Paper Rags to Riches with Blue Jay Walker

And why Its still worth making physical things in 2025

A video came across my feed a few months back of a local artist creating a physical zine and sending it out to subscribers. The themes. Varied. The graphic design. Cool. But what grabbed me was Blue Jay Walker’s quest to travel to all of Vancouver’s skate shops, thrift shops, and used book stores in search of those who would stock his zines. A process called rejection day. This do-it-yourself project, combined with the sheer dedication, had me hooked.

Understandably, it’s ironic that an interview about why physical media is important is coming to you digitally in your email inbox. To balance that out a bit, the interview was conducted via letter. As an aside, go write your friends a letter; it’s good for everyone involved.

In our chat, we talk about creating physical media, and Blue Jay even turns the sheet one of my questions is written on into a zine… try to do that virtually.

If you’d like a copy of Paper Rag, check out the Patreon, or go visit:

• Cross and Crows

• Sparticus Books

• Luckys Comics

• Zulu Records

• Tanglewood Books

• Book Warehouse (Main Street)

49.2626587, -123.0568770

49.2866212, -123.0916598

49.2719589, -123.1813179

So there it is. Go make something!

Elegy for Grow Up (Trey Helten)

And why the city should rename 133 West Pender Street lane in his honour

First of all - I didn’t know Trey. But over the past decade, his work just kept appearing to me first through his Grow Up tag. And then as the organizer of large-scale graffiti murals and projects. In the wake of his passing last week, it’s clear that his art and work with the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS) saved lives and shaped Vancouver.

A few years back, I managed to get an interview with him about the massive OPS mural in the Downtown Eastside. This project brought about thirty writers together to paint a large collaborative piece that still graces the walls of the Shaldon Hotel.

He then co-created the Clean Lines Jam. With two years under its belt, this organic, graffiti jam takes place in 133 West Pender Lane in the summer. Rougher and more raw than the mural festival, this event brings people into a DTES alleyway to watch people tag. It brings what is usually an illegal activity into broad daylight and champions those who can create art with spray paint.

Still, to look at only his contributions to Vancouver’s art and graffiti scene would be only a fraction of his story. Trey was the manager at Vancouver’s Overdose Prevention Society (OPS). In all accounts, he went above and beyond. Saving lives and teaching others to do the same. This piece in the Globe and Mail captures this part of his story with importance.

If you’re curious about his impact, go visit 133 West Pender Street lane, the alley where clean lines took place. Look for the Smokey D memorial. Wheatpaste artist FUCKit even installed a life-sized paste-up and space for people to throw up hand styles. Try to find a Grow Up tag, or sign up for training from OPS. His impact is all around us.

Please also consider writing your local city councillor to name the 133 West Pender Street lane after him and officially sanction it for graffiti. While it’s already unofficially been dubbed Ashtrey’s Alley, Mr. Helten is someone worthy of an official memorial.

And with all of that , I’m certain this is only a fraction of who he was as a man. So while I didn’t know you. Thank you Trey.

Guerrilla Cinema

The East Van Vodville Cinema is Now Showing in a Venables Alleyway

Late last year, a tiny theatre appeared in the alley at East Vancouver 1601 Venables. This tiny cinema is 1:55 scale model of the historic Pantages Theatre, a former vaudeville and film theatre. Opened in 1907, it was demolished in 2011.

If you want to see what’s playing, check out their blog here.

Can you tell us about the project, what inspired you to build a 1:55 scale model of the historic Pantages Theatre?

The East Van Vodville Cinema is a free, 24/7 sidewalk-accessible mini movie theatre. There have been other peephole cinemas, like the "Peephole Cinema" in San Francisco, and the early-film nickelodeons, but we wanted ours to be a little window into an alternate dimension, one where the Pantages escaped demolition through neglect, but at the cost of 99.9994% of its volume. And is populated by increasing numbers of muppets.

Why was it important to put your project in public like this? Is guerrilla cinema the wave of the future?

So many reasons. It warms my little shit disturber heart to see the sheer range of people that are drawn to this thing. The Vodville doesn't care who you are; if you show up to its bit of sidewalk, it has a movie for you. It's a way of showing care between neighbours. It introduces people to the Vancouver Hack Space, which is a grassroots community makerspace, at a time when mutual aid is more important than ever. It brings people delight, sometimes when they really need it. It let us get a clip from Canadian Bacon onto the news on January 20. It's also an opportunity to make copyright exemption rights real to people, and I'm gonna nerd out for a sec:

There is a section of Canada's copyright act called the "Fair Dealing" exemption, which allows non-commercial use of "non-substantial" portions of copyrighted material for purposes of education (and more). Our programming is grassroots film history education for the kids and lifelong learners in the neighbourhood. We do little writeups for each movie, and keep it under 10% of the original work.

You have to exercise your rights, otherwise you lose them. They get negotiated away in trade deals. In 2022, CUSMA resulted in a 20 year pause in American works entering the public domain in Canada. This legal stuff is boring, and nobody cares, and slowly your rights get chipped away. So the Vodville is a small way to stand up for freedom of expression and access to shared culture, by making it tangible.

