Where to find dynamically colorful graffiti walls in and around Fountain Square

We're living in a heyday of sorts for outdoor art with a public that craves thought-provoking work and with businesses and cities that respond accordingly.

Holding its own in the boom of commissioned murals is graffiti — the art form that unleashes a freedom of expression born from its unpaid status and sometimes dead-of-night creative process. And many Indianapolis walls are known for their creations.

IndyStar asked Mike Graves to point us to the best work around Fountain Square and the near southeast side. He came up in the graffiti scene in the 1990s, studied at the Herron School of Art and is now a multi-technique artist based at the Murphy Arts Center. You won't find Graves up on a ladder now unless he's paid, he laughs, but he still keeps tabs on the best impromptu work.

So we present this guide on where to scout graffiti art, what to look for and tips for understanding it better, courtesy of Graves and Julia Muney Moore, the Indy Arts Council's director of public art.

Where to see some of the best work

Painted walls exist along a sliding scale between paid murals with specific directives and art that's spontaneous, Muney Moore said. In 2022's public art inventory and equity report in Marion County, 109 of the 3,090 pieces surveyed were labeled as graffiti.

The unpaid status, of course, lends quite a bit of freedom to graffiti writers.

"It's the difference between being told what to do and being allowed to do what you want," Graves said.

One of the most iconic graffiti pieces is of the singer Björk, who reigns with a bevy of murals in what's probably Fountain Square's most famous alley. The creator remains a mystery, Muney Moore and Graves said. (Between Virginia Avenue, Woodlawn Avenue and Shelby Street)

Called "American Tent" by writers because of the former business housed there, the conglomerate of buildings has long been known for offering its walls to art, Graves said.

Canvases of this size allow gradations of shading and techniques that give towering letters three-dimensional qualities. Folds under the eyes of an aged clown draw attention to his defeated stare. Several yards to his right, another pair of eyes peep determinedly from under a crimson Indiana Hoosiers cap.

The art doesn't contain itself to the walls, either. It spills up the concrete path, sweeps along the train tracks and climbs the poles of railroad crossing signs. (East Palmer and Delaware streets)

Just off the tracks near the intersection of Bates and Shelby streets is a piece made all the more storied by thick paint peels flopping off the work. Many of the letters are angled so that the words' meaning appears secondary to their geometry. Some come across like a punch.

Creations from SubSurface are still up from the long-running event that's brought together businesses, neighborhoods and graffiti artists from Indianapolis and beyond. SubSurface counts Broad Ripple and Fountain Square among its locations, and one example from the latter is on Dance Sophisticates. Living on the walls are a wizard and frog with similar hats as well as a determined-looking robot who appears to have just noshed on something green, judging by the liquid escaping its knife-like teeth. (Prospect Street and State Avenue)

At Prospect and East streets, the top-to-bottom and edge-to-edge graffiti wall turns an unassuming brick building into an explosively colorful destination. Each word's differing style and color palette fits together like a slightly overlapping puzzle. (East side of East Street just north of the intersection. More art continues nearby along Madison Avenue between Terrace Avenue and Raymond Street)

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What else to look for

Work by the best writers shows strong lines, control, coverage and color, including the way it fades, Graves said.

But make sure to look around the main artwork as well. Other members of the writer's crew will sign their tags. A better piece that's right next to a creation signals a challenge to the original creators. Custom stickers are like business cards — quick ways for street artists to leave their mark.

With exceptions that include historic districts, property owners can allow the art they please on their buildings, Muney Moore said. That means owners can invite artists to do commissioned work and even encourage graffiti writers to use open walls.

Sometimes writers choose their own walls without permission, in which case their work could stay or go at the property owner's discretion, she said. If a writer whose work isn't wanted is caught, that person can end up facing criminal charges.

As for the fate of well-recognized work on buildings? The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 gives protection to pieces and rights to creators under certain circumstances.

Graffiti writers who created in the 1990s and before especially understood that their work might not last, Graves said. Many now post their pieces on Instagram, where their value is in circulating to followers near and far, Muney Moore said.

"There are a number of artists who do get paid for commissioned murals but still continue to do these unsanctioned and spontaneous pieces under a different name," Muney Moore said. "It's a way for an artist to kind of maintain these sides of themselves."

We've taken you to some spots in Fountain Square and the near southeast side. Now, let us know where else in the city you've seen graffiti art you enjoy.

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Contact the reporter at d.bongiovanni@indystar.com or 317-444-7339.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Where to find Fountain Square's most well-known graffiti art