Your FIFA Guide to Public Art and Murals Across Dallas Neighborhoods During FIFA World Cup 2026™
A neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide to Dallas street art between World Cup matches.
Four million people are about to descend on North Texas for the World Cup, and most of them are going to spend at least a few hours trying to figure out what makes Dallas Dallas. We recommend skipping the tourist traps and following the street art. This city has been painting its story on the outside of its buildings for decades, and right now there's never been a better time to go looking. Here's where to start.
Deep Ellum
Where: East of downtown, along Elm Street and Commerce Street between Good-Latimer Expressway and Malcolm X Boulevard
Get there: DART Green Line to Deep Ellum Station
Deep Ellum is the soul of Dallas. This is where blues legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lead Belly played in the 1920s, where the underground music scene burned bright in the '90s, and where Erykah Badu came up before the world knew her name. The neighborhood has been painted, repainted, and repainted again ever since. Today it holds well over 130 murals across its roughly 10-block grid.
The artistic anchor of the neighborhood is the 42 Murals Project that transformed aging buildings into 42 large-scale murals ranging from Christian-inspired imagery to portraits of local music icons to psychedelic color explosions.
Don’t Miss:
- The Traveling Man - a series of three stainless steel robot sculptures by Dallas artists Brad Oldham and Brandon Oldenburg running along Good-Latimer Expressway from Elm Street to Swiss Avenue. Follow the series north and try to hit it at golden hour when the polished steel reflects the colors of the setting sun.
- Blues Alley - a mural corridor honoring local legends like Freddie King, Erykah Badu, and the Vaughan Brothers located on 2713 Canton Street.
- Deep Ellum/Reading Break - one of the newest murals to the neighborhood, this detail-packed mural at Main Street Plaza has a scavenger hunt built into it.
The Dallas Arts District
Where: Flora Street, downtown Dallas
Get there: DART Red, Blue, or Orange Line to Pearl/Arts District Station
The Dallas Arts District is the largest urban arts district in the United States and most people walk right past its free art on their way into a museum. Skip an entrance fee and spend an hour on Flora Street.
Highlights include:
- Nasher Public - a free public art initiative that presents work by North Texas artists in a gallery space directly accessible from the Nasher's entrance foyer.
- The Texas Sculpture Walk - a half-acre art-lined walkway near the KPMG Plaza features 18 sculptors from the Hall Family's personal collection.
Bishop Arts District
Where: North Bishop Ave & Davis Street, North Oak Cliff
Get there: Rideshare from downtown or DART bus
Bishop Arts is the neighborhood Dallas locals take their out-of-town guests when they want to show off. Murals, brick pavers, and street elements have transformed this former warehouse district into a popular leisure and dining destination. It's compact, it's walkable, and nearly every building on Bishop Avenue has something worth stopping for on its exterior wall.
Don't miss:
- Lee Harvey Oswald mural - located on the walls of Kings Club Barbershop at the intersection of N. Madison and W. 7th St.
- Let’s Fiesta Mural - on 419 N Bishop Ave is a well-known selfie spot thanks to the murals bright colors and Day of the Dead vibes.
- Seventh - the public art sculpture that mimics a streetcar wheel was made with salvaged trolley tracks as a nod to the neighborhood's past when people rode the trolley along 7th St. and Bishop Ave.
Pro Tip: Walk the alleys. The official murals are on the walls, but the hidden gems are tucked into the passages between buildings.
West Dallas
Where: 1999 Sylvan Ave, Dallas
Get there: Rideshare
West Dallas is the neighborhood that's been having its moment for the past few years. The Fabrication Yard is an ever-evolving outdoor space where artists come to work large-scale murals. The work changes constantly and it's a completely different energy from the curated murals of Deep Ellum.
Bonus: On your way, cross the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on foot if you can. Santiago Calatrava designed it. The stunning design photographs like nothing else in Dallas.
