Jersey City’s Incredible Street Art: A Curated List of Our Favorite Murals
As street art fanatics, New York City’s vast landscape of murals, wheat pastes, stickers, sidewalk art and graffiti tags is pretty hard to beat. Or so we thought. As we’ve explored more and more of Jersey City’s street art scene, we’ve quickly come to realize New York City may not have quite the monopoly it once had. The list of artists represented in Jersey City reads like a who’s who of the biggest names, and it’s a street art destination that should make every aficionado's list.
Jersey City Mural Arts Program (JCMAP)
Artist Daniel Fila completing a mural in Jersey City
Thoughtful planning and strong community support in Jersey City has had a huge impact. When we marveled at the great street art in Lisbon, it didn’t take us long to trace it back to institutional support. The Lisbon City Council established Galeria Arte Urbana under the Department of Cultural Heritage specifically to promote graffiti and street art in Lisbon. In Jersey City, the Mural Arts Program has a similar mandate.
Established almost a decade ago by the Mayor’s Office, the Jersey City Mural Arts Program (JCMAP) connects muralists with property owners in a citywide beautification effort. With key roles including Mural Preparation Coordinator and Street Art and Graffiti Advisor, JCMAP isn’t a typical government program. It brings residents, artists, businesses and community sponsors together to augment a genre of artistry with a fast-growing fanbase.
Local street art fans enjoying the Mural Art Festival in 2021
In addition to coordinating individual artwork, JCMAP also sponsors Mural Art Festivals. Handpicked street artists come from far and wide to render eye-catching designs on their allotted slice of Jersey City. Visitors get to observe them in action, often increasing an artist’s exposure and allowing fans to engage with their favorites. Food trucks add to the vibrant atmosphere, turning the event into a family-friendly outing.
Murals and Artists You Can’t Miss in Jersey City
The biggest names in street art are represented in Jersey City. Many have also graced the Bowery Wall, an iconic spot in New York City steeped in street art history. But the who’s who of the graffiti world isn’t all you’ll find here. The artist selection process is thoughtful, with walls offered to local, BIPOC and women artists as well as those just starting to make a name for themselves. Let's face it though, you can sometimes have too much of a good thing. So we've tried to pick our favorites in this curated list. From the fresh to the famous, here are the murals you won’t want to miss.
Top International Street Artists
David Bowie by Eduardo Kobra
Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra is a household name, known for his arresting portraits in some of the biggest cities around the world. When he completed a months-long residency in New York City, Kobra’s NYC murals infused layers of meaning into his subjects, always communicating much more than an image. In 2016, his David Bowie mural paid homage to the legend shortly after his passing.
Location: 837 Jersey Ave
Liquid Lights by Dan Kitchener
Dan Kitchener is a London-based British artist known for massive rainy cityscapes with bold colors and his signature shimmering “liquid” effect. Starting with a black wall, his murals are all spray painted freehand, which make the scale and depth of his work even more impressive. Kitchener is a regular feature at mural festivals around the world, and you’ll find his work in the UK, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Miami.
Location: 88 Wallis Ave
We One by Dasic Fernandez
Instagram: @dasicfernandez
We’ve been fans of Chilean artist Dasic Fernandez for many years, with his murals often being the most photographed and shared in NYC street art galleries like the Bushwick Collective in Brooklyn and the Welling Court Mural Project in Astoria. Based in NYC and originally known for the creative use of reverse drips in his murals, we’ve seen his style develop and grow over the years. We One isn’t his first mural in Jersey City, but it is his latest. Its hooded characters wrapped in rainbow hues are instantly recognizable.
Location: 227 Coles St
Waves by 1010
Instagram: @1010zzz
1010 (ten-ten) is a Hamburg-based artist who has taken trompe l’oeil to new heights, literally and figuratively. With deceptively simple shapes and layers of color, he transforms two-dimensional surfaces into portals with depth and texture. Waves is a striking example of his work, stretching up 18 stories. The rainbow shades, wavy textures and use of negative space makes it one of our favorite pieces in Jersey City.
Location: 627 Summit Ave
Top US Street Artists
Natural Springs by Shepard Fairey
Instagram: @obeygiant
When Mana Contemporary wanted to turn an abandoned ice factory into a street art museum, it gave Shepard Fairey an opportunity to create one of his most ambitious murals, measuring 147 feet wide and 47 feet high. The RISD graduate’s murals reach far beyond his college stomping grounds of Providence, Rhode Island. In fact, his collaboration with Portuguese artist Vhils in Lisbon is one of the most stunning works we’ve ever seen. Natural Springs features many of his signature aesthetics and is quite a sight to behold.
