Go on a Kalamazoo Mural Crawl With 30+ Amazing Outdoor Wall Murals to Explore

Outdoor wall mural Kalamazoo mural SW Michigan mural

Take in the Local Arts Through an Outdoor Wall Mural Crawl

Looking at the side of a building isn’t the most enjoyable experience in the world. Did you know that drab buildings and corners of cities can have negative health benefits on its residents?

Cities and artists are in a growing movement to transform the once lackluster landscape into a vibrant, colorful paradise through public art, such as murals.

These ginormous public canvases are free to enjoy, and the city of Kalamazoo is joining the movement to add gorgeous pieces of art for everyone to feast their eyes on.

Outdoor wall mural Kalamazoo mural SW Michigan mural
Polar Loneliness by Conrad Kaufman

Finding Kalamazoo Murals May Feel Like a Scavenger Hunt

Fair warning to you: these Kalamazoo murals can be tricky to spot, despite their size.

We’ve provided a map, addresses and tips for locating.

The sidewalks are calling. Read on to discover the murals that enhance the beauty of Southwest Michigan.

Kalamazoo Murals Map

Use our map to plan your route to tour these SW Michigan murals.

find outdoor wall murals near me

Downtown Kalamazoo Murals

Finding these murals may require multiple parking spots; but you’ll love looking up, looking down, and noticing the murals tucked in alleys and on the top of buildings.

You never know what you’ll spot as you turn down one-way roads and wander down the Kalamazoo Mall:

1 – Fireflies on a Midsummers Night

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It:  124 S Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

This mural on the north wall makes us long for summer—bare feet running through the grass and fireflies under the stars. It features a poem by Michigan poet Jordan Kifer.

mural crawl kalamazoo

2 – Untitled

Artist: Colleen Rockey
Where to Find It: 136 S Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (near the Comerica Building)

This abstract mural is full of bright colors and located in the alleyway just behind the Comerica Building by Climb Kalamazoo.

mural crawl with kids

3 – Earthly Delights at Amy Zane

Artist: Chafe Hensley & Holly (Spruce Interiors)
Where to Find It: 132 S Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Look UP while shopping downtown; these gorgeous wildflowers welcome visitors to Earthly Delights at Amy Zane on the mall.

📷: Earthly Delights at Amy Zane

4 – Ballerina/Dancer

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 230 N Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (east of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on an apartment building)

Mural Crawl for families

5 – Coffee

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 222 N Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (in the parking lot of The Atrium Buildings)

This small mural looks like a window on the side of a building in the Atrium Buildings parking lot. It makes you want to step inside and join in with a local cup of joe.

Mural Crawl for Families

6 – Measure the Moon

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 130 N Edwards St, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

This blue-and-white mural, with a mesmerizing poem by Catharine Nagayda, makes you want to reach for the stars.

Mural Crawl for Families Kalamazoo

7 – Glass Jars

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 326 W Kalamazoo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (north side of the Parks Trade Building)

With a poem by Meredith Adams, this mural shows the art of canning and preserving local produce. A perfect accompaniment to a trip to the Farmers Market.

Mural Crawl Kalamazoo
📷: Kalamazoo Public Library and Friends of Poetry

8 – Barrister Building

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 137 N Park St, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

The older men in this mural are so lifelike that they could reach out and touch you. Don’t miss the poem by Mark VanSlambrouck.

Kalamazoo Mural Crawl for families

9 – Bates Alley Street Mural

Artist: Patrick Hershberger
Where to Find It:  516 E North St, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Don’t look up for this mural, look down. Kids will love running along the artwork and pretending they are in a river.

In the summer, enjoy this mural with live music with Beats on Bates on Wednesday nights.

Downtown Kalamazoo Events Summer
📷: Downtown Kalamazoo

10 – Smart Shop Mural

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It:  516 E North St, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (Smart Shop Metal Arts Center)

Kaufman’s blacksmiths are hard at work and captured in this lifelike mural before you, full of fire, tools, and metal creations.

mural crawl for families

11 – Louie’s Trophy House

Artist: Nichole Lindhorn
Where to Find It:  629 Walbridge St, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Kalamazoo’s oldest bar showcases two murals: one on its patio, and a second on the Wightman building in the parking lot.

