Anti-Olympic mural ordered to be removed
Posted December 11, 2009 12:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – An anti-Olympic mural showing four sad faces and one smiling face inside the Olympic rings has been ordered removed by the City of Vancouver. It issued the order under its graffiti by-law when the mural was hanging outside a Downtown Eastside gallery.
However, Crying Room gallery owner Colleen Heslin tells the Globe and Mail over the years she has hung 30 murals outside and has never had any trouble before. A City inspector who viewed the work noted it was black graffiti tags on wood paneling, and ordered the removal because of it’s appearance, not content.
This comes on the heels of a controversial Olympic sign by-law that many accuse of stifling free speech during the Winter Games.
