Public art in Nanaimo helps reduce vandalism and other crimes

Public art in Nanaimo helps reduce vandalism and other crimes Published 9:30 am Tuesday, July 14, 2026 Public art does more than just add beauty and colour to the city.

Public art in Nanaimo helps reduce vandalism and other crimes Published 9:30 am Tuesday, July 14, 2026 Public art does more than just add beauty and colour to the city. Jaime-Brett Sine, the city’s cultural coordinator, told council at its meeting on July 6 that a study by the Philadelphia Arts Program showed a reduction of crime of up to 42 per cent surrounding new public art in urban areas.

“That includes from vandalism and tagging to violent offences, so we know (public art) makes a significant difference,” she said. “When a space looks intentionally cared for, people behave differently around it.” The study cited published earlier this year, called “Murals and neighborhoods: The impact of public art in Philadelphia,” found that the murals “significantly improve perceptions of safety, cleanliness, and friendliness” and yields stronger positive feelings about the neighbourhoods.

As for Nanaimo impacts, Lorne Bailey, a traffic-signal technician with the city, told council that when traffic-signal cabinets are wrapped in art by local artists, there is a reduction of graffiti on them. “When new (traffic-signal) cabinets were installed on Front Street that didn’t have wraps, the first one was tagged within 48 hours, and during the three months before they were wrapped, I was there multiple times to clean off graffiti,” he said. The city’s urban design roster program, that was launched in 2021, currently includes 28 local artists that have been engaged to do a variety of different art projects in the city.

Their art can be found on property and equipment across Nanaimo, including murals, B.C. Hydro and Telus kiosks, traffic-signal cabinets, and even utility covers and ice resurfacers. Bailey said traffic-signal cabinets in the city are the most prolific users of the urban-design roster outside of arts and culture. He said that since 2021, the city has worked with 13 artists who created 23 unique designs that are showcased across 32 of the traffic-signal cabinets throughout Nanaimo, which account for almost 60 per cent of all the traffic cabinets within the city.

“Before the end of 2026, we’ll have at least three more locations that will have wraps by artists on the urban design roster, and we’re not done,” he said. “We’re looking ahead to 2027 and we’ve started to engage with two new artists who have not had art done on the roster.” Coun Ian Thorpe asked how long does an artist wrap last on traffic cabinets.

“The first wrap we installed was in 2021 and at this point, there has been very little damage to it, so we are expecting it to last at least 10 years, if not longer,” Bailey said. “But once there is vandalism damage, we do have to do some maintenance on those or replace them.”