📷: Louie’s Trophy House
📷: Louie’s Trophy House

Honorable Mention: Colors & Cocktails

Where to Find It:  240 S Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

While it may not be an official mural, Colors & Cocktails features some cool paint splatter on its exterior. Be sure to stop here for art supplies and classes- they also offer parties!

Colors & Cocktails Downtown Kalamazoo Shop
📷: Colors & Cocktails 

Westnedge Area Murals

Leaving downtown Kalamazoo, head toward Westnedge. Beautiful flowers, cartoon characters, and rainbows will be a feast for your eyes.

Detour through Maple Street and end up at the Maple Magnet School for more outdoor wall murals than your kids will be able to count.

12 – Vine Solstice & Collaborate

Artists: Patrick Hershberger and Trevor Grabill
Where to Find It: 816 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 (across from the entrance to Fourth Coast Café and Bakery)

Park in the parking lot of Fourth Coast Café and Bakery and right across from the entrance your eyes will be treated to two murals. Hershberger’s mural looks like a beautiful heart with tendrils reaching towards us.

13 – Ye Ole Central Laundry

Artist: Unknown
Where to Find It: 827 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008

You can’t miss this mural as you drive down Portage Street. You’ll see lots of people hanging up their clothes and talking, and coming together over something that all parents know well – dirty clothes.

14 – Untitled

Artist: Ellen Nelson
Where to Find It: 1830 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 (Ambati Flowers)

Who can resist a mural full of flowers? After you see these beautiful lilies, you might have no choice but to go inside and buy one for yourself.

15 – Untitled

Artist: Unknown
Where to Find It: 450 W Maple St, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 (Kalamazoo Indoor Gardening Center)

A blast from the past and present, this mural is full of cartoon characters, including Pinky and the Brain, and Smurf houses.

16 – Untitled

Artist: Unknown
Where to Find It: 922 W Maple St, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 (Maple Street Magnet School)

Once you park in the parking lot, your eyes won’t know where to go first. One wall is covered with rainbow designs and shapes, one is a beautiful mural of children playing, and one is full of designs and patterns in bright primary colors.

Portage Street Murals

Several murals are located just off Portage Street near downtown Kalamazoo. Kids will love getting out and pretending to shop for fruit and veggies at the sprawling Farmers Market mural at the Bank Street Bingo Hall.

17 – Untitled

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 541 Portage St, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (AAMCO)

If you park in the AAMCO parking lot, take a short walk on the bridge and you’ll see the AAMCO murals depicting car repair, which is exactly what’s going on inside the building as well.

18 – The Swimmer

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 618 E Crosstown Pkwy, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 (Gated area of Gordon Water Systems Building)

You need to peek through the gate with this one, but you’ll see a beautiful underwater scene with a poem by Kate Samra. You’ll want to dive right in.

Kalamazoo Mural Crawl for Families

19 – Bank Street Bingo Hall

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 1157 Bank St, Kalamazoo, MI 49001

This mural looks like you can shop right from the wall. Fruits, vegetables, and flowers – all make us long for the Farmers Markets when they aren’t running.

20 – Welcome to Washington Square & Howard’s Party Store

Artist: Patrick Hershberger
Where to Find It: 1366 Portage St, Kalamazoo, MI, 49001 (south side of building)

Look in front of you for the Howard’s Party Store, and then way up to see the Welcome to Washington Square. These murals stacked on top of each other are both from Patrick Hershberger, and you won’t miss them driving north down Portage Street.

Outdoor wall mural Michigan mural
📷: Patrick Hershberger 

21 – YWCA Edison’s Children’s Center

Artist: Patrick Hershberger
Where to Find It: 1155 Portage St, Kalamazoo, MI, 49001

Patrick Hershberger’s mural welcomes visitors to this new 24-hour childcare facility in the Edison neighborhood.

