9 murals that bring color to downtown Santa Fe

Vibrant murals, both historic and contemporary, line the adobe walls and hidden corners of New Mexico's capital city.

“A mural is an invitation to an imaginative experience,” says Darryl Lorenzo Wellington, Santa Fe’s poet laureate (2021–23) and author of Legible Walls: Poems for Santa Fe Murals. “I believe two strangers are more likely to have a real conversation if they meet on a beautiful day in front of a colorful mural.”

Take our self-guided tour of the city’s wall art. This curated roundup of standout murals follows a geographic loop that begins and ends in the downtown area.

Location: Parking lot at 777 Canyon Road

Directions: The mural adorns a shed in a pay parking lot next to The Teahouse restaurant.

On moneyed Canyon Road, a parking lot full of shiny SUVs sets an incongruous stage for this early 1970s political protest piece of the Chicano “La Raza” movement. Painted by activist group Los Artes Guadalupanos de Azatlán—founded by artist Sam Leyba—Lady of Justice depicts a weighty scene of broken chains and Mexican American liberation backed by a pyramid and red and gold rays of sunshine.

Wellington sees the piece as a visceral connection to history. “It represents the revolutionary Chicano idealism of the ’70s. You can view it some 50 years later and still feel the energy and pulse of the movement,” he says. 

Location: St. John’s College, 1160 Camino de Cruz Blanca

Directions: After entering the campus grounds, park in the free visitor lot on the left. Follow signage and walk about 5 minutes to the central Peterson Student Center. The mural is just inside the entrance lobby. A nearby wall rack has a free guide to the mural’s symbology.

In the early 1960s, revered midcentury modern designer Alexander Girard was hired as the interior designer of the newly built St. John’s College. A highlight of his work is this intriguing 16-foot-long mural with 36 “blocks.” Each section features a symbol representing the school’s liberal arts curriculum, including a fruit fly (genetic experiments) and a fountain pen (the art of writing).   

Location: On a wall alongside the bicycle-and-pedestrian Santa Fe Rail Trail, a few hundred feet north of Siringo Road.

Directions: Park in the surrounding neighborhood (be respectful of residents), and walk to the mural.

Artist Julie Deery began this more than 130-foot-long mosaic mural in 2022. She titled it Generations with the goal of making it a community mural project involving volunteers ranging from grade-school children to retirees.

At press time in May 2024, the mural was roughly 75% complete. The dazzling, intricate mosaic is inlaid with tile mandalas, birds, mountains, a sunburst, and “wisdom stones” bearing pithy quotes from the likes of Georgia O’Keeffe and Friedrich Nietzsche.  

“Without the help of local businesses and community members, I would not have been able to accomplish a large-scale mural project,” says Deery, who continues to seek volunteers in hopes of completing Generations by autumn 2024. 

Location: 1600 St. Michaels Drive

Directions: Drive to a parking lot next to the former Santa Fe University of Art and Design’s campus quad, ringed by student housing buildings. From the lot, a brief walk northeast leads into the quad. The mural is on a free-standing cinderblock wall next to the band shell stage.    

Eleven years ago, artist Shepard Fairey of Barack Obama “Hope” poster (and Obey Clothing) fame was invited to create a mural in the quad of the now-defunct Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Fairey obliged with a bold art nouveau–esque work featuring a brunette beauty with roses in her hair and the sentiment “Make Art Not War.”

Admiring this vibrant piece in what’s currently a ghost town of a school campus feels a bit strange. But that could soon change, as the city of Santa Fe is planning to repurpose the property as a mixed-use development.  

Location: Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, 1590 B Pacheco Street

Directions: The mural is on the wall of a building facing the center’s parking lot.

Diné artist and prolific New Mexico muralist Nani Chacon’s stunning mural shows 2 Native women holding baskets (one basket of historic origin, the other contemporary). It fittingly adorns the Coe Center, which collects Indigenous art from around the world.  

Location: Alongside Pen Road, between Cordova Road and St. Francis Drive

Directions: Pen Road runs parallel to railroad tracks. The mural is on the wall of a building located on the opposite side of the tracks (looking west). Street parking is available on Pen Road. 

This expansive psychedelic tableau by Ohio-based artist Dan Isaac Bortz is a feast for the eyes and imagination. A Gollum-like creature clutches a coffee cup and casts a rainbow over a serpent, bonfire, and kiva ladder to the stars. You’ll also spot eagles, cheetahs, bison, human figures, and planet Earth.

Location: New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary, 404 Montezuma Avenue

Directions: The mural is in the museum’s North Entrance lobby, to your right. Museum admission is not charged to view the mural.

Perhaps Santa Fe’s best-known mural, Multicultural once spanned 110 feet of a Santa Fe Railyard building wall. That work was stuccoed over—despite a lawsuit and fervent local protest—to accommodate construction of the Vladem Contemporary museum. Prior to opening in 2023, the Vladem invited the original work’s lead artist, Gilberto Guzmán, to render a 24-foot-wide reproduction of Multicultural in the museum lobby.

Location: Santa Fe County Human Resources building, 949 W. Alameda Street

Directions: The mural is on the street-facing side of the building. Park in the adjacent shopping center lot.

Late artist Glen Strock’s untitled mural initially sparked controversy due to its historic depiction of a Spanish governor wielding a sword over a kneeling Native American boy. Following public input, Strock revised his work. It now features the Native youth handing the Spaniard a seed. At the opposite end of the mural, the pair kneel beneath a colorful, fruit-bearing tree of life, symbolizing peace.