RideKC’s Top 5 Murals of 2018
Do you follow RideKC on Instagram? If not, you’re missing our regular weekly feature showcasing some of Kansas City’s most interesting public art. Every Monday, we highlight a local mural with the hashtag #muralcrushmonday.
Below are the top five murals for 2018. Find out if your favorite made the cut.
5. Janelle Monae
This mural was painted during the SpraySeeMo festival in early fall. The mural by Zulu Painter features Janelle Monae, who is a native of Kansas City, Kansas. Monae received accolades this year for her album Dirty Computer.
Location: Behind 514 Southwest Blvd.
Get there: Just a short walk from 11 Northeast-Westside
4. Gallup Map mural
The nostalgic mural outside the Gallup Map Company is in the Kansas City Crossroads. You can spot this one while on board the KC Streetcar or take a short walk to 18th & Main from one of the many routes along Grand.
Location: 18th & Main
Get there: KC Streetcar
3. Squid Panda
This imaginative mural is the work of Oliver Valle Wright, aka Revilo33. It was also painted during the SpraySeeMo festival. Wright’s work often “combines familiar elements of the animal kingdom and splices them up to create wonderfully strange and evocative juxtapositions.”
Most of this mural was sadly lost in a building collapse. The mural was located at the intersection of Locust and 18th, near Troost MAX. A small section of the north end of the mural remains.
Location: 18th & Locust
Get there: Troost MAX
2. Happy Days: Arthur Fonzarelli
Another celebrity slides into the number two spot. This wall features actor Henry Winkler as The Fonz, along with some classic Triumph motorcycles. With its pop culture reference to the 1970s show Happy Days, the mural brings a splash of color to 13th & State in Kansas City, Kansas.
Location: 13th & State, Kansas City, Kansas
Get there: 101 State Ave.
1. Kansas City Superman
Our top mural for 2018 is a larger-than-life Kansas City personality and transit rider: KC Superman! KC Superman is Mike Wheeler, and you can often spot him running or riding around town. This mural in Westport might be the only place you can catch him standing still. The mural was painted by Whitney Kerr and Chase Hunter.
Location: Visible from Broadway, on behind a building near 41st & Penn.
Get there: 47 Broadway, 35 35th Street
Be sure to follow us on Instagram to see all of Kansas City’s best murals. And if you have a suggestion for a future #muralcrushmonday, send us a message on Instagram, or email social1@kcata.org.