We would love to see more guerrilla cinema in the world. We have a link to our build logs on our website, littlefreecinema.org, and if anyone who wants to build one, please get in touch. We'd love to have a map of these things on our website one day.

What kind of programming is the theatre running? What do you plan to run in the future?

We show a real mix... theme weeks with out-of-context scenes from old movies, work by local artists, guest curator community groups and film festivals... We're steadily shifting towards locally created films. There are a few projects coming up that I'm really excited about... If there are any local musicians or puppeteers reading this, if you'd like to show a video, please get in touch!

There’s some interesting viewers inside, who’s your favourite little free cinema viewer?

I think my favourite viewer is the tiny paint chip in the frame over by Totoro. It's a piece of the original Pantages. Second favourite is a tie between Statler and Waldorf.

If you had unlimited time or resources what would your next project be?

Somebody gave us a great big beam from the original Pantages, so that's going to get worked in somehow, probably as a portable version that can go to events. We'd love to build a more accessible one at the Children's Hospital. Unlimited resources though...? I think every neighbourhood could use some version of a Vodville. Our most popular shows are always the ones by local artists. People want to see what their neighbours are making, and thinking, without algorithms and marketing and social media weirdness getting in the way.

Sleeping Goblins

Murals at Covenant House

Sleeping Goblins is the alias of local artist Keyvan Richardson. But you won’t find his work on the walls of a gallery (yet). Instead, his work adorns the walls of a local nonprofit, Covenant House Vancouver, where he also teaches art programs for youth.

The organization serves young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness or human trafficking with support and housing. You can find out more here.

How did you get connected to Covenant house? Why is their work so important to you?

I connected with Covenant House sometime last year thru a friend of mine, they reached out for some murals so I started the first one in the summer! Over time I got to know a lot of the youth and staff, which led to me becoming more involved in the day to day activities there. The work they do is incredibly important to me because I can relate to the youth and how much of an impact support and community has.

You mentioned teaching drop in art classes. How important is it for kids to have access to creative outlets like that?

I think creative outlets are incredibly valuable for youth (and everyone in general) because it can sometimes be hard to express or organize everything going on inside your head, and putting it out into the world in whichever way feels the best is a great form of self therapy. The process of creating any kind of art includes so many valuable lessons that I think making that accessible for everyone is very important.

Tell us about your murals for Covenant House?

I’m currently working on my 8th large scale mural at Covenant House, I think I’ll be wrapped up there after the 10th one is finished sometime this year. There are countless goblin shaped staff members, youth, and friends I’ve made on the walls now, which is one of my favourite parts of doing these.

My approach artistically has been to pack in as much movement and colour as possible, I know how new spaces can often feel scary so my solution is literally hundreds of colourful silly guys on the walls.

Whats next for you? Will we see more murals, street art, or gallery shows?

I’m definitely going to continue working with youth and charities while completing murals in similar spaces, but for the future I’d love to have more gallery shows and exhibits with some larger scale canvases and sculptures.

With unlimited resources what would you create?

massive pink cat statue + tower crane = endless possibilities

Heady Graff

Grateful Ched Paints Warf Rats All Over Town

There are Grateful Dead fans (Deadheads) everywhere. It turns out that local vandal Grateful_Ched is also on the bus. With stickers and tags of a giant cartoon rat, Ched is shaking down the streets of Vancouver. I had a chance to chat tagging and the Dead with this Ace artist. Catch them on a wall near you.

Once in a while you get shown in the light/ In the strangest of places if you look at it right
‘Scarlet Begonias’ Hunter/Garcia

How did you get into tagging?

Was a little shithead skater punk as a kid, just kinda happened naturally, but that didn't last very long at all. Fast forward several years, I decided I'd stop just being a bencher [fan/observer] and start taking part. At a point in my life where most people retire from graf, I took it up. I'm disillusioned with society, and wish we would do better, I guess I just needed an outlet, to voice that frustration.

How did you come up with the rat tag?

I've always enjoyed silly illustrations. I was starting off pretty small, just hand drawing stickers, doing different variations of characters, some self portraits, horribly done tags. It all just evolved naturally. I started getting more involved with the culture and various sub cultures, and really enjoy all the amazing hand drawn 228 [USPS Mailing Labels] and sticker writers/artists. I wanted to have something original and recognizable. There's a lot of people out there all doing the same things, and I just wanted to do something different. Characters can sometimes be polarizing in graf, but I've always been a fan.

Your name is Grateful Dead reference, what’s your favourite tune and favourite show?

I feel like I can't narrow it down, as it changes year to year. Gun to my head though? Deal. Live Dead is the best Dead. There's a ton of shows from different eras I love for different reasons but lately I've been bouncing between:

• May 2, 1970 - Very unique half acoustic half electric set. The opener “Don't Ease Me In” swings like a gate.

• July 7, 1989 - The Scarlet Fire on this one absolutely rips. Also, just a fantastic Brent show.

People get down on Vancouver a lot. What’s something you like about the city’s graff and art scene?

This is a hard one for me. I think I’d probably default to being a downer on a question like this too. I dig supporting local artists though, I love places like Slice of Life or Layout Art Supply, happy they exist.

What would you do if you had unlimited resources for a project?

House people. Feed people. Entertain people. Paint is free or cheap, human life shouldn't be.