The Day the Idea Started

We were SO lucky to get tipped off by fellow mural artist Chris Zidek (“The instructions that went something like ‘Go to the Nations and look up…you’ll see it” was so on point) on Aussie artist Guido Van Helten’s painting of a massive Grain Silo in The Nations.

I had gone mural chasing a few times before. On this day in Nashville (in 2017), my wife and I had a morning to ‘kill’ before we hopped on a flight home. I did some research and we started to go see some murals.

We had a few fortuitous things that happened that day. 1) we saw some awesome murals, 2) we kept seeing another couple doing the same thing, 3) We met Chris Zidek working on his collaboration with Nathan Brown on the now Patagonia store, and 4) Chris told us about Guido Van Helten’s mural on a Grain Silo!

We were lucky enough to see Chris and Nathan’s work being painted, but Guido’s was one of a kind! It helped us affirm that there is some fantastic free mural art and that people enjoyed it.

After a few years of doing research wherever I went (ever been to Jackson, MI for it’s Bright Walls…WOW!)…I realized that there needed to be a better way of discovering.

So here we go, MuralStoke is my side project to the mural arts community. I’m hoping it becomes the discovery tool that chasers like me are looking for and the platform that the artists deserve to give them the love they deserve.

Artist: Guido Van Helten

Address: 1499 51st Ave N, Nashville, TN 37209