Take a walking (or biking) tour of colorful murals in Burlington neighborhoods

Free Press staff
·4 min read

The neighborhoods of Burlington practically pop with murals.

The past decade or so has seen an explosion of colorful paintings adorning otherwise humdrum structures throughout the city. Some practically shout for attention, others are more subtle finds. Some tackle serious issues, some are just plain-ol’ whimsical, but all stand a chance of catching your eye, your mind and your heart.

Burlington Free Press reporters have combed various neighborhoods, but this is by no means a complete listing of all murals in the city. And because public art is essentially a living, breathing entity, murals will come and go over the next weeks, months and years. But these reporters' articles (and the accompanying map and photo gallery) should give you a pretty good start for taking your own walking and/or biking tours of all the murals Burlington has to offer.

Old North End

The mural "Absolute Equality" was created in honor of Juneteenth in 2021. It can be found on the outside of Opportunities Credit Union at 92 North Avenue.
The mural "Absolute Equality" was created in honor of Juneteenth in 2021. It can be found on the outside of Opportunities Credit Union at 92 North Avenue.

Reporter Megan Stewart found one of the most vibrant and explicitly meaningful murals in the Old North End at 92 North Ave. at the northwest edge of the neighborhood. The painting, called "Absolute Equality," combines striking splashes of color with rich imagery and prose symbolizing the history and ongoing plight of Black Americans.

More: Tour of murals in Old North End Old North End murals tell stories of this Burlington neighborhood

Downtown Burlington

"Black Freedom, Black Madonna & the Black Child of Hope" by Raphaella "Raph" Brice decorates the east side of the Fletcher Free Library
"Black Freedom, Black Madonna & the Black Child of Hope" by Raphaella "Raph" Brice decorates the east side of the Fletcher Free Library

Adorning the Fletcher Free Library, reporter April Fisher found "Black Freedom, Black Madonna & the Black Child of Hope," a 16-foot-high, 12-foot-wide mural by Burlington artist Raphaella "Raph" Brice. A reimagining of the famous 14th-century Italian painting "Madonna and Child," the mural depicts the revered Haitian Vodou figure Erzulie Dantor as a Black Mother Mary with the Christ Child, both with third eyes on their foreheads.

"Luminaries of Justice and Liberation" is the name of the mural inside the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center at 60 Lake St. Painted by the family collective Juniper Creative Arts, the mural depicts 100 people of color who have paved the way for social change.
"Luminaries of Justice and Liberation" is the name of the mural inside the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center at 60 Lake St. Painted by the family collective Juniper Creative Arts, the mural depicts 100 people of color who have paved the way for social change.

Inside the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center at 60 Lake St., portraits of 100 people of color who have paved the way for social change decorate the 1,100-square-foot vaulted ceiling. Titled "Luminaries of Justice and Liberation," the mural was painted over the course of 11 months in 2021 by Will Kasso Condry and Jennifer Herrera Condry of the Vermont-based family artist collective Juniper Creative Arts.

More: Tour of murals in downtown area Downtown Burlington offers rich bounty of murals

Burlington Bike Trail and New North End

On one side of a building in the Hula complex and right on the bike path in Burlington is this grafitti-styled mural, seen on August 3, 2023.
On one side of a building in the Hula complex and right on the bike path in Burlington is this grafitti-styled mural, seen on August 3, 2023.

Reporter April Barton found that riding (or walking) the Burlington Greenway bike path provides active art lovers a chance to experience murals along the Lake Champlain waterfront.

A close up of a mosaic along the Burlington bike path at the Rock Point Rd. underpass as seen on Aug. 3, 2023. The mixed-media creation from Mary Lacy and Corrine Yonce depicts verses from "On Disappearing" by Major Jackson.
A close up of a mosaic along the Burlington bike path at the Rock Point Rd. underpass as seen on Aug. 3, 2023. The mixed-media creation from Mary Lacy and Corrine Yonce depicts verses from "On Disappearing" by Major Jackson.

If you expand the definition of mural to include mosaic and mixed-media applied to permanent surface, then the underpass below Rock Point Road certainly warrants inclusion. The 3-D application of bottle tops, tile, clocks, a toy train and other found materials beg to be touched and explored to fully appreciate. The project creators are said to be Mary Lacy and Corrine Yonce.

More: Tour of murals in New North End Take murals tour down the bike path into the New North End

Old East End and Riverside Avenue

"The River Dwellers" by T. Ariel Goreau sits at the corner of Chase Street and Barrett Street in the Old East End. The whimsical mural features animals in their natural habitats and trees with faces.
"The River Dwellers" by T. Ariel Goreau sits at the corner of Chase Street and Barrett Street in the Old East End. The whimsical mural features animals in their natural habitats and trees with faces.

The Old East End, a new name for one of the oldest Burlington neighborhoods, has a mural painted by T. Ariel Goreau and inspired by the neighborhood’s proximity to the Winooski River. Reporter Lilly St. Angelo notes that the mural, named “The River Dwellers,” displays a range of wildlife enjoying the river, including an otter, deer, a tortoise, a bear with a fish in its mouth and a heron − no humans or development in sight. Whimsical trees with faces, red mushrooms and native wildflowers make the painting feel like a page out of a fairy tale.

More: Tour of murals in Old East End Burlington's Old East End boasts colorful murals

South End

The 2015 mural "Inside Out" by Mary Lacy is shown Aug. 3, 2023 outside Dealer.com on Pine Street in Burlington.
The 2015 mural "Inside Out" by Mary Lacy is shown Aug. 3, 2023 outside Dealer.com on Pine Street in Burlington.

One of the most-prominent businesses along Pine Street, Dealer.com, in 2015 commissioned Vermont artist Mary Lacy to paint a pair of 32-foot-high silos positioned in front of the building. Reporter Brent Hallenbeck says the resulting work, titled “Inside Out,” is a colorful patchwork of geometric shapes conveying a sense of energy that unfolds within an office space as well as outside on the increasingly busy stretch of Pine Street.

More: Tour of murals in Old South End The South End: Burlington's arts district steps up when it comes to murals

According to a sign near the artwork, “Inside Out” is the largest public-art canvas in Vermont, totaling 3,200 square feet of painted surface area.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Burlington murals: Take walking or biking tour of public art, mosaics