Richmond is well known for it’s wonderful art community and the streets of our city certainly reflect that. After being named one of the best locations for street art in the world by Buzzfeed in 2013, Richmond has not only gained a new following of art lovers everywhere, but new murals that certainly live up to the title. No matter where you walk, you are bound to run into countless murals that reflect the history and attitude of the city itself. For those looking to explore, here’s a guide featuring the best and most popular murals in Richmond.
620 North Lombardy Street
Artist James Bullough brought his signature style to the city of Richmond. Using his photorealistic spray paint techniques, he brought a plain wall to life in July of 2015. Despite being completed only a year ago, this is one of the most noticed and well known murals in the city.
1101 West Grace Street
Completed by Sanier and Bezt of Etam Cru in 2013, this large, realistic mural added some much needed color to the mostly beige buildings on Grace Street. Since this piece found it’s home right across from Village Cafe, it’s popular among both locals and tourists alike.
3300 West Broad Street
Right across from CBS-6, Mickael Broth and his wife Bionna Nomi completed a mural dedicated to the 2016 democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Much like the Richmond and VCU community, these artists wanted to draw attention to the candidate himself as well as create more meaningful street art in a city already covered with paint.
646 North 7th Street
Near VCU’s MCV campus, this building has completely different murals on all four of it’s walls. The crowd favorite seems to be a mix of color and pattern created by artist Jason Woodside in 2015. It’s a great place for a photo-op!
The Richmond Canal Walk
Just off of Canal Street in Shockoe Bottom, these murals take up a large wall along the popular Canal Walk. Richmond commissioned these murals just after the canal walk was completed in 1999. Even though they have been here for a while, it is still one of the most well-liked mural spots in the city.
3rd and Leigh Street
Commissioned by the Greater RIchmond Convention Center Authority, this mural was completed by Mike Mandel in 2003. This complex piece of art is 20 feet tall, 25 feet wide, and composed of 86,000 ceramic tiles. The artist based the four scenes shown in the mural on images of the Robert E. Lee Bridge in 1933, the Booker T. Theater on Broad Street in 1934, saxophonist Jay Peters in 1952 and the surrounding Jackson Ward neighborhood.
1533 Floyd Avenue
In the neighborhood surrounding VCU, Nils Westergard completed a massive black-and-white project for the 2015 Richmond Mural Project. As an RVA native, he returned to his hometown to complete this commissioned piece after traveling all over the world working on similar street-art projects.
Whether you take the time to explore or just want to walk around city, take a second to go check out these gorgeous murals. You'll be sure to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness they bring to Richmond.
For a list of all of the street art in Richmond alongside their location, visit http://www.richmond.com/life/article_98e8b3a0-1a3a....
