Tulsa Murals Tour

You can learn a lot about Tulsa culture and history by peeping its street art. Explore our favorite murals on your own with this guide to Downtown Tulsa street art. Scroll to the bottom for a map. Let’s begin, in where else, but the Tulsa Arts District.

Tulsa vintage postcard mural

Our favorite mural for hometown pride, this large letter postcard remains stunningly vibrant since Billy Brakhage painted it in 2015. T-Town symbols like the Appeal to the Great Spirit statue in Woodward Park, Art Deco Mayo parking garage and soaring BOK Tower fill each letter. A solar eclipse due in 2045 occupies the “A.” The Philbrook Museum of Art extends below the “U” into the dazzling turquoise.

Tulsa Arts District | 211 N. Boulder Ave

Homeless vet mural

Tulsa has a robust network of social services, yet homelessness is still a visible issue downtown. This mural by Josh Butts, who served in Iraq, depicts a vet with long flowing hair. His gaze is locked on you. Against the wind, he pushes a cart of possessions, including a tattered American flag and hopeful-looking teddy bear. A quote about pain from Bob Dylan’s song “Idiot Wind” is in the corner. Completed in May 2018 for Mental Health Awareness Month, the mural is next to downtown’s most expensive restaurant, the Bull in the Alley.

Tulsa Arts District | 11 E. Reconciliation Way

Bruce Goff mural

“Bruce’s Tulsa” is a montage of the architect’s most notable local designs — done in the 1920s and using geometric forms. These Art Deco buildings include Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, Tulsa Club Hotel, and Spotlight Theater. Learn more about architecture on our awesome Art Deco tour. Painted in 2023 by Jamie Pierson of Scraps Designs to coincide with the annual Goff Fest.

Tulsa Arts District | Behind Mexicali Border Cafe on W. Reconciliation Way at N. Boulder Ave

Murals under I-244

Students brighten up the underpass of I-244 with a series of Tulsa-themed murals. The city has a complicated history. That checkered past is symbolized by a Native American headdress, oil derrick and references to Black Wall Street in a mural with a hopeful message of “remember the past,” “live in the present” and “shape the future.” Just up the block, a mural by the Tulsa School of Arts & Sciences advertises “Unlimited Opportunity” with a sunburst pattern over the cityscape. This brash design was the city’s first flag, which was adopted in the Roaring 20s with the word “Tulsa” in the red circle and without the skyline. Although no longer our flag, the image remains relevant today with its message of opportunity that attracts entrepreneurs and big city transplants, including your tour guide!

Greenwood | N. Elgin Ave at I-244

Jackie Robinson mural

The likeness of the first Black baseball player of the modern era faces Driller’s stadium. Jackie Robinson’s 1947 debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers broke the color barrier not only in baseball, but also all professional sports in the country. Robinson was an instant hit and won National League Rookie of the Year. Two years later he was the NL batting champion and NL MVP. After a successful 10-year career with the Dodgers, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

It’s only fitting that this mural overlooks home field of the Dodgers’ AA team in Tulsa on an historic Greenwood building that was rebuilt after 1921. This 26’ x 40’ mural was a collab between Thomas “Detour” Evans and Chris “Sker” Rogers. Sker worked on the Black Wall Street mural nearby and Detour did the Tulsa Sound mural in the Blue Dome District.

Greenwood | 120 N. Greenwood Ave (behind the barber shop)

History in the Making mural

This vinyl mural is a glimpse of Greenwood residents, educators, WWI vets, and entrepreneurs like Simon Berry standing by his airplane. Artists Skip Hill and Chris “Sker” Rogers unveiled it on the Tulsa Race Massacre centennial. It was sponsored by Bank Greenwood, a Black-owned digital financial platform designed for Black and Latino customers that’s based in Atlanta.

Greenwood | 111 N. Greenwood Av (north wall)

Black Wall Street mural

One of America’s most prosperous Black communities was destroyed by a murderous white mob 101 years ago. This powerful mural celebrates the material and cultural riches of Greenwood’s Black Wall Street while mourning its destruction. (Learn more about the Tulsa Race Massacre on a Black Wall Street Tour.) In 2018, Kansas City artist Donald “Scribe” Ross painted a 30-foot mural to tell the story and keep the conversation going after being suppressed for so long.

Greenwood | N. Greenwood Ave at I-244 (north side)

Mass Graves This Way mural

First Street Flea murals

This desolate corner of downtown pinned against two highways and the railroad tracks is fertile ground for hunting street art. An entire warehouse with tenants like Habit Mural Festival and First Street Flea is a colorful canvas of evolving art. Bonus: The flea itself is excellent for savvy shoppers with vintage style. Selection is good and prices are quite reasonable.

Outside, “Shoot for the Moon” steals the show. This 23’ x 35’ mural captures stunt driver Keith “T-Bone” Bowen’s leap of faith—a car jump over 13 parked vehicles in 1975. His humble Ford Cortina (a model made in the UK) set a world record that day. T-Bone’s feat is inspiration for Tulsa, an undersized city trying to accomplish mighty things.

East Village | 856 E. Admiral Blvd

Take Me Back To Oklahoma - Bob Wills mural

Just steps from an old alignment of Route 66 is a larger-than-life tribute to Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. The kings of Western swing performed the song “Take Me Back to Tulsa” in the 1940 movie “Take Me Back to Oklahoma,” which starred Wills as himself along with the Texas Playboys. Their tour bus, depicted here, sits in Wills’ hometown in northern Texas. To complete this giant mural, Clean Hands artists Aaron Whisner and Justin Baney used six gallons of paint and more than 100 cans of spray paint.

Blue Dome District | 514 E. 2nd St (mural faces 3rd St)

Leon Russell mural

A youthful Leon Russell surrounded by a bouquet of roses looks ready to come to life. Jeks, a graffiti artist and muralist from North Carolina, spent three days painting this Tulsa rock legend.

Blue Dome District | 415 E. 3rd Street

Wayman Tisdale, Gap Band & Aretha Franklin

Perpendicular to Russell above is Jeks’ photo-realistic homage to local Black musicians Wayman Tisdale (for bio, see “Blue Dome murals” below) and The Gap Band (Greenwood-Archer-Pine) from North Tulsa. The legendary Aretha Franklin is in the center with the Tulsa flag in muted colors in the background.

Blue Dome District | 212 S. Frankfort Ave

Astronaut mural

Another Jeks masterpiece, this far-out mural has a fish-eye reflection of the Blue Dome and Deco District skyscrapers. The arm patch for Tulsa Remote refers to a nonprofit incentive program to lure remote workers to live in Tulsa for one year in exchange for $10,000 and other perks. We just wish we had been offered $10k to move here and that this mural didn’t cover historic ghost signs, irreplaceable reminders of Tulsa’s commercial past.

Blue Dome District | 415 E. 3rd Street

Blue Dome murals (painted over)

Across from the Blue Dome itself, this pair of adjacent murals brightens up a parking lot outside dive bar Reds (f.k.a. Woody’s). The mural on the left celebrates an arts festival that ended its 15-year run in 2018. To the right is Tulsa native Wayman Tisdale, an NBA power forward for 12 years, playing for the Pacers, Kings and Suns. After hanging up his jersey in 1997, Tisdale pursued a music career as a bass player. The first of his eight albums was called Power Forward. Tisdale died of complications from cancer at age 44. The L.L. Tisdale Parkway in North Tulsa is named after Wayman’s father who was a pastor nearby.

Blue Dome District | 314 E. 2nd St

The Majestic mural (augmented reality)

Unlike any other mural in Tulsa, this one comes aaaalive! Activate the world’s largest AR mural by pointing your phone’s camera at the QR code on the sidewalk. LA-based artists Ryan “Yanoe” Sarfati and Eric “Zoueh” Skotnes collaborated on this dreamscape spanning 15,000 square feet.

Replete with Oklahoma imagery, The Majestic takes its name from the demolished movie palace that once stood on this site—now an unsightly parking garage.

In the central motif, an angel holds children representing the youth of Tulsa and is surrounded by a halo of Lululemon logos (j/k). Floating in the background are winged creatures like the downy woodpecker (North America’s smallest), black swallowtail butterfly (state butterfly), and the scissor-tailed flycatcher (state bird since 1951 and on Oklahoma’s standard license plate). Look for native flora like magnolia and redbud flowers and Art Deco motifs from the Boston Avenue Methodist Church framing the corners.

Where is the Majestic MuraL in Tulsa?

The Majestic mural is on the Main Park Plaza parking garage at 410 S. Main St at 4th St (Deco District).

Cathedral District mural (destroyed)

January 2024: Along with a row of 1920s brick buildings, this mural was foolishly destroyed by First Methodist Church to make “green space” in an area that’s already saturated with vacant space from torn down buildings.

In between Cathedral Square and our favorite coffee shop Foolish Things, this vibrant mural brightens up a desolate corner of downtown. Against the backdrop of nearby churches (and one cathedral), God reaches out to give Adam life — the most famous scene from Michelangelo’s frescos on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Artist credit: Josh Butts.

Cathedral District | 1004 S. Main St

Welcome to Gunboat Park mural

A welcoming sign to this quirky neighborhood brightens the back of a building across from the Route 66 Dog Park. A boatload of pooches with the Tulsa flag mimics the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware that hangs at The Met in NYC.

Gunboat Park District | S. Elgin Ave just south of 11th St (Route 66)

“You Said We Couldn't Do It, But We Did” mural

Next to the Meadow Gold sign on Route 66 is another Josh Butts mural. This one commemorates a bridge built over the Arkansas River in 1904. The bridge wasn’t for rail traffic, so investors deemed it too risky. The government wouldn’t pay for it either. Instead, three citizens formed a toll company and paid for the bridge, a huge undertaking both financially and logistically due to the shifting river bed. On the bridge they hung a sign, “You Said We Couldn’t Do It, But We Did.” Learn more about Tulsa’s early history and can-do spirit on our Tunnel Tour.

Meadow Gold District | 1306 E. 11th St at S. Peoria Ave

Dead Armadillo mural

A (soon-to-be dead) armadillo crosses the tracks under a full moon and downtown skyline at sunset. Founded in 2013 as of one of the city’s first three craft breweries, Dead Armadillo is best known for its Tulsa Flag blonde ale. The city flag is illuminated at left while in the sky the sparkles the brewery’s slogan, “Raise the Dead".

Pearl District | Dead Armadillo Brewery 1004 E. 4th St