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