Lmst

Walls Full of Life (8 Photos)

From haunting Halloween portraits in Mexico to vibrant classical blends in Spain and poetic realism by the water, these murals bring walls to life around the world. This collection of 8 murals captures emotion, imagination, and craftsmanship — eight striking examples of street art that redefine public space. More: Made You Smile (9 Photos) 1. Halloween Glow — Lucek in Mexico Mural of a woman illuminated by the orange glow of jack-o'-lanterns and surrounded by silhouettes of bats and […]

https://streetartutopia.com/2025/10/14/walls-full-of-life/

The “mural” of the story: Silo art enhances community

While traveling this year, we have been fortunate to see several outstanding examples of grain elevator/silo art being employed in cities and towns across the heartland. Given the naturally gray/beige color of these enormous structures, a splash of bright, bold colors or an inspiring image can enhance not just the towering structure itself, but also help brighten the entire surrounding neighborhood.

While approaching either downtown Salina, Kansas or Mankato, Minnesota, one cannot help but be impressed by the sky-high artistry depicted on the local grain elevator silos. The towering images of unity, community, diversity, and friendship in these two mid-sized prairie cities are breathtaking. Meanwhile, when entering Toledo along Interstate 75, the Glass City River Wall fronting the Maumee River immediately captures your attention.

Few community placemaking efforts can create such an immediate, meaningful, and positive response from locals and visitors alike. Personally, this retired planner prefers those silo murals that have a local historical and/or human connection versus just painting them to add color or a standardized patriotic theme. Such a direct connection is important to build both initial and continuous support from the community.

The murals also help promote civic pride and create a catalyst towards the rebirth of aging sectors of the city/town. Just imagine an outdoor performance venue with these 100+ foot tall icons overlooking the busy festivities below. Similar projects have been done successfully at former steel mills in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (SteelStacks) and Birmingham, Alabama (Sloss Furnaces) and at a former grain elevator in Buffalo, New York (RiverWorks).

Or perhaps a food truck rodeo could be established at the base of the silos serving up delicious meals throughout the week. Or they could become the centerpiece of a civic plaza with fountains, courtyards, light shows, and landscaping adoring the site. Honestly, the sky’s truly the limit for ideas employing these immensely impressive structures.

Kudos to each city/town here in the United States and elsewhere who have found the wherewithal to take visual art to exciting new heights. Below are images of the six silo murals we observed. Peace!

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Burlington, Colorado

Artist’s name and date of completion is unknown.

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Edwardsburg, Michigan

“All Aboard” mural (2023) by Illinois muralist Brett Whitacre

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Mankato, Minnesota

Monuments Project Mural (2020) in Mankato, Minnesota by Australian artist Guido van Helton (west elevation) South elevation East elevation

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Salina, Kansas (two silo murals)

“Mural at the Mill” (2021) in Salina, Kansas by artist Guido van Helton “Mural at the Mill” with a thunderstorm in the background “Dionysus” (2023) in Salina, Kansas by Spanish artists PichiAvo

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Toledo, Ohio

“Glass City River Wall” (2022) in Toledo, Ohio by muralist Gabe Gault of Los Angeles

#AllAboard #art #BrettWhitacre #cities #community #Dionysus #Edwardsburg #fun #GabeGault #GlassCityRiverWall #grainElevators #GuidoVanHelton #heritage #history #Mankato #MonumentsMuralProject #MuralTheMill #murals #music #PichiAvo #placemaking #planning #RiverWorks #Salina #siloArt #sios #SlossFurnaces #SteelStacks #towns #travel #unity

A work by Pichi & Avo, on one of the IJ-Hallen. This artistic duo from Spain is recognized for their skill at creating connections between painting and sculpture in urban settings. A balanced combination of classical art and the most contemporary urban art can be identified in their work. 🇪🇸 🖼️

#Amsterdam #art #urbanart #streetart #noir #Amsterdamnoord #mokum #sculptures #ndsm #pichiavo #ijhallen #classical #contemporary #mural #streetphotography #photography #pichiavo #artiseverywhere #graffiti

"Love desire" by PichiAvo
#art #streetart #pichiavo

💜 Artist: #PICHIAVO in City: #Wuppertal / Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 340/ Germany 🇩🇪 10/2024 - Title: "Aphrodite" - #Art #Streetart #Mural #Artist #SprayArt #Aphrodite #UrbanerKunstraumWuppertal
Website: https://www.pichiavo.com/aphrodite-mural-in-wuppertal/

Streetartwall. The colorful image of a Greek statue has been sprayed/painted in modern pop art style on the exterior wall of a two-story building. It shows the upper body of a statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and sensual desire. She wears her hair in an elaborate braid and her body is bathed in shades of purple, blue and pink. A purple graffiti heart is emblazoned on her chest. Her head is slightly tilted and she is holding an apple in her hand as a symbol of fertility. A barely recognizable text field on her neck leaves a greeting from the artist: "From Valencia to Wuppertal".
Info: The Mural is inspired by the myth of Aphrodite and the Judgement of Paris.

