Your Guide to the Best Murals in San Antonio

Here we go again… We are so excited to bring you the seventh installment in our mural guide series.

Did you know that San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the nation? And it’s the second largest city in Texas – right behind Houston. These facts surprised me, even as a Texan. Somehow, San Antonio has retained a charming small-town feel with full of color and culture. Given the city’s vibrant Spanish roots, we were excited to explore the street art scene. And we were not disappointed!

Before we jump in to the details of San Antonio’s most vibrant and colorful walls, make sure you’ve checked out all of our other mural guides:

1 – Austin

2 – Dallas

3 – Denver

4 – Houston: our biggest!

5 – Minneapolis

6 – New York City: particularly centered on the Soho area

Our mural guide series is one of our very favorites to put together for you, and it makes us so happy that you love it as much as we do. Continually, this series is the most popular on our site! And we believe this is for good reason… These walls are bringing people together across America! This free, public form of art is having a well-deserved moment in the spotlight.

In this mural guide, you’ll find original photos of 30 of San Antonio’s most colorful and vibrant murals. Plus, as always, we’ve included a handy dandy map to aid in your mural hunting endeavors. As a general note, murals 1-15 are all part of Essex Modern City, a wonderful little grouping of ever-evolving and changing art on the east side of town.

Now, keep on scrolling for our San Antonio mural guide, and be sure to pass along to any of your color loving, travel loving, art loving friends!

San Antonio Mural Guide

Wall 1: Typewriter #1 Mural by Wrdsmith

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: We first stumbled upon art by this artist in Los Angeles. His words are always so poignant.

Part of the Essex Modern City Murals, this one is located as you go up a few steps in the open building within the complex, together with many other great murals!

Wall 2: Pink Crying Rainbows Mural by Jon Leonardo

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Part of the Essex Modern City Murals, this one is located as you go up a few steps in the open building within the complex, on the side of mural number 16 and together with many other great murals!

Wall 3: Typewriter #2 Mural by Wrdsmith

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: This one is located on the back side of the Essex Modern City complex, on the grassy area, so make sure you take the time to walk behind the far side of the building in order to find it!

Wall 4: Share the Love Mural by Jason Naylor

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Great mural and great message! Located on one of the external walls of the Essex Modern City Complex toward the right hand side. We recommend photographing this one in the mornings or right before sunset.

Wall 5: Black and White Driving Woman by Mikecomp

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Located on the outside walls and on the side of murals 19 and 21. Afternoon light can be very harsh.

Wall 6: Yellow Dripping Sunglasses Mural by Adriana de la Cruz

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Located on the outside walls and on the side of murals 19 and 20. Afternoon light can be very harsh.

Wall 7: Colorful Transportation Containers

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Located in the parking lot of Essex Modern City, these painted shipping containers are a fun twist on colorful walls. 

Wall 8: Blast of Graphics and Colors Mural by Matthew Laurence Knott

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Part of the Essex Modern City Murals, this one is located as you go up a few steps in the open building within the complex, together with many other great murals!

Wall 9: Black and White Graphics Mural by Kyle Confehr

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Part of the Essex Modern City Murals, located going up a few steps in the open building within the complex, on the side of mural number 23 and together with many other great murals!

Wall 10: You Belong Here Mural by Ruben Rojas

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Ruben Rojas is one of our favorite mural artists! His mission is to beautify earth by creating colorful positive messages on walls across the world. In fact, he just released a TED Talk on the subject. Be sure to check it out here: taking back our city one wall at a time

San Antonio is lucky to have such a beautiful wall with such a beautiful message! Be sure to look for a second mini component on the column right in front of it. Look for repetitions of handwritten “love,” which is a signature of artist Ruben Rojas. Part of the Essex Modern City Murals, located going up a few steps in the open building within the complex, together with many other great murals!

Wall 11: Pop Art Profile of a Woman Mural by Phoebe Joynt

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Part of the Essex Modern City Murals and by the side of mural 27.

Wall 12: Blue and Purple Scribbles Faces Mural by Daviaking

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Part of the Essex Modern City Murals and by the side of mural 26.

Wall 13: Connecting Colors Mural by Alexinc

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: The colors on this are so striking! Definitely a favorite. Within the Essex Modern City Complex and side by side of murals 16 and 17.

Wall 14: Rad 80s Mural by Joe Geis

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: How fun is the movement of these graphics? Within the Essex Modern City Complex and located up a few steps in the open building within the complex.

Wall 15: Graphic Colors by Monocho1929

Address: 51 Essex St, San Antonio, TX 78210

Note: Within the Essex Modern City Complex and located by murals 19, 20 and 21.

Wall 16: Graphic Colorful Mural by MUR0

Address: 1107 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Note: This one is a large scale mural with many fun elements to it! We were able to shoot a couple of looks here and made it look like two separate murals. It’s super fun and it is also located right by a few more murals in our guide. For a bonus, look up at the building and you will find a mural of pancakes! It’s really awesome, but unfortunately we couldn’t find access to it as it is on the rooftop.