📷: Patrick Hershberger 

More Southwest Michigan Murals

Downtown isn’t the only place to find outdoor wall murals. You can also find these in Portage, Texas Corners, and other surrounding communities.

22 – Untitled

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 150 Lillian Ct #258, Merrill Park, Comstock, MI 49048

This mural, composed of tiles at Merrill Park, is a wonderful example of how, when we come together, we can make a beautiful whole.

23 – Untitled

Artists: Patrick Hershberger in collaboration with Ken Dushane III, aka Phybr
Where to Find It: 3619 Gembrit Cir, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 (One Well Brewing Company Production Facility)

These Kalamazoo murals are at the One Well Brewing Company Production Facility – off the beaten path but worth a visit. Plus two to view for the price of one trip. These quirky murals with trees and fantasy creatures are going to amaze the entire family.

Mural Crawl for Families

24 – Untitled

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 1714 W Main, Kalamazoo, MI 49006 (Tiffany’s Wine and Spirits, on the opposite side of building from entrance)

Park in the parking lot and then head on the opposite side of the building from the entrance to see the Tiffany’s name.


family mural crawl around Kalamazoo

25 – Life Story

Artist: Conrad Kaufman
Where to Find It: 6080 Stadium Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49009 (Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes)

This Kalamazoo mural by Kaufman was commissioned to show how everyone has a story, no matter how big or how small. And it’s in that story that we share that we all come together.

📷: Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes

26 – Douglas & Son Mural

Artist: Tim Kensey
Where to Find It:  231 W Cedar St, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (Douglas & Son)

It seems fitting that a paint store would have an outdoor wall mural. Tim Kensey added this beauty to locally owned Douglas and Son on Cedar Street in Kalamazoo.

27 – Lake Center

Artist: Ellen Nelson
Where to Find It: 9029 Portage Rd, Portage, MI 49002 (Lake Center Business Association)

The words “Lake Center” make up this mural, but look closely at the detail inside each letter. They’re all unique and kids will love pointing out the differences.

Mural

28 – When the Street Lights Come On

Artist: Ellen VanderMyde
Where to Find It: 7809 Lovers Ln, Portage, MI 49002

Ellen VanderMyde created this mural and invited the local community to finish painting it in October 2022.

Bike Friendly Kalamazoo’s public mural program began in 2022 as a means of enriching public spaces while encouraging bicycling and promoting public safety.

📷: City of Portage

29 – Lee & Birch Kalamazoo Mural

Artist: Paige Rochefort
Where to Find It: 7047 W Q Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49009 (Lee & Birch)

Artist Paige Rochefort covered this exterior wall of Lee & Birch in Texas Corners with flowers.

30 – A Day in the Park

Artist: Ellen VanderMyde
Where to Find It: 6630 Texas Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49009 (Texas Drive Park, near the splash pad)

Artist Ellen VanderMyde again invited local residents to finish painting this mural in in 2023. She hopes this piece will reflect both the park and the Texas Township community.

This mural covers one side of the pavilion in Texas Drive Park, next to the Maple Hill Splash Pad.

Kalamazoo Muralists Trivia

• There’s a Kalamazoo mural of vibrant peacocks and stoic elephants in an old elevator shaft at the Park Trades Center by Ellen Nelson that no longer sees the light of day.

Conrad Kaufman has painted more than 270 murals around Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan and is going strong.

• Patrick Hershberger also paints under the moniker Bonus Saves. You can also find his work indoors: he’s responsible for the murals inside local restaurants Turbo Chicken and One Well Brewing Company.

• In April 2004, the Guinness Book of World Records named the indoor mural within the Air Zoo the largest indoor, hand-painted mural in the world.

Mega Indoor Mural at The Air Zoo

Looking for some indoor art? Try the Air Zoo, our local, Smithsonian-affiliated aerospace museum.

This massive mural was painted by Rick Herter.

Do you Have a Favorite Kalamazoo Mural?

Leave us a comment with your top picks for outdoor wall art; please email our editor if your fave is missing from this list!



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