The line isn't talent. It's consent.
Vancouver has a genuine street-art culture, mural festivals and internationally known artists — and also thousands of scrawled tags. Debates about which is "art" miss the point that matters for a property owner: commissioned or permitted work on your wall is art; anything applied without your consent is vandalism, whatever its skill level. That's the legal line, the bylaw line, and the practical one.
Why this framing is useful
- It removes the guilt trip — owners sometimes hesitate to remove an elaborate unsanctioned piece. But an uninvited mural still exposes you to bylaw obligations, still signals an unmonitored wall, and still tends to attract tags over it as other writers respond
- It points to the real opportunity — if a wall keeps attracting paint, that's evidence it's a canvas people want. Commissioning an actual mural converts the liability into an asset: murals deter tagging, and you choose the art (see protecting murals)
- It keeps removal decisions simple — unsanctioned work gets the same response as any tag: document, remove promptly, protect the surface. Selective tolerance ("we'll leave the good ones") reliably reads as an open invitation
If you want art on your wall
Do it on purpose: commission it, register it where your municipality runs mural programs (some offer grants), and coat it for protection. We remove what you didn't ask for and protect what you did — both across the Lower Mainland.