Jacksonville is a city of sun, beaches, nature trails and sky-high buildings, of rivers, bridges and parks, yes, but Jacksonville is also a city of distinct artists and carefully-created art. Visit some of Jacksonville’s greatest street art treasures without having to leave home, and don’t worry… the tour is on the house.
This abstract metal sculpture, characterized by its composition of only primary colors, marries straight, fine points with necessary arches. The structure stands tall at the corner of Downtown’s James Weldon Johnson Park closest to the Wells Fargo building.
Location: James Weldon Johnson Park, Downtown
Artist: Unknown
One of artist Elena Øhlander’s signature characters hides in her blue and white polka-dotted collar. The character is framed by a hat with another, younger character and a dark blue background that makes the art pop.
Location: North Hogan and West Ashley streets, Downtown
Artist: Elena Øhlander
Øhlander and Chris Galski team up for an impressive creation in which a futuristic, sci-fi-inspired purple portal fashioned with words in various languages encases one of Øhlander’s strong, feminine characters. The piece is surrounded by a murky green crackling with lightning.
Location: North Hogan and West Church Streets, Downtown
Artist: Elena Øhlander and Chris Galski
In this hidden Downtown niche, traditional graffiti bubble letters of various pastel hues provides an alluring color to an externally old, desolate building of patchy white brick.
Location: North Hogan and West Church streets, Downtown
Artist: Unknown
This monochromatic grayscale piece at the heart of Downtown showcases a pelican-looking creature of hyperbolic proportion with dozens of fish in its mouth. Two hooded figures surround and tend to the pelican, propping open its mouth for feeding and providing baskets full of fish. Note: Phlegm incorporates a metal railing on the side of the building into the piece as the structure helps uphold the giant pelican’s neck.
Location: 140 W Monroe St., Downtown
Artist: Phlegm
This tribute to sculptor, educator and activist Augusta Savage mimics the sculptor’s piece “The Harp” which portrays a harp constructed of Black singers. Artist Andrew Antonaccio’s use of texture in this monochromatic piece adds an extra layer of tribute and magnificence to the stories-high work.
Location: 229 N Hogan St., Downtown
Artist: Andrew Antonaccio
Thin metal spirals and lily pad-like sheets of red sit atop orangey-yellow stems. This metal bouquet, sitting squarely in the middle of James Weldon Johnson Park, alludes to Floridian flora.
Location: James Weldon Johnson Park, Downtown
Artist: Will Cobb
In this Jenn Veal piece, a woman clad in a well-draped silk shrug-nightgown and a textured dress tousles her hair. The pink undertones of the woman’s skin and clothes contrast beautifully with a turquoise background mimicking shrubbery.
Location: N Hogan St. and W Church St., Downtown
Artist: Jenn Veal
This mosaic totem pole captures bits of Jacksonville life. The names of counties and communities in Jacksonville, the hand drawn images of palm trees that circle the pole, and the colorfully tiled structure all highlight the singularity of Jacksonville.
Location: James Weldon Johnson Park, Downtown
Artist: Unknown
A multi-colored insect-like sea creature fit with orange spikes races through the ocean’s waves and possibly even its coral. The creature is tailed by large green fish and a sea turtle as well as a larger, bubbling wave.
Location: 228 Third Street N., Jacksonville Beach
Artist: Shaun Thurston
You might have come across these ombre columns on your drive through Downtown. This particular pillar blends a beautiful wave of dark blue into a neon yellow; the colors are mediated by a gray that fills the rest of the space.
Location: Throughout Downtown but concentrated near James Weldon Johnson Park
Artist: Cecilia Lueza
This playful rooster mural on the side of restaurant Coop 303 hints at some of the dining options inside. The rooster’s bright blue eyes stare at visitors coaxing them into the building. A small shadow of a chicken rests below the rooster’s tail.
Location: 303 Atlantic Blvd., Atlantic Beach
Artist: Anthony Rooney
Located on the side of the Jessie Ball duPont Center, this acrylic and mixed media wall art depicts a bit of Filipino culture in Jacksonville. The images of Filipino-Americans dancing, painting, tending to elders, cooking, filmmaking, guitar playing, etc. all outline the various contributions of this distinct group to our community. This piece reminds passersby the rich diversity of our city.
