Scale is the job
The ability to scale and project is what differs an artist and a muralist. A building mural starts from a small image and explodes onto a massive canvas, and the prep is what keeps the image true at that size — gridded out on the primed wall, checked against the reference print at the wall, painted from the lifts.
I Am Speaking: John Lewis in Rochester is about 3,200 square feet of wall. Crown Royal × Trail Blazers in Portland is 85 feet wide by 90 feet tall, and Gucci in New York 81 by 80. Our tallest wall is the dolphins in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and the studio has painted more than 100,000 square feet so far.
Civic portraits and community walls
I Am Speaking: John Lewis and Malcolm X are two civil-rights portraits across Rochester; the John Lewis wall was covered by PBS NewsHour and NPR. I Am A Man in Chicago is a portrait painted above the lettering that gives the wall its name, 15 feet wide by 32 feet tall. Flower City Arts Center is a community wall with the arts center, on the underpass by the ballpark: storefronts and portraits along the concrete, 25 by 50 feet.
Beyond them are the public works we are still bringing to this site — community walls and teen-empowerment murals in Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, Rochester and New York.
For property owners and developers
A painted wall gives a building a face on the street. For an owner, a developer or an institution, we survey the wall, plan the job from prep to preservation — the lifts, the access, the street below — and paint it by hand. We work with the wall owner and with the city’s requirements as part of the project.
And we finish it to last. We analyze the way the paint will decay over time and how the light will affect its colour, use only what we need and what will last, and coat the finished wall so that future vandalism cleans off without damaging the art. The same crew does graffiti removal and commercial painting, so the wall has somebody to call afterwards.
Our three stages
Mural prep
When it comes to mural creations, it starts from a small image and explodes onto a massive canvas. It takes meticulous prep work to ensure that the scale of the image is appropriately captured. The ability to scale and project is what differs an artist and a muralist.
Paint analysis
There is a science to paint and an understanding for the preservation of the environment. We analyze the way the paint will decay over time and how the light will affect its color. This intensive process allows us to use only what we need and what will last.
Mural preservation
After the completion of the mural, we understand the fears of clients regarding vandalism and degradation. We take this into account and apply environmentally friendly coating that will make it easy to clean any future vandalism without damaging the art work.
Walls we have painted
I Am Speaking: John Lewis
Rochester, NY
Malcolm X
Rochester, NY
Flower City Arts Center
Rochester, NY
I Am A Man
Chicago, IL
Crown Royal × Trail Blazers
Portland, OR
Gucci
New York, NYMore: Hand-painted wall advertising · Brand murals · Commercial painting · Graffiti removal · Murals by city · All the work
Questions, answered
How big can you paint?
Building scale is the everyday job. Crown Royal × Trail Blazers in Portland is 85 feet wide by 90 feet tall, Gucci in New York 81 by 80, and I Am Speaking: John Lewis in Rochester about 3,200 square feet. Our tallest wall is the dolphins in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and the studio has painted more than 100,000 square feet so far, 25,000 of it in 2026.
Can you paint a portrait or a likeness?
Yes — faces are a large part of the work. The civil-rights portraits I Am Speaking: John Lewis and Malcolm X in Rochester and I Am A Man in Chicago; Antwuan on the Uber wall in San Francisco; Dexter for Showtime in Boston; and A$AP Rocky × Ray-Ban in New York. The Portraits filter on the Work page has them all.
Do you paint community and public murals?
Yes. Public works are their own strand of the work: community walls, civil-rights portraits and teen-empowerment murals, in Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, Rochester and New York. The Flower City Arts Center wall, on the underpass by the ballpark in Rochester, was painted with the arts center, 25 feet wide by 50 feet tall.
How long does a mural take?
It depends on the size of the wall, its surface, how the crew can reach it and the weather. We look at all four before we commit to a date, and the schedule comes with the quote.
What surfaces can you paint?
Many of our walls are brick — SoHo and lower Manhattan are full of them — and we have painted concrete, as on the Flower City underpass in Rochester. Every wall starts with a survey of the surface, the light and how the paint will weather, and the prep follows from what the survey finds.
What paint do you use?
Whatever the wall needs to last. There is a science to paint: we analyze the way the paint will decay over time and how the light will affect its colour, so we use only what we need and what will last, and we mix the colour for the wall it is going on.
How do you protect a mural from graffiti and the weather?
Preservation is the last of our three stages. When the mural is finished we apply an environmentally friendly coating that makes it easy to clean any future vandalism without damaging the artwork.
Do you handle permits and landlord approvals?
We work with the wall owner and with the city’s requirements as part of the project, and we plan the job — lifts, access, the street below — around them. Approval itself is the owner’s and the city’s to give, so tell us in the brief who owns the wall and what you already know, and we will work through it with you.
Do you work outside New York?
Yes. We are based in New York and paint nationwide and abroad — in Kenya, Brazil, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Austin, Chicago, Rochester and Brockport, among others, and in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Where we paint has the walls city by city.
How do I get a quote?
Book a free consult: fill in the brief or email hello@openairgallery.art. Tell us the wall, the city and roughly how big it is — a photo of the wall is enough to start — and we will come back with a plan and a price.
How much does a mural cost?
It depends on the size of the wall, the surface, the access and the design, so there is no price list: every wall is quoted after the consult. The brief asks for a budget range, so the plan we come back with fits it.
More in the full FAQ.
Got a building?
Tell us the wall, the city and roughly how big it is. We will come back with a plan and a price.