Wall 17: Bombshell with Colorful Striped Patterns by Shek Vega and Nik Soupe for Los Otros Murals

Address: 811N N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Note: This is such a well done mural and is part of a series of murals painted by the Los Otros Murals for the Luminaria San Antonio 2016 Festival. It is a large scale mural as well and the colors are really vibrant! Go early morning or late afternoon as it is located in a parking lot and cars might block access for photographing in front of it.

Wall 18: Mustard Yellow Graphic Mural by bascovazko

Address: 1107 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Note: This is an abstract mural with yellow undertones which is located just steps away from the murals above. It extends across a long wall and is also situated in a parking lot, so it’s a hit and miss as far as luck with cars parked in front of it. Early mornings and weekends seem to be best!

Wall 19: Gravelmouth Woman Graphic Mural by Nick Soupe, Gravel Mouth Gallery, Chris Montoya

Address: 811N N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Note: This is is right around the corner from the bombshell mural. Light can be a bit tricky as you can see in our picture. We recommend cloudy days or early mornings.

Wall 20: Rainbow Zebra Stripes and Heads

Address: 1602 N Main Ave, San Antonio, TX

Note: This mural has different parts to it on the front and side of the building, which gives you a better chance at photographing during different times of the day. For a little bonus, explore just on the inside corner of the shop where the mural is located and you will find a cute small “Keep Calm and Shop On” mural! Note that this is an adult-oriented business, so keep that in mind if you’re on a family outing.

Wall 21: Johnny Long Mural by Nik Soupe for Los Otros Murals and Gravel Mouth Gallery

Address: 2715 North Saint Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78212

Note: This mural is located right on the side of the “let’s fiesta” mural, and in front of the “Greetings from San Antonio” mural so make sure you check all three while you are there! Mural is located in a parking lot making parking easy; however, murals can sometimes be blocked by cars. We recommend early mornings and late afternoons around golden hour.

Wall 22: Greetings from San Antonio Mural by Long Live Me

Address: 2718 N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78212

Note: This one is on the small side, but we always try our best to find any “Greetings from” mural in every city we visit. Be careful when photographing this mural which you have to shoot across the street from where it is located. It is a two way street so we advise caution. While you are there, make sure you check out the mural above and below in our guide.

Wall 23: Let’s Fiesta Mural by Nik Soupe for Los Otros Murals and Gravel Mouth Gallery

Address: 2715 North Saint Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78212

Note: Fantastic large scale mural located in a parking lot and delivery area. Capturing the entire mural can be tricky, so make sure to bring your widest angle and back up to cover all of the mural. It’s right by murals six and seven.

Wall 24: Black and White Graphic Mural

Address: 608 East Ashby Place, San Antonio, TX 78212

Wall 25: Fiesta Mural #2 by Nik Soupe for Los Otros Murals and Gravel Mouth Gallery

Address: 349 W Josephine St, San Antonio, TX 78212

Note: Large scale mural in a busy intersection. There’s a median in the middle of the street which would help the person photographing be protected from the traffic. This mural is relatively close to murals six, seven, eight, and nine.

Wall 26: Luminarias Mural by BEZ for La Botanica

Address: 2911 N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78212

Note: Mural is in the parking lot of La Botanica. Go before opening to avoid cars parked in front of it.

Wall 27: Colorful Scribbles Mural

Address: 2809 N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78212

Wall 28: Art Is The Stored Honey Of The Human Soul Wall by Gary Sweeney

Address: 207 W Jones Ave, San Antonio, TX 78215

Note: This is located right in front of the San Antonio Museum of Art. You might want to check it out while you are there! While the wall can be enjoyed at different times of day, light wise, golden hour seemed to work beautifully for this particular wall. Wall faces west, so you will get afternoon and evening sun, but the harsh light seemed to work well here with the message and color palette of the wall. 

Wall 29: Gabriel’s Liquor Colorful Wall

Address: 837 W Hildebrand Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212

Note: This is a trickier one to photograph as it is in the shop’s parking lot and in close proximity top the street, but there are great colorful parts of the mural to shoot at. The trick is to luck out while visiting the mural when there are no cars parked there. Mornings might work better parking wise.

Wall 30: San Antonio Spurs Pastels Mural by Chris Montoya

Address: 926 AT&T Center Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78219

Note: This one is a bit far away, but being basketball fans, and considering it has a rainbow Spurs coyote, we had to go pay it a visit, and we totally recommend you doing the same! It’s about a 12-15 minute drive from the rest of the murals.

A few more things

Which is your favorite wall from above? Be sure to let us know in the comments below! And let us know what city you’d like us to feature next. We are currently in the process of planning our 2019 travels, and we’d love to hear from you!

And as always, thanks to my color and mural hunting travel partner Maritere Rice!

Have a great day!