Cheers to public artwork: Vancouver councillors save Storm Brewing's ill-fated mural

Days after a brewery in East Vancouver was told it had to remove its decade-old mural due to by-law violations, city council stepped in to save the public artwork.

At its last meeting before summer break, council voted unanimously in favour of grandfathering Storm Brewing’s mural as the city looks to amend its signage and mural by-laws.

The motion tabled by Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung directs staff to modernize both by-laws in order to allow for local businesses to have artful murals with commercial elements on their own premises.

Kirby-Yung is one of the councillors who spoke out after Storm Brewing announced the end of its mural era last Wednesday.

“We were informed there were several mural/sign bylaws we are in violation of, including the size of the name of our business and ‘advertising’ by having beer/ beer production displayed on the mural,” the brewery wrote on social media.

Speaking to council Tuesday night, Kirby-Yung described the brewery’s decade-old mural as an iconic, quirky and fun piece of public artwork that’s beloved by locals and tourists alike.

“It creates a huge sense of place in the neighbourhood,” said Kirby-Yung. Storm Brewing was founded in 1994 and is considered one of the city’s pioneers of craft beer.

In response to the motion, Coun. Pete Fry commended Storm Brewing for breaking ground in the mural scene.

“Long before the (Vancouver Mural Festival), that Storm mural was really enlivening a really moribund and depressed part of the city that not a lot of people were paying attention to and it brought a lot of joy and flavour,” said Fry.

While the amendments will require a public hearing process, Fry supported the “thoughtful” and “appropriate” approach.

“All this conversation is making me thirsty for a beer,” he added.

Kirby-Yung concluded by recommending her two favourite Storm Brewing pilsners—one that’s pineapple flavoured and another that’s gin and tonic infused.

“I’m hopeful that they’re actually get a storm of business out of this—pun intended,” she said.

Storm Brewing has not acknowledged Tuesday’s vote on social media yet, but did post over the weekend that they were overwhelmed by the community’s support for the mural.

“We know you like our mural, but we had no idea just how much you love it—until now,” the brewery wrote on Sunday. Misters have been set up outside the brewery to keep people cool as they enjoy a pint or take photos with the recently rescued artwork this summer.

CTV News has reached out to Storm Brewery and will update this article if a response is received.