D.C. doesn’t have a Banksy (though we did have Borf for a while, and oh do we miss them), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any shortage of phenomenal street art and murals in the area. In fact, there’s a ton, many of which you can explore here. Below are our favorites in the area. Take to the comments and let us know yours.
“GAGGED WASHINGTON” MURAL: Part of the beauty of murals is their accessibility. You don’t need to be a curator or an art history major to decipher meaning. The “Gagged Washington” mural, situated on U Street, is a perfect example. It’s unmissable and striking, almost shockingly so. That was the goal of the artists, Aniekan Udofia and Liz Brown, when they put it up in April of 2011. The piece, sponsored by D.C. Vote, is a testament to the injustice many Washingtonians feel regarding their lack of representation in Congress. Wise choice to use this image, rather than write out the license plate slogan in block letters. A picture’s worth a thousand words, right? — Tori Kerr
“Gagged Washington” is located at 1502 U Street NW.
Via DC Murals.
RIVER TERRACE MURAL: I’m a sucker for the kind of vintage style that artist Cheryl Foster employed for her River Terrace mural in Benning Heights. It borders on outsider art while evoking the heavy and colorful style consistent with a lot of commercial art in the ’50s and ’60s. — Matt Cohen
River Terrace is located at Kenilworth Avenue and Benning Road NE.
“SHH” AND “TIN CAN TELEPHONE” BY JAMES BULLOUGH AND KARL ADDISON (JBAK): I love the design style of JBAK’s murals. These two colorful murals feature realistic renderings of teens and adults playing in the city. The characters are the stars—full of expression and beautifully rendered—and the bold geometric shapes that fill their outfits (in “Shh”) and intersect their bodies (in “Tin Can Telephone”) add contemporary graphic style to the realism. JBAK currently live and work in Berlin, so we are lucky to have their beautiful work donning our buildings. — Lynne Venart
“Shh” is located on Florida Avenue NW near North Capitol Street, and “Tin Can Telephone” is located on 13th Street NW in Columbia Heights.
Photo By MikeSpeaks
SURRENDER DOROTHY: When I was growing up, there was no piece of D.C.-area street art more iconic to me than the “SURRENDER DOROTHY” tag on a railroad bridge over the Beltway. According to Wikipedia, the piece first went up in the ’70s and has been scrubbed and repainted numerous times. It’s, of course, a reference to the massive Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kensington that sits just beyond the bridge and, quite ominously, looks like Oz. It’s unfortunate that “SURRENDER DOROTHY” isn’t still up, but at least someone put up a different tag that’s a reference to D.C. history…
FUGAZI OVER BRIDGE: Which leaves us with the current tag on that railroad bridge: “FUGAZI.” The reference to harDCore’s patron saints got a mention in a recent column by the Post’s John Kelly. It’s not a particularly good or original tag, but in an ever-changing District, it’s a nice reminder of one of the city’s most important bands. — Matt Cohen
Surrender Dorothy/Fugazi is located on a bridge atop I-495 near Kensington, Md.
Via Kelly Towles’ website.
KELLY TOWLES’ CRAZY GARDENING MURAL: This semi-demented mural by Kelly Towles has gone through a couple of phases (to cover up graffiti, I believe), but I love the juxtaposition of the weird characters and the cute little flowers. I can’t tell if I should be happy or disturbed looking at it—two of these guys sure are carrying a lot on their shoulders and they look a bit frowny—but I always smile when I walk by. — Lynne Venart
Kelly Towles’ mural is located at 12th and W Streets NW.
Photo by Jamelle Bouie.
MARVIN GAYE MURAL: Street artist Aniekan Udofia has a true gift for murals. Not only is his style vibrant and striking, but it’s incredibly lifelike, as exhibited by his renderings of Duke Ellington, Fredrick Douglas, and George Washington. But it’s his massive mural in Shaw of D.C.’s own Marvin Gaye that’s one his crowning achievements. It was particularly heartbreaking when it was painted over because of construction. However, Udofia put up a new one that’s, luckily, just as good. — Matt Cohen
The Marvin Gaye Mural is now located at 7th and S Streets NW.
TOYNBEE TILES: Not much is known about the mysterious Toynbee Tiles, which have popped up in cities across the world since the 1980s. There’s a bunch in D.C., or at least were, at one point. I’m not sure how visible they still are, but I come across one every now and then. (There’s a Google map with locations to all of them in the D.C. area, but again, I’m not sure how many are still up). What makes the Toynbee Tiles so great is their mystery. Who put these there? Why did they do it? What statement are they trying to make? No, seriously: “TOYNBEE IDEA IN MOVIE 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPITER.” What does it all mean? We may never know, but we can spend forever coming up with our own interpretations. — Matt Cohen
This is a map of all the Toynbee Tile locations, allegedly.
Via DC Murals.
DEANWOOD MURAL: Situated in Deadwood, this mural, which was put up in 1991 by artist Rik Freeman, celebrates 100 years of African American History. It’s a massive work that stretches 120 feet, featuring depictions of iconic African American heroes like Jackie Robinson and Jimi Hendrix. But what I particularly love about this mural is the style, which kind has a peculiar outsider art quality to it. — Matt Cohen
The Deanwood Mural is locates at Minnesota Avenue and Burroughs Road NE.
Photo by Kevin Harber.
RHODE ISLAND AVENUE METRO MURALS: You can’t miss the mural visible from the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station, and you wouldn’t want to. Five artists and forty young apprentices contributed to the making of “From Edgewood to the Edge of the World,” which was commissioned by D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. It practically pops off the wall, drawing you into multiple panels of bright, graphic work. But the color actually continues well beyond what you can glimpse from a Metro window. If you get off the train and wander down to the 700-foot retaining wall, you’ll find a sprawling outdoor gallery of work from other graffiti artists and muralists that seems to keep stretching on. Many of them are so good because the artists have the time and freedom to work; the works are done completely legally through artist collective Albus Cavus’s Open Walls program. It is one of several walls around the city that the group has arranged for artists to do their thing without worrying about arrest. — Rachel Sadon
From Edgewood to the Edge of the World and a number of other works are located behind the Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center.
