Find colorful murals throughout Asheville, thanks to many talented artists. And, they are free to enjoy! Murals have beautified otherwise conventional and bleak urban architecture, each having a unique personality and story. See our favorites in person by taking your own mural tour!
While visiting the area's most Insta-worthy Urban Murals, consider a professional photoshoot by Asheville Urban Photo Tours to capture the experience. Great for couples, families, bachelorette parties, and more!
Created in 2008 and 2009, the beautiful and complex Lexington Gateway mural covers the six concrete piers that support the I-240 bridges over Broadway Avenue in downtown Asheville. Created by Arts 2 People’s Asheville Mural Project, it transformed a dark, dirty area into a vibrant area. It was a huge effort, painted by five artists with the coordination of many more. Themes in the mural are sustainability, arts and culture, community, and Asheville saints featuring standing portraits of 40 local citizens.
A 10-ft. rooster welcomes you to Chicken Alley, a narrow alley in downtown Asheville that was once a gathering area for chickens. The mural by Molly Must is located on Carolina Lane at Woodfin, between Broadway and Lexington.
Look up at this three-story-tall drop of wine, named 511.95 hz of wine by artist Jimmy O'Neal for the frequency of the last drop in a wine glass. Appropriately located at the 5 Walnut Wine Bar (5 West Walnut).
Triangle Park Mural in downtown Asheville showcases the history of the Block, Asheville’s oldest African-American business district, wrapping a small park. (Corner of Sycamore Alley and South Market Street)
The Shindig on the Green Mural is a 6x12-ft. tribute to the long-running summer music series in the adjacent Park Square Park that features Appalachian music and dance. (20 South Spruce Street)
On the side of the Aloft Hotel (corner of Lexington & Aston), artists Alex Irvine and Ian Wilkinson teamed up to create a stylized mural using painted surface and ceramic tile that reflects both the hotel's modern architecture and nearby historic terracotta buildings. The mural features a woman daydreamer looking over downtown Asheville. In the background, an inverted art deco horseshoe pattern references the historic location of Asheville’s farrier trade. The project is part of the City’s Percent for Art Program.
We love the Dolly Parton and RuPaul Mural, appropriately overlooking Beauty Parade salon in West Asheville (783 Haywood Road).
See 2015 "Burners and Barbecue" creation, a tribute to the Big Lebowski at Sky Lanes Bowling (1477 Patton Avenue). Read about the Asheville Mural Project below!
Enjoy a beer on the outdoor patio of The Odditorium Bar and study the details of the 2014 Burners and Barbecue "Wild West Asheville" mural at 1045 Haywood Road.
At Hall Fletcher Elementary (60 Ridgelawn Rd, Asheville), artists Ian Wilkinson and Alex Irvine spent a month in 2013 in the classrooms with fourth-graders to design this mural, bringing excitement and beauty to one of our poorest schools.
River Arts District
Located by the parking area for a restaurant and studio (1 Roberts Street), the local's favorite "Stay Weird" mantra cover an old silo beside a changing collage of graffiti. Graffiti has evolved into many, continuously changing canvases throughout the River Arts District (some legally painted and some not!). Many express underlying social messages or expressions of the artist at the time. Read more about the River Arts District.
Located in the River Arts District, Foundation Walls is a place where graffiti artists are encouraged to paint the outside walls of some old warehouses at 339 Old Lyman Street. This dirt road leads to a new skate park. These huge canvases with ever-changing designs are spread over 13 acres. Behind Village Potters.
