Street Art and Murals of Lexington, Kentucky: Volume I

Lexington, Kentucky is home to many beautiful pieces of creative and interesting street art. There are many murals downtown, but there are also many others located throughout the city. You just have to know where to look! The murals are not only created by talented artists (some are even world renowned), but some are created by anonymous painters.

I’ve been planning to do this post for a year, and I’m happy that I was finally  able to see the majority of street art that Lexington has to offer. We have a lot, so I’m sure I missed a few, but I made sure to capture all the ones I knew about to feature over several posts. I spent around eight hours over the weekend to capture over 50 murals around our amazing city! I’ve included information about the mural and the artist, as well as its location, so it would be easier to find!

I’m sure that if you have spent any time downtown than you’ve noticed at least some of the murals. They can easily be found on the sides of buildings. Some are small and some are huge! There are also several that are away from downtown and in other parts of the city.

Lexington has several different organizations that help create artwork to beautify our wonderful city, such as LexArts and PRHBTN.

LexArts joined forces with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to create the Lexington Mural Project. The Lexington Mural Project is a collaborative initiative between neighborhoods, business people, civic leaders and artists to enhance the beauty of Lexington by creating public outdoor murals.

PRHBTN is an annual celebration of art forms that have been criminalized, marginalized, and under-appreciated in the mainstream, featuring public murals alongside an exhibition of street art works in a space that complements the raw, powerful nature of the message and artistry of each piece. PRHBTN is a local organization created by John and Jessica Winters. PRHBTN first started as a local art gallery, but then later moved to street murals.

“I Am MO”

• Location: It’s located in the Distillery District – 1200 Manchester Street, Lexington, Kentucky. It’s so big that you won’t miss it!
• Artist: MTO
• Details about the mural: The mural depicts a street artist behind bars with red police tape running across it saying, “Caution: Do Not Feed.” The artist’s hands are signing the letters MTO, which has been part of the artist’s signature on other works around the world. Perhaps the most head-turning and controversial mural in Lexington is the 75 by 270 foot MTO mural on the side of the Pepper Distillery Warehouse near the Distillery District. MTO is known for painting 
giant murals of famous celebrities, but this particular character is not one.

“Einstein Mural”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: Distillery District – around 1158 Manchester Street, Lexington, Kentucky.
• Details about the mural: You can’t walk up to the mural itself, since it is behind a locked gate. It’s on the opposite side of the road as the “I am MO” mural that is also in the Distillery District. This mysterious mural is painted on a garage door near the Distillery District, and very little is known about its artist. It depicts a pensive-looking Albert Einstein.

“Left Handed Wave Mural Creation”

• Artist: Left Handed Wave
• Location: The Break Room at Pepper, 1178 Manchester Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508 – the Distillery District.
• Details about the mural: The character in this mural can be seen on the front of The Parachute Factory, which is located 720 Bryan Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40505.

“Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride”

• Artist: Lion’s Grip
• Location: The Burl, 375 Thompson Road, Lexington, Kentucky
• Details about the mural: Painted by the Ohio-based art collective Lion’s Grip, an art collective formerly known as Higher Level Art and consisting of Art Academy of Cincinnati professor Matthew Daylor and two former students, the mural ties in visual reference to the nearby historic train tracks with a quote by famous Kentuckian Hunter S. Thompson.

Dogtown Daycare Daycare and Boarding Mural

• Artist: Journeyman Artist Danny Diamond
• Location: 1026 Manchester Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508
• Details about the mural: Dogtown Daycare owner Tiffany Morrow has commissioned a brand new exterior mural from Journeyman Artist Danny Diamond. The artwork depicts a futuristic motif of her customers as copper-chromed androids delivering their pups to Dogtown. Lexington’s silhouetted skyline and a warm pink and orange Kentucky sunset make up the background which is highlighted by Downtown Lexington’s landmark skyscraper “Big Blue”.

“Unknown”

• Artist: Dragon76
• Location: On the corner of Newtown Pike – near 256 Newtown Pike, Lexington, Kentucky

“Where Dreams Come From”

• Artist: Herakut
• Location: 574 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky, 40508 (on the side of Arcadium)
• Details about the mural: The sister mural to Lily and the Silly Monkeys (which is located on the 100 block of Market Street), this piece was painted by two-person German street art team Herakut. This is another installation in their “Giant Storybook Series” that spans multiple continents.

“Unknown”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: On the side of a building – 574 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky

“Unknown”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: On the back of the building as the mural above – near the 100 block of East 6th Street, Lexington, Kentucky

“STEAM Academy Mural”

• Artist: Fowl County
• Location: On the side of STEAM Academy – 123 East 6th Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508
• Details about the mural: This mural was painted in partnership with PRHBTN in 2016.

“A Tradition of Music on North Limestone”

• Artist: Michael Burrell
• Location: 601 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky 40508 (on the side of Al’s Bar)
• Details about the mural: Focusing on the history of blues music in the Limestone area, this celebratory mural is on 
the facade of Al’s Bar.

“Strange Characters”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: 600 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky
• Details about the mural: Very little is known about this mural on the side of Progress Market. The strange characters appear to be colorful cartoon versions of the statues at Easter Island.

“Unknown”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: Located on the side of the building near 746 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky

“Unknown”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: Across the street as the mural above – near 746 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky

“Buffalogirl”

• Artist: BroCoLoco
• Location: Vintage on Lime, Located at 712 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky.
• Details about the mural: To help renovate and beautify North Limestone, BroCoLoco painted a mural on the side of Vintage On Lime, one of the newer shops in this area.

“Wild Fig Books and Coffee”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: Wild Fig Books and Coffee, Located at 726 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky 40508
• Details about the mural: This mural is a tribute to the owners, Ron and Crystal’s lost daughter.

“Unknown”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: On the bottom of the wall at 110 Luigart Court, Lexington, Kentucky.

“The Buffalo”

• Artist: ROA
• Location: 139 Luigart Avenue on North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky
• Details about the mural: ROA painted this mural as part of the 2014 PRHBTN program. Street artist, ROA, is from Ghent, Belgium. Very little is known about this elusive artist, except that he was known to collect little skulls from birds and rodents in his earlier years. This concept of life and death, and affinity toward animals and rodents, still has a strong influence on his life and can be seen throughout his work.

“Head in the Clouds”

• Artist: Left Handed Wave
• Location: The Parachute Factory, 720 Bryan Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40505

You may notice on the bottom side of the building, there is a partial mural. The mural was destroyed after miscommunication with a contractor. The mural featured racehorses and jockeys and had the quote, “To the amazing people of Lexington.” It was painted by Portuguese artist Odeith.

“Red Light Kitchen & Lounge Mural”

• Artist: Unknown
• Location: Red Light Kitchen & Lounge, 780 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky, 40507

In case you missed it… Be sure to check out the previous street art and murals:

• Street Art and Murals of Lexington, Kentucky: Volume I
• Street Art and Murals of Lexington Kentucky: Volume II
• Street Art and Murals of Lexington, Kentucky: Volume III
• Street Art and Murals of Lexington, Kentucky: Volume IV

 

More street art and murals coming soon…

Part II is coming on Thursday, May 3 and Part III coming on Monday, May 7!