It’s no big secret that we’ve been invested in street art for a while now, so much so that it’s bled into SVV’s and my personal life as we launched a mural movement in our own hometown. Murals can help shape the identity of a place, drive tourism, assist in economic development and convince others to invest in their city—and within moments of arriving in a new place, I can immediately distill its vibe based on its walls alone. Lucky for us, when we first arrived in Oklahoma City, it was immediately evident that OKC’s mural scene is absolutely exploding.
In fact, from the moment you get to the baggage claim, this wall at Will Rogers Airport sets the tone for OKC’s artsy vibe and is an indicator that there’s a lot of color in your immediate future.
Like many big cities’ art scene, you really need a car to best explore Oklahoma City’s mural landscape. Many of the best walls are clustered on the outskirts of downtown along Western Avenue, but it’s a long street and it would take you days to try to walk from point to point in your mural-chasing endeavors.
On our first three trips to Oklahoma City, SVV and I have tried our hardest to hunt down all the art we could find, mostly by using the OKC streetcar and the scooters scattered about downtown. This method is definitely doable, but I’d recommend renting a car if you also want to hit up all the murals located north of the Paseo Arts District and along Western Avenue.
The problem we found while looking for murals in Oklahoma City was tracking down the exact address, so we did the hard journalistic work for you and tagged each one to its exact location. We even made a Google Map for you to reference on your next visit to OKC. (You can thank us later.)
Note: This post was last updated in January 2023.
Downtown, Arts District + Film Row
On our second visit to Oklahoma City, we based ourselves out of the 21c Museum Hotel OKC—what better base for exploring art than staying in a museum, right?—and loved that we were walking distance from so many of the art museums and a handful of murals, too.
Steven Adams, artist: Graham Hoete (Mr. G)
701 W. Sheridan Ave. (side of the Paramount Building)
Einstein, artist: Jeks
1015 NW First St. (side of B.C.C. Collective)
Paramount Mural, artist: Graham Hoete (Mr. G)
7 N. Lee (on the side of the Paramount building)
Atlas Shrugged, artist: Chris Presley
W. Sheridan and N. Shartel avenues
Sheridan Walker Parking Garage, artist: Adam “Codak” Smith
501 W. Sheridan Ave.
Kerr Park, artist: The Holey Kids
102 Robert S. Kerr Ave.
Enlightenment, artist: unknown
Robert Kerr and N. Classen
Midtown + Automobile Alley
Midtown encompasses a large area, and several murals and pieces of art exist along the NW 9th and 10th street corridors on the border of Automobile Alley. They’re sandwiched between countless tasty restaurants, so I recommend doing your own walking food-and-art tour, with some stops at neighborhood breweries like Prairie Artisan Ales along the way.
Greetings from OKC, artist: Victor Ving and Lisa Beggs
301 NW 10th St. (across from Bleu Garten)
Buffalo mural, artist: unknown
301 NW 10th St. (on the exterior wall at Bleu Garten)
“All you need is love and waffles,” artist: unknown
1212 N Walker Ave. (side of Waffle Champion)
The Womb, artist: Maya Hayuk
25 NW 9th St.(next to Blue Iguana)
The Braid, artists: Kris Kanaly, Dylan Bradway, Yatika Starr Fields
south side of NE 9th St. (across from Blue Iguana)
Insight Creative Group, artist: unknown
19 NE 9th St.
Vanessa House Beer Company, artist: Jake Beeson
118 NW 8th St.
Plaza District
The Plaza District is, no doubt, the place to go for art in Oklahoma City. Only have one day and want to make the best use of your time? Head straight to the Plaza District. The Plaza Walls are ever-changing—as in, they’re repainted over at least once a year, thus, you’ll likely not see the same pieces of art twice from visit to visit. These are a few we’ve photographed throughout our visits.
Gorō Ramen, artist: Juuri
1634 N Blackwelder Ave. #102 (inside patio)
Plaza Walls, artists: various
along NW 16th Street, N. Indiana Avenue and N. Gatewood Avenue
Maples Barbecue, artist: unknown
1800 NW 16th St.
Paseo + Uptown 23rd District
The Paseo and adjacent Uptown 23rd District is one of my favorite areas, and not just because it boasts local favorites like Tucker’s Onion Burgers and Cheever’s Cafe. I just love the buildings, the patios and the overall vibe of this uptown neighborhood.
