I’m a huge fan of street art and street performing. From murals to graffiti to buskers, there’s something wonderful about this most accessible of art forms. There’s the art itself—wild, untamed, ephemeral, and evolving outside of the often stuffy confines of an art gallery. But there’s also the discovery—the excitement of turning a corner and stumbling upon a piece of art that moves you.
So during the pandemic, I did what any self-respecting bored creator who has already baked his lifetime supply of sourdough would do ... I created a local reporting project (and Instagram account) all about LA's street art scene called LA Mural Map.
My unreasonably ambitious goal: try and map all of the murals in the Los Angeles area. That’s no small task, especially in a city with thousands of murals with many more being created each day. But I launched LAMuralMap.com with the hope that it could be a hub to promote the incredible street art all across Los Angeles, raise the visibility and profile of the artists who create it, and help all of us discover and learn about the art all around us.
There are thousands of murals and they are changing all the time, so it’s essentially impossible to ever fully reach this goal. But my hope is that by mapping as much as we can, we can help make this incredible public art accessible to as many people as possible and introduce them to all of the amazing artists who have contributed to this vibrant scene.
Today you can browse the site by map, filter by neighborhoods, search by mural name, and even search for murals within a specific radius of your location. Plus, if you come across a specific mural you love while browsing you can get walking directions to it directly from your phone.
It's been a fun and super rewarding side project and the perfect trap for a recovering over-achiever and workaholic – one that can never be finished. 😊