Location: Jessie Ball duPont Center, Downtown
Artist: Grace Bio
In this mural above the now-defunct Ann Teague’s Lamp Supply, a young couple opens a box, possibly a present, on their kitchen table while a birthday cake with candles lit lies awaiting consumption. The style of this piece leans impressionist with its hazy approach to painting: very little is completely defined in the mural.
Location: 112 E Forsyth St., Downtown
Artist: Unknown
The side of this green newspaper dispenser sports a smiling, spiky-haired figure advertising the “guide to your next ride.” Small, playful, and colorful figures like this one mark each side of the dispenser, encouraging positivity in its viewers.
Location: North Main and East Monroe streets, Downtown
Artist: Unknown
A flamboyant red, orange, yellow collection of ceramic tiles grace the exterior of the Jessie Ball duPont Center. The characteristic Floridian ray of sunshine plasters itself onto the walls in the form of these well-laid and thought-out tiles.
Location: Jessie Ball duPont Center, Downtown
Artist: Taylor Hardwick
The centerpiece of this image is a Frankenstein of sorts: a heart, a moth, and a lantern all merge together above a banner that reads “esperanza,” or hope in spanish. Gold rays radiate from the heart-moth-lamp which is also mounted on a map. With his fine-line precision and mostly monochromatic approach to this mural, Puerto Rican muralist Diaz makes a comment on the illusive nature of the “American Dream” while using the lamp to represent hope.
Location: N Main St. and E Adams St., Downtown
Artist: Alexis Diaz
A reader’s side profile is shown: their frizzy hair is splayed every which way as they appear to be caught up in their page-turning task. Clouds in the background and some in the foreground of the picture create a dusky environment. The Parsons picture is mounted on eight separate structures protruding from the building.
Location: Jessie Ball duPont Center, Downtown
Artist: Chris Parsons
A pink, green, orange, and blue neon arrangement of graffiti writing and art lines this hidden wall. Small playful characters like a bomb with a face and a skull with heart eyes intermingle with the words.
Location: N Hogan St. and W Church St., Downtown
Artist: unknown
Located on the side of the Burrito Gallery Downtown, this mural portrays a set of buildings (perhaps, inspired by Downtown Jacksonville) of diverse color leaning into one another as the concrete that sustains them crumbles. Truque truly captures the essence of the phrase “swallowed by the city” with this painted piece.
Location 21 E Adams St., Downtown
Artist: Mac Truque
Thurston’s surrealist mural, fittingly placed above bookstore Chamblin’s Uptown, depicts islands of soil and roots floating in a blue sky above a desert-like terrain. On the islands, small trees of white flowers and even animals, like a buck, lay stationed.
Location: 215 N Laura St., Downtown
Artist: Shaun Thurston
Traditional bold and graphic graffiti writing lays overtop a setting of sand, water, palm trees, a setting sun, and a surfboard meant to represent Jacksonville Beach. This graffiti piece is fittingly located on the side of Graffiti Burger Bar.
Location: 265 5th Ave N, Beaches
Artist: unknown
A young Black woman shakes her head back and forth sending her golden braids swirling around her blue hued figure. Viewers nearly feel the gust of wind resulting from the hair whipping around. Kitchen’s eccentric use of color which helps the figure’s shirt stand out from her skin which stands out from her hair. A message appears on the right of the image in the same gold color of the hair: “healing in progress.”
Location: N Hogan St. and W Duval St., Downtown
Artist: Tatiana Kitchen
A sweatpant, sweatshirt, and NY Yankee-wearing figure nearly bursts through the wall: the figure lunges forward, microphone in hand, gesturing to whoever may be outside the wall. The figure is outlined by a stark white with a dripping effect.
Location: 1738 Kings Avenue, San Marco
Arist: KBMERONE
Possibly, the cutest of the pieces on this list is this pastel French bulldog layered onto a checkered pastel pink background. Of course, the charm of this multicolored bulldog piece increases exponentially with its many added doodles of rainbows, flowers, swirls, etc.
Location: 2nd St. N and 12th Ave N, Beaches
Artist: Miko Creations
