The Downtown Eastside is an inner-city neighbourhood in Vancouver. Media portrayal of this area and, hence, common public perception, focuses on local problems, such as homelessness, drugs, and crime. While there is some truth in these representations, it is important to remember that there is a huge diversity amongst the people living in this area. While there is a lack of affordable housing, a drug crisis, and an infectious disease crisis, there is also joy, hope and pride.

Walls of Change, sponsored by the Carnegie Community Centre, is a series of murals that were created in collaboration with a group of over 20 artists and hundreds of residents in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. The intention was to provide residents of the community an opportunity to actively alter the look and energy of their streets. Walls of Change provided a space for residents to express for themselves that which is vital and significant about their community.

The results were a dynamic statement from an area of the city that is more commonly known for its daily tragedies, and more often unrecognized for the abundantly creative and remarkably caring people that live in the Downtown Eastside. Mural Design workshops began on February 21, 1998. They were conducted in 10 local organizations: Carnegie Community Centre, Youth Action Coalition, Four Sisters Housing Co-operative, The Portland Hotel, Storefront Orientation Services, Oppenheimer Park, Downtown Eastside Senior's Centre, Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, The Political Response Group and The Living Room, Gallery Gachet and the Japanese Community Volunteers/Tonari Gumi.