The Titan Walls Mural Festival Adds Even More Color to Chicago

From Aug. 7^th-12^th, West Town will be bursting with color thanks to the 5^th annual Titan Walls Mural Festival. It’s presented by Muros, which defines itself as an “art activation agency” that partners with artists, brands, and businesses to create murals and street art. Muros is bringing together some of the top street artists from Chicago and around the world to District Brew Yards at 417 N. Ashland Ave.

By Dave Lifton (@daveeatschicago)

The final day, Aug. 12^th, is the festival’s main event. From noon-8:00PM, you can watch the artists create their work while DJ RTC and DJ Boathouse spin music. Hang out at the Muros Beach House, a tropical-themed Instagrammable space where you can enjoy a frozen cocktail in a coconut chair and get airbrushed tattoos, or the Topo Chico Surf Shack. You can also support local establishments at the Hartford Small Business Market and enter to win a piece of art inspired by the Chicago Bulls. Admission is free, but Muros is requesting that you reserve a space through Eventbrite.

District Brew Yards is a collective of four breweries—Around the Bend, Avant City, Casahumilde, and Twisted Hippo—with a pour-your-own beer hall that features 40 taps and food from Lillie’s Q, and a shop where you can purchase cans. The Suds Club earns members one point for every $1 spent, with a $5 discount for every 100 points redeemed.

For those who want more murals, eATLAS has free, self-guided walking tours of street art in Fulton Market and the West Loop. Both begin only a few blocks away from the festival and are hosted by the West Central Association, the Chamber of Commerce for much of the Near West Side.

A couple of miles south of the West Loop is Pilsen, where we have two adventures. Frida & Friends explores the murals and art galleries of this vibrant neighborhood, and those who take the tour receive a 15% discount at the Frida Room, a Mexican café. Revolution Ride is a bicycle tour through public art in Pilsen and Humboldt Park that reflects revolutionary struggles throughout the Americas. The tour was coordinated by the Newberry Library, who worked with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the National Museum of Mexican Art, Illinois Humanities, and Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy.

Elsewhere in Chicago, the Murals of the Wabash Arts Corridor tour spotlights 15 of the more than 50 murals in the South Loop, and the Hyde Park Art Walk incorporates murals, sculptures, and other works of public art found on the South Side, including Yoko Ono’s Skylanding in Jackson Park and the Fountain of Time in Washington Park, and a painting of soul singer Donny Hathaway.

Our Sculpture Art Tour in the Loop takes you through the works created by some of the most celebrated artists of the 20^th century—including Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder—that can be found in the plazas of the city’s central business district. Lastly, more adventurous art lovers can check out mosaics installed inside Chicago’s potholes, and the Museum Campus Scavenger Hunt, where you can learn more about the many pieces situated on the grounds of the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium.