Storm Brewing allowed to keep mural after Vancouver council motion

The beloved mural outside of Storm Brewing in East Vancouver won’t be coming down after a Tuesday night council decision.

The exterior wall of Storm Brewing has been adorned with images of its name, brewing equipment, and several rats for nearly 10 years — until the brewery was informed by bylaw officers that the mural didn’t qualify for a permit, as it was found to resemble an advertisement for alcohol rather than a piece of art.

Storm Brewing is one of Vancouver’s oldest breweries and the decision to remove the mural faced extensive public backlash.

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Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung brought a motion to save the mural to Vancouver City Council and it was passed unanimously Tuesday night. Although, the decision violates bylaws around what’s considered a “sign” and what’s considered a “mural.”

“It was really interesting that I actually heard from some folks that I know and respect in the mural community who actually supported this and sort of said okay, I get I get it in terms of allowing it on local businesses on-premises,” she said.

Kirby-Yung’s motion directs staff to find ways to modernize the sign and mural bylaws to avoid these cases in the future as well.

“I think our bylaws are intended to create a level playing field for people … but they should be supporting local business in our city and they shouldn’t be stifling public art and murals.”

After initially being told the mural had to come down, Storm Brewing owner James Walton told CityNews the mural was painted in 2014. At the time, he says he didn’t know he was breaking a bylaw.

“The building kept getting tagged and it looked horrible, so getting those guys to put a mural on it kind of protected it from further encroachment of garbage art,” he explained.

“I just think that it’s local artists doing their thing. I didn’t tell them what to put on it, they just went, ‘Okay, let’s put some rats and beer on it.’ And I said, great. So they came up with it, it’s not like I was trying to advertise. It’s just the expression of the people that were here.”

Like many others, Councillor Pete Fry notes the piece had been up for nearly a decade without any problems.

“I think that as a city, we don’t necessarily want to appear unduly heavy-handed in this case,” he added.

With files from Angela Bower and Hana Mae Nassar