Chemainus Murals

**Style:** Small-town heritage muralism with accessible realism, historical scenes, community portraiture, and narrative tableaux painted on exterior walls throughout town. **Authorship:** Chemainus's mural program involved multiple artists over time and grew into a coordinated civic revitalization effort rather than a single-author project. **Historical context:** After economic shock from the decline of the local sawmill economy, Chemainus became famous for its outdoor murals. The town's painted walls helped recast it as a cultural destination, making it a classic example of murals used for economic recovery and place-making. **Local flavor:** This is mural tourism at a village scale. On Vancouver Island, among storefronts, sea air, and a walkable main street, the murals feel welcoming rather than monumental—an art trail woven into everyday life.

Chemainus, British Columbia, Canada