Bathroom murals, artist: Denise Duong
3010 Paseo (in the bathroom outside of Holey Rollers)
Roam, artist: Chaney Shores
520 NW 23rd St. (wall of Studio 7 Dance)
Pump Bar Godzilla, artist: unknown
2425 N Walker Ave. (patio at Pump Bar)
Guyutes, artist: unknown
730 NW 23rd St.
Bricktown
While Bricktown is the tourist area of OKC and generally “tourist area” and innovative art do not necessarily jive, the neighborhood has embraced the use of bold, splashy art to give visitors and residents both a reason to come down to the area surrounding its ball park. Judging by this 2007 mural installed along the railroad bridge, it seems that this area has long embraced the arts.
Be sure and take the underpasses beneath the railroad bridge by foot or scooter (there’s a sidewalk) as there’s art everywhere, but it’s mostly hidden. Also keep your eyes peeled for small gnomes hiding surreptitiously at the bottom of telephone poles.
The Chairman, artist: Eric Tippconnic (Comanche Motion)
1 E Sheridan Ave. (side of Exhibit C)
Bricktown Okctopus, artist: Jack Fowler
429 E. California Ave. (behind the Chevy Events Center)
Abstract Passages, artist: Kris Kanaly
N. EK Gaylord Boulevard and Main Street (under the Main Street railroad bridge)
Earth to Sky, artists: Chad Nish Earles and Rhiana Deck
N. EK Gaylord Boulevard and Sheridan Avenue (under the Sheridan Avenue railroad bridge)
Strength of the Woman, artists: J. NiCole Hatfield and Steven Grounds
N. EK Gaylord Boulevard and Sheridan Avenue (under the Sheridan Avenue railroad bridge)
Cultivation, artist: Jason Pawley
S. EK Gaylord Boulevard and W. Reno Avenue (under the Reno Avenue railroad bridge)
Western Avenue
Western Avenue runs vertically all the way through Oklahoma City, and many of the murals we found were up north of the downtown in the 3000 and 4000 blocks near the 38th Street Preservation neighborhood.
Fortune Favors The Brave, artist: Julie “Juuri” Robertson
4416 N. Western Ave. (wall of Ketch Design Centre)
The Nature of Things, artists: Kris Kanaly, Dustin Gilpin, Jerrod Smith
4416 N. Western Ave. (wall of Ketch Design Centre)
Red Tail Hawk, artist: Jason Pawley
4200 N. Western Ave. (wall of VZD’s Restaurant and Bar)
Aiukli, artists: Erin Cooper, Amanda Bradway, Lauren Miller
3704 N Western Ave. (on the side of Mural K & N Interior Consignment)
Alegría, artists: Tree And Leaf Clothing Inc.
3325 N Classen Blvd. (on the side of Cafe Kacao)
We’ll be back in Oklahoma City this spring, so I’ll continue to add to this post as we track more murals down. Drop any tips in the comments of ones you want us to check out on our next visit!
Looking for other info about OKC?
- Urban Whitewater Rafting in Oklahoma City
- 11 Reasons We’re Obsessed with OKC
- Oklahoma City’s Art Game is Strong: Check Out These Creative Stops
- How to Explore OKC by Streetcar
- Baby, It’s Cold Outside: The Best Indoor Winter Activities in Oklahoma City
Our trips to Oklahoma are part of a long-term content partnership with Visit OKC. All opinions are our own.
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Wow, I had NO idea that OKC had so much great art! I’ve only been there once, and it was really only passing through on a road trip 7 years ago. This is definitely inspiring me to go back and explore the city properly!
Come along Amanda! If you want to hear some music while visiting, please check my schedule or give me a shout! If I’m not formally performing somewhere, maybe a cafe serenade would be in order for a visitor to our Fine city!
We have similar travel styles, I think, and you would definitely love it there! Funny enough, my first “visit” was also just passing through exactly seven years ago when we moved from California to Tennessee and stopped over in OKC for the night.
All these murals are tremendous Kristin. The top one boggles my mind. I think; folks paint these things on big old walls. I have a tough time accepting that idea. I still draw in stick figures.
I have a tough time figuring out how people can be so talented and wondering why I didn’t get the gift of painting 😉
WOW! So many awesome ones! Thanks for doing all the footwork, now any visitor can just pick and choose what they want!
It took us forever tracking some of these down without the help of a map, so I’m hoping some future mural chasers will find this handy! I still have a dozen or so to add on our next visit.
Can’t believe you skipped 2 gigantic Native American murals in a very publicly open space, underneath the train bridge right by the Cox Convention center……
https://www.google.com/maps/place/41+W+Sheridan+Ave,+Oklahoma+City,+OK+73107/@35.4665284,-97.5138221,18.5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87b2172636dbbb61:0xa42a3f334c870b0b!8m2!3d35.4664498!4d-97.5127644
The Native American painting on the side of Exhibit C is on the map I made, but we couldn’t find it when roaming around (had to Google the location after the fact). That bridge was covered in scaffolding when we were visiting last fall and photographed a lot of these.
