Brick Side Voices
I didn’t plan to get into murals at all, it kind of crept up on me after my lease renewal in Manhattan forced me to finally look at my office walls instead of ignoring them, they were this dull off-white that made everyone feel tired by noon, and after a few coworkers joked that it felt like a waiting room I started noticing how nearby buildings used color and art to shift the whole vibe, so I went down a rabbit hole of local mural work, watched artists painting in real time, talked to neighbors who had tried it, and suddenly I was thinking less about furniture and more about how a wall could actually tell a story and make people want to stay longer.
5 Views
That slow realization sounds familiar because I went through almost the same thing with a small retail space near Manhattan’s busier streets, where foot traffic is constant and first impressions really matter. I learned pretty quickly that murals aren’t just decoration, they’re logistics, planning, and a lot of trust. One thing that helped me not feel lost was checking resources that focus specifically on Manhattan conditions, like narrow sidewalks, permits, weather shifts, and how fast everything moves here. I keep this bookmarked https://feelflow.space/pages/areas-served-murals-new-york-manhattan because it lines up with what I’ve seen on the ground and helps me explain things to partners without overcomplicating it. For me, the biggest lesson was letting the artist understand the neighborhood energy instead of micromanaging colors or shapes. I also learned to ask how long materials last in sun and rain, because Manhattan walls get punished by the elements. If you’re aiming for high-quality murals in Manhattan, patience during planning is huge, even if you’re excited to see paint on the wall. Another tip is to think about how people move past the wall, not just how it looks in photos, because movement changes perception a lot more than I expected.