When I first moved to San Jose, the general consensus was that not much was happening. Downtown was filled with boarded up buildings and homeless people and that was about it. While the boarded up buildings and homeless people are accurate, San Jose is also filled with beautiful art. (You just need to be paying attention).
Over the months I’ve been compiling a list of the city’s most Instagrammable walls, and will continue to add to this as I find more. PS: Your Instagram feed will thank me.
“THANK YOU” (Santa Clara St.)
Location: 109 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113
Full Title: Tommy Smith-John Carlos Thank You
Description: The wall depicts a “Thank You” message to San Jose Olympians Tommy Smith and John Carlos.
Photo Tip: It is right above some parking spots, so if you want to photograph the wall without cars, you may want to try going early in the AM.
Anno Domini (SoFa Disctrict)
Location: 366 S 1st St, San Jose
Description: A mural featuring 9 artists.
Artists: Carolyn Ryder Cooley, Lena Wolff, Daniel Jesse Lewis, Jessie Rose Vala, David Choe, Bruno Li, Klone, Adrian Lee, Know Hope
Photo Tip: The mural is located in a parking lot and luckily cars aren’t allowed to park in front of it. There are about 6 “scenes” that evoke different emotions. Feel free to be super extra and bring 6 different outfits to shoot in front of each part.
MACLA (SoFa District)
Location: 510 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113
Artist: Untitled by Aaron De La Cruz
Studio Climbing Gym Murals (SoFa District)
Location: The Studio Climbing Gym 396 S. 1st St.
Artists: Poesia, Michael Borja, and Denis Korkh
Photo Tip: Visit around golden hour as most of the day these murals are in direct sunlight and hard to photograph.
City Hall Temporary Tunnel
Right across from City Hall, this temporary tunnel is painted in extremely bright and pretty colors. It’s a cool spot for a 70s theme shoot.
Location: 200 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113
Mint Wall
I am a sucker for pastel colored walls, and this mint green one is no exception. There’s also a pretty Palm Springs style hotel sign a little down the street that is cool too.
Location: Intersection of Almaden Ave & Post St.
Kids & Flowers Mural (Santa Clara Ave.)
I wasn’t able to find the artist or the title of this series of murals, so we’ll just call it “kids and flowers” for now. I loved all the pastel shades and beautiful imagery of the kids. A great spot for #summervibes.
Location: On the side of Chase Bank on Santa Clara Ave.
More locations will be added as I scope out more!
