With so many talented artists living in Owensboro, outdoor murals are becoming more widespread across the city. You can take a stroll through downtown Owensboro and see most of these murals for yourself, but we thought we’d break some of the locations down for you to make your journey a little easier.
Owensboro’s “Be the Change” mural was spearheaded by New Beginnings Sexual Assault Support Services and encourages people to step up and intervene in dangerous situations when they see them. Those situations may include sexual harassment and assault, bullying and negligent or abusive behavior by families, spouses and caregivers. The lion represents the courage one needs to step up and say something, while the green dots represent the Green Dot Program—a training program that teaches residents what to look for and how to respond to potentially dangerous situations involving other people around them.
The Be the Change mural is located at Third and Allen streets in downtown Owensboro.
The “Owensboro” mural that scales the east side of the Visit Owensboro building (215 East Second St.) depicts a number of banjos and other instruments, with the word “Owensboro” painted across the top. The mural highlights Owensboro’s rich Bluegrass Music heritage, as well as its designation as the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World.
The mural at Kendall-Perkins Park is still in the works, but it’s absolutely gorgeous so far. Depicting Black history and empowerment through historical figures and famed Owensboro residents, this massive mural will stretch 700 feet across a former “segregation wall” and include local talent from artists all across Owensboro.
The Osprey mural was created by Italian street artist Hitnes. The large mural depicts a bird catching a fish with its talons. You can find it on the west side of the building at the 100 St. Ann building at Riverfront Crossing. The piece is part of a bigger project called “The Image Hunter” which traces the adventures of naturalist John James Audubon when making the book “The Birds of America.” Hitnes’ goal was to travel to more than 20 cities to view birds and create large-scale murals for the self-financed project.
Cars glisten in this mural as they drive past it on the Glover Cary bridge, making it a beautiful spectacle to see from the ground level.
The downtown Mirror Mosaic Mural is being brought back to life by artist Gary Bielefeld. Bielefeld had to remove two tons of glass and adhesive from the original mural to begin work on the new one. Stretching 110 feet by 43 feet, this mural shows the entire state of Kentucky and all the geographical regions within it. Bielefeld said the state of Kentucky will be lined with lights and that Owensboro will get its own special spot on the mural, just like before.
A winged butterfly mural at Simply Chic Home Accents is the perfect place to take a selfie. This colorful work of art was painted by Paige Owens and also features a garden scene that winds along the brick wall.
The vintage Coca Cola Mural can be found at 210 Allen Street. Obviously, you have to take its old-school messaging and advertising (5 cent sodas?!) with a grain of salt, but that’s what makes it so fun!
“The Whiskey Without Regrets” mural at Green River Distilling Co. was painted by artist and creative director Aaron Kizer. It’s such a cool mural because, first of all, it’s huge. And secondly, it pays homage to Green River Distilling’s 100-plus year history, when original founder J.W. McCulloch named his bourbon “The Whiskey Without Regrets” as part of a very lucrative advertising campaign. And that slogan is still being used by the distillery to this day.
