessary on site and assisted the client with quality control reviews for successful final results.

The mural is a huge part of the success of the park's community opening planting day. It was in place for many months before any foliage went in the ground and created interest and intrigue which is clearly seen on social media. The opening day — a rainy day in November — was a huge success in no small part because the mural was inviting and communicated exuberant fun to people living in the area.