Wall for Women Vancouver – Interactive street art

While exiting one of Vancouver's downtown transit hubs, Burrard Station, you will come across a huge and beautiful wall mural. While stunning, it is a tribute to a dark topic: that domestic violence lives in plain sight, something you might not assume at first glance.

Depicting a woman rising with newfound strength, this wall honours women living in or fleeing domestic violence. It was created to bring awareness to rising domestic violence during the pandemic.

If you look closely, you can see a collection of dots incorporated into the painting, which are five QR codes. These codes usually allow you to interact with the painting and read more about it and the domestic violence statistics in Canada. Currently these codes are not working.

While a sad topic, it is an important one, and it's a piece that I always have to stop and look at when I walk by. The distinct art style, inspired by artist Ola Volo's Kazakh background and its' sheer size, make it hard to miss.

It is located on the side of the Hyatt Hotel, right above the Staples store and across from Burrard skytrain station, making it a nice stop before checking out the nearby shopping district.