A Seattle Mural and Seattle Street Art Guide
Shepard Fairey Seattle Mural
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Where To Find Seattle Street Art and Seattle Murals
If you’re visiting the beautiful city of Seattle, I highly recommend taking a Seattle mural walk. The Seattle street art scene is one of the best in the country and there are tons of gorgeous pieces that make for outstanding photos. Like the Shepard Fairey piece above located at the corner of Pike Street and 1st Avenue.
I recently found myself with 24 hours in Seattle and chose to use that time to see some of the most famous sites while taking in their incredible street art scene. If you’re a long-time reader of my blog you’ll know that one of my favorite travel activities is taking snapshots of my Frenchie pup, Maddie, in front of amazing works of street art. We’ve photographed street art in New York, Los Angeles, Portland, OR, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and San Diego. I’ve also captured gorgeous works of art in Warsaw, Poland, and Athens, Greece. Unfortunately, Maddie couldn’t join me on those trips.
If you’re looking for street art in Seattle, I highly recommend starting at Pike Place Market and walking north towards the Space Needle. I’ll trace my route below so you can plan your own Seattle street art tour and view as many cool murals as possible.
Pike Place Market
My guide to Seattle street art begins at one of the biggest attractions in Seattle, Pike Place Market. This market is filled with beautiful murals as well as the iconic Seattle gum wall. You’ll find a few photo ops at this location. Head down Pike Street at 1st Avenue until you hit the market.
Follow the stairs from the iconic fish throwers down to ghost alley and the gum wall and continue down. (Alternatively, there is an elevator that can take you down if you have mobility issues.) Follow the descent of ghost alley until you reach more stairs, (or another elevator) and take it all the way down to Western Avenue.
At the base of the stairs, (or directly around the corner from the elevator), you’ll find a pink floral mural, which is a great spot to stop and snap some photos before you head northwest towards the Olympic Sculpture Park.
Below are a few of the murals we came upon while walking around the market.
Art by @KateEndleIllustration
Pike Place Market. Art by @KateEndleIllustration.
Art by Billy King
Fresh Produce art by Billy King.
art by @Craigcundiff
Cool musician piece by artist @Craigcundiff.
Art by Carolina Silva
Art by Carolina Silva
Room for Change by artist Carolina Silva.
Seattle Gum Wall
This may be the most famous public art in the city. It’s super quirky and a little disgusting, but well worth the visit. Difficulty level 10, trying to get your dog not to lick the spent gum stuck all over the Seattle gum wall.
Artist unknown
Leaving the Seattle gum wall, you’ll find a massive graffiti alley covered in stencils and other art works that makes for a pretty cool punk rock background.
Artist Unknown
Exiting Pike Place Market and heading northwest on 2nd Avenue at the corner of Pike Street you’ll hit this massive blue and white Seattle Ferris wheel scene. Artist unknown.
Art by Vivid Matter Collective
From here we walked down 2nd Avenue towards Pine Street and ran into these murals by Vivid Matter Collective. Vivid Matter collective has murals all over the city and they always offer very cool, bright pops of color.
Art by Vivid matter Collective
2nd Avenue and Pine Street. Art by Vivid Matter Collective.
Art by Vivid Matter Collective
2nd Avenue and Pine Street. Art by Vivid Mater Collective.
Art by Vivid matter Collective
2nd Avenue and Pine Street. Art by Vivid Matter Collective.
Art by @artbreakerbt
2nd Avenue and Pine Street. Art by @artbreakerbt.
Art by Nikita Ares
2nd Avenue and Pine Street. Art by Nikita Ares.
Artist unknown
2nd Avenue and Pine Street. Artist unknown.
Artist unknown
3rd Avenue and Pine Street. Artist unknown.
Artist unknown
3rd Avenue and Pine Street. Artist unknown.
Art by @overallcreative and @neverbetterxyz
3rd Avenue and Pine Street. Art by @overallcreative and @neverbetterxyz
Artist unknown
3rd Avenue and Lenora Street. Artist unknown.
Belltown Seattle
Warning, this dog park can be a little sketchy, due to a nearby bus stop and proximity to homeless services, but it’s worth a little detour if you’re visiting during daylight hours. I just wouldn’t do it alone as a solo female traveler. I almost had my shoes stolen outside were it not for the presence of my male travel companion. But I had to capture this adorable dogs playing poker mural.
Mural by @M.CurryDesigns
Belltown Dog Park 3rd Avenue and Bell Street. Art by @M.CurryDesigns.
Mural by @M.CurryDesigns
Belltown Dog Park 3rd Avenue and Bell Street. Art by @M.CurryDesigns.
After our experience at the Belltown community dog park, I cut my street art tour short. But if you’re feeling safe enough to walk this neighborhood you can continue over to the iconic welcome to Seattle sign location at 2231 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121.
Once the most photographed mural in Seattle, this mural was, sadly, made part of a private event venue around 2017. Opaque gates block the art that was once part of the community, and as the space was made into a private patio, access to view the mural is limited to those able to pay for tickets to high priced events or to the guided Seattle tours that occasionally still include access.
Given the fact that it’s not in the best area and we weren’t guaranteed access, I omitted it from my walking tour.
Artist unknown
4th Avenue and Lenora Street Artist unknown.
From here we headed south, back to our hotel, but you could continue on to the Olympic Sculpture Park and the Space Needle if you’re looking for a good Seattle walking tour. Unfortunately, it was very hot during our trip and I had to be cognisant of my model’s limitations.
artist unknown
4th Avenue and Seneca Street. Artist unknown.
Pioneer Square
That night we walked to the Seattle Mariners game, sadly without Maddie, but we saw a few cool works of art on our way.
Artist unknown
1st Avenue and King Street. Artist unknown.
Artist unknown
1st Avenue and King Street. Artist unknown.
Other Great Locations for Viewing Street Art in Seattle
Another great spot for viewing Seattle street art is the Capitol Hill Murals area. You can easily take the light rail to the Capitol Hill Station where you’ll find the Capitol Hill mural loop. You’ll see more than a half-dozen cool murals on this short loop around the heart of Capitol Hill. These murals showcase vibrant colors, cool characters and timely political messages. Sadly, it was well in the 90s when we visited Seattle and my model, Maddie was in danger of having her paws burn up on the sidewalk so we didn’t make it to Capitol Hill.
But if you’d like to do the walk, you can start at 1603 Nagle Place; your first mural is right off Nagle and East Pine Street, across from the bottom of Cal Anderson Park. From there you’ll walk south to Pike Street and 10th Avenue. Then you’ll walk west to Broadway, then south to Union, east to 12th Avenue , north to Pine Street and finally west to Nagle to complete the approximately 1 mile loop.
I wish we got to complete the loop, but sadly weather was not on our side.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this Seattle mural guide. My model and I thank you for checking it out.