Wooow. I’ll have to put Oklahoma one my bucket-list!
It’s a very cool city—lots of surprises!
This makes the city come alive. Thank you for sharing the wonders of your city and for your obvious love and enthusiasm. OKC is lucky.
Thank you for the kind words, Glen! We really do love it there.
Such beautiful and colourful murals! Reason enough to visit Oklahoma City for sure! I was sad when I didn’t get around to visit the district in Lima with all its murals. Nothing beats a day of mural spotting when travelling around a city.
And here I didn’t even know Lima was known for its murals! I’ve been wanting to go to Sao Paulo, however, for the same reason.
Fun! Long Beach has an annual summer mural art initiative with POW WOW. Next time you’re out in Cali you should check it out. http://www.powwowlongbeach.com/ You’d love it 🙂
Let’s go next year together!
What a fantastic guide! We’ll be in OKC in a minute…going to try to find as many of these as we can. Thanks for all the leg and lens work!
You are most welcome! Hope you have a blast!
Hey guys – We didn’t get a chance to chase murals while there, so we want to link to you guys from a post on art in OKC. Hope you don’t mind!
Yes, of course! Appreciate it!
You should check out the Underground in OKC. It’s not murals but it’s a really neat photo op and just a cool experience. It gets hot in the summer so beware of that.
http://downtownokc.com/underground/
This looks awesome, Lyndsy! We’ll be back in December and will definitely check it out. Thank you!
A friend came to visit me here in OK from my home state, Washington. While she was here we took a road trip to Nashville. While on this road trip, we discovered mural hunting. Long story short, your post was incredibly helpful to pass some well spent time in OKC before dropping her off at the airport.
Thank you so much for your time and effort put into this.
Also, most of the murals at the Plaza Walls have changed since you were there. If you need photos, I’m happy to share a few that I took.
I’m so glad you found this helpful, Sabrina! I absolutely love the Plaza Walls and can’t wait to be back there in December and see what’s new since our summer visit.
This makes the city come alive. Can’t wait to see all this beauty! Kristin did you visit in December?
August, June, then December; next visits, May and September! Trying to cover all the months of the year 😉
Pretty sure the anteater mural is my favorite! I love this guide and all of your other mural, city guides. I can’t wait to do one for Des Moines and investigate my own city to find amazing pieces of art.
Thank you, Chris! The anteater is my favorite, too!
I also chase street art and over the weekend spent several hours in Louisville photographing the amazing murals there. Blog of that is coming soon 🙂
Also written two posts about my town of Indianapolis, so if you ever make it here and want to find some our street art, hit me up for locations!
You’re one of my favorite bloggers and I love your mural posts.
P.S. Is the OKC “About the Music” mural still there? It’s on my list to visit but I never see it in your posts and was afraid it got painted over.
That is so sweet, Kelly! Thank you for the sweet words, and I’d love to go to Indy and will absolutely look up your posts when I do.
Not sure about the “About the Music,” but I’ll look for it when we’re back in May!
These murals are simply awesome! Bring so much creativity, vibrancy, and visual pleasantry to the cityscape. Bring em on!
Right? OKC knows how to embrace the arts~!
Wow! I’ve seen, and photographed, all of these…..except 3! Ha! I love how you’ve put them all together!
Wow, that must have taken some time! It took us three visits to make it to all of these, ha. Any favorites of yours we left out?
Ive found a LOT of art in downtown Norman. If you would like locations feel free to message me and i will share their locations. There afe about a dozen in a matter of a few blocks.
Hi, I used your blog on OKC to show my students the murals we have in our state. I’m so glad I happened upon your blog, it’s exactly what I was looking for on my lesson about graffiti, murals, art and vandalism. Thanks again!
Hi, I loved looking at all the possibilities of murals to see in OKC. I am looking to find out the location of the “create this” mural shown in this article. Thanks. Any help would be appreciated.
I’ve been viewing a filler segment on our local PBS station, OETA, RE: an artistic movement called Small Doors. And, I noticed no pictures of Small Doors in your OKC mural coverage. Do you have any knowledge about the world-wide spread of Small Doors (my spelling may not be exact, i.e. small ores, etc.)?
Hi Sandra! We’ve seen the Tiny Doors in Atlanta but never spotted in any Oklahoma City. Are there some there?
The “Enlightenment” mural is actually called “Allegories of Redemption” painted by lead artist Lee Shortridge while he was a professor at ORU in Tulsa. I was one of the lead assistants on the project while a student!! Great too see all of the different murals! Thanks for sharing…even if it was a while ago!