Vancouver, CANADA - File this inspiring art video under “silver linings.” Videographer Steve Hawkins wanted to spread hope. The streets of Vancouver were becoming bleaker and bleaker. People were few and store windows were boarded up. His idea was to use these boarded up storefronts as canvasses to bring “optimism for the future through art.” So out of these dark times was born the mural “Love Travels Far” by artist Kari Kristensen and a few of her friends. In the video, the artists talk about what the mural not only means to them, but to some passers-by who offer their thanks.

Kari Kristensen created the mural based on her work “Fallen,” which she offered the weekend of April 18th as part of Vancouver Mural Festival’s “Make Art While Apart” initiative to beautify boarded up businesses during the COVID-19 lockdown. The murals turned bleak plywood boards into messages of hope for Vancouverites.

Keri explains, “Normally my work is about conveying a feeling and an emotion about the place that I’m in, but now I’m saying something about the time that we’re in. One of the things that artists always do is talk about the time that we’re in and the struggles. In times of struggle, we rely on artists – they’re a barometer of where humanity is going.”

Do watch this. It’s both moving and exhilarating.