🏙️ Guten Abend... Gute Nacht / #GoodEvening... #Goodnight 🌠
Artist: #PICHIAVO (Pichi & Avo) in - City: #Grenoble #Fontaine , 66/72 avenue Aristide Briand France 🇫🇷 2019 - Title: "Poseidon" (📷 by Equis007) - #Art #Streetart #Mastoart #Mural #Classics #GuteNacht #Traum #Dream 🌟

Streetartwall. The monumental mural of the god Poseidon was sprayed/painted on the exterior wall of a four-storey modern apartment building. In flowing, vibrant graffiti colors, the face of "Poseidon" can be seen in blue and pastel tones as he gazes sternly towards the Alps. The statue-like figure is surrounded by modern pop art-style graffiti. The photo was taken shortly after it was taken, using bold colors and an orange evening sky.

'Mercury & Psyche' by Spanish PichiAvo in Toronto, Canada (2022) #pichiavo #toronto #streetart #lamolinastreetart 📷 by @juuangel via artists mysl.nl/hgcw

☀️ Artist: #Pichiavo in City: #Montreal 1276, Rue Atateken at The Village, Canada 🇨🇦 2023 - Title: untitled - #Streetart #Art #Mastoart #Mural #Graffiti #Urbanart

Streetartwall. On the narrow outer wall is a mural with three by 1 head in the style of Greek statues, sprayed/painted. The background is designed with colorful, mainly pink and orange graffiti characters. On it is, always slightly offset, the same male statue head in purple-gray painted in a row. Impressive and you wonder what they are looking at.
New mural in for the "Three Graces" show at @s16gallery Westmount in collaboration with the @muralfestival 2023

🗿Artist: #Pichiavo in City: #Mérida Near the old Roman circus, Spain 🇪🇸 - Title: "Venus del Mérida" - #Streetart #Art #Mastoart #Mural #Venus #Sculpture ... see you 👋

Streetartwall. On the outer wall of an approximately five-story apartment building is sprayed / painted fabulous mural of a Greek Venus. The background is a colorful graffitilettering in all colors. On it was sprayed a white head and shoulders of a Venus sculpture with wavy hair. The white is interrupted by the colors purple and blue. She is seen from the side and her gaze goes to the right towards the city.
The "Venus del Mitreo" is a headless sculpture that is exhibited in the museum in Mérida. This sculpture was combined with the "Aphrodite of Syracuse" and completed to a "Venus of Mérida", because the similarity of the two works was very inspiring.
The Artist:
We have been exploring the absence of matter, fragmentation of archeological pieces and the reconstruction of Classical artworks lately with our artistic concept "Diaspasis", which now rework from a different perspective.

🏙️ Guten Abend... Gute Nacht / #GoodEvening... #Goodnight 🌠
Artist: #Pichiavo in - City: #LasVegas USA 🇺🇸 - #Streetart #Mastoart #Art #Mural #GuteNacht #Traum #Dream🌟 see you... 👋

Streetartwall. On a roof with black floor tiles and Bar, stands a wide partition wall, painted with a colorful mural. In flowing, bright graffiti colors, you can see the face of the statue of "David" by Michelangelo. It is a night shot, in the background you is a skyscraper and the orange-blue night sky.

🔘Artist: #PICHIAVO in City: #Drammen Norway 🇳🇴 - Title: "Goodness of Gaia" - (for #ugangsprosjektet) - #Streetart #Art #Mastoart #Mural #Graffiti #Artwork see you... 👋

🏙️ Guten Abend... Gute Nacht / #Goodnight 🌠
Artist: #Pichiavo in - City: #Grenoble France 🇫🇷 - Title: "Poseidon" - #streetart #mastoart #art #guteNacht #traum #dream 🌟 see you... 👋