Location: 581 Monmouth St
Popeye by CRASH aka John Matos
Instagram: @crashone
CRASH is one of New York City’s true original graffiti artists, starting out in the 1970s when painting subway cars was the modus operandi. He’s helped take the craft from the streets to the galleries, offering today’s artists the legitimacy he didn’t have when he started out. His style features a fusion of pop art and comic book illustration, which is instantly recognizable to all New Yorkers.
Location: 581 Monmouth St
Elefanka and Mousezilla by Ron English
Instagram: @ronenglish
You can’t talk about the biggest names in street art without mentioning Ron English. The Illinois-born, New York-based artist has been pushing the envelope since the 1980s, advancing conversations on consumerism, corruption, and politics through his art. Starting out with “billboard interventions”, the breadth of his career now includes paintings, books, vinyl figurines, movie paraphernalia, album art and NFTs. Elefanka and Mousezilla are two of his creations, perfectly at home in both Delusionville–the fictional city in his book–as well as his former home of Jersey City.
Location: 266 Erie St
Rainbow Pedestrian Bridge by Jessie and Katey
We discovered Jessie and Katey when we were exploring the incredible street art in Baltimore, where the duo first met while studying in the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Their pieces take geometric shapes and contrasting colors to their limits, making eye-catching designs out of unexpected combinations. The pedestrian bridge in Jersey City is utterly transformed from an ordinary walkway into a magical passage.
Location: Van Wagenen Footbridge
Thankful by Jason Naylor
Instagram: @jasonnaylor
Jason Naylor’s colorful messages of positivity took on a whole new meaning when the pandemic hit, but they were Instagram favorites long before then. The NYC-based artist has earned multiple awards, features and valuable commissions operating on the simple belief that kindness is the key to success. His Thankful mural in Jersey City is a colorful interpretation of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam.
Location: 310 12th St
BIPOC and/or Local Artists You Should Know
KEEP ROCKIN by Riiisa Boogie aka Risa Tochigi
Instagram: @riiisaboogie
Risa Tochigi is a Japanese-born artist who immigrated with her family to the United States when she was 7. She is the Boogie in duo BoogieRez, and produces work under the moniker Riiisa Boogie. Her murals have popped up in NYC’s high-profile street art galleries like the World Trade Center and First Street Green Art Park. Her designs often feature motivational messages and BIPOC women, so Riiisa Boogie was a natural fit for the “I Still Believe in Our City” art series to combat negative stereotypes about the AAPI community. The installation featured portraits of Black, Asian, and Pacific Islander women alongside anti-discriminatory messages. KEEP ROCKIN is an exemplary sample of her unique style.
Location: 310 12th St
Not Broken by Rorshach Collective
Instagram: @rorshachbrand
Rorshach Collective is made up of Andre Léon and Robert Ramone, two Latino childhood friends from Newark, New Jersey. Their murals are mostly photorealistic portraits in bold colors, featuring women of color in an effort to challenge Euro-centric standards of beauty. Not Broken is nestled between street art pieces by established artists Queen Andrea One and JAHRU. The pieces are striking in combination, but Rorshach’s mural still manages to hold its own.
Location: 310 12th St
Gold by Max Sansing
Instagram: @maxsansing
Born and raised in the South Side of Chicago, Max Sansing trained at the American Academy of Art and now utilizes his talents to expand arts opportunities in underserved areas. Recognized as one of Chicago’s best street artists, his murals often feature black youths with symbolic and colorful overlays that turn his murals into dynamic pieces of art. Gold has the same bold fluidity, partnered with soft botanical accents.
Location: 227 Moishe's Way
Octopus by Pawn Price aka Shaun Edwards
Instagram: @pawnprice
With all the amazing artwork in Jersey City, it’s pretty impressive when a mural still manages to stand out. And Octopus definitely stands out. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the artist, Pawn Price, is a Jersey City artist who recently relocated to Los Angeles. We also learned that this mural is part of his recent exploration of the impact of humanity on nature “through vivid renditions of rare, majestic and sometimes endangered species portrayed in their natural settings while residing within an urban setting.” It was truly a pleasant discovery.
Location: 215 Coles St
Conclusion
In the years we've been following the craft, we've watched street art's meteoric rise through high-profile gallery exhibits, extensive media coverage and enthusiastic fan accounts. But nothing has been more rewarding than observing how it builds community. We’ve witnessed it at the Welling Court Mural Project in Astoria, the Punto Urban Art Museum in Salem, and we see it here in Jersey City.
