QuadReal’s purpose is to create living and working environments that enhance the lives of the people and communities we serve. As a commercial real estate company, we also want to explore the power of art in community spaces and how it can make our built environment warmer and more inclusive.

This year, QuadReal is a proud sponsor of the Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) project, Blanketing the City IV: Cathedral Square. Located at a park in downtown Vancouver, the murals are the first large-scale, semi-permanent public art collaboration between weaving artists from the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl’ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations in over 200 years. Transformed by the visual culture of these three local nations, Cathedral Square Park is now a welcoming space where people from different walks of life can connect with and build a deeper understanding of our collective history.

In this episode, Dat Huynh invites Debra Sparrow, Musqueam weaver and originator of VMF’s Blanketing the City series, and Adrian Sinclair, Director of Engagement at VMF, onto the podcast to discuss the vision behind Blanketing the City and this particular collaboration at Cathedral Square Park, and to get their take on public art in “human spaces.”