4 Murals to Explore Along East Colfax
East Colfax has become Aurora's creative hub, bringing artists and community members together to transform buildings throughout Aurora’s Cultural Arts District with colorful, large-scale murals. Today, you can find more than 30 murals to explore.
What is Colfax Canvas?
Colfax Canvas began in 2020, bringing artists and community members together to transform buildings throughout Aurora’s Cultural Arts District into colorful works of art.
Each year, artists apply to participate and are paired with another artist they’ve never met. Together, they’re given a wall along Colfax and three words from the business whose building they’re painting. Those words become the inspiration for their mural, giving each piece a unique connection to the business and the community around it.
Then, they have just one week to bring their vision to life.
The painting culminates on September’s First Friday, when the murals are unveiled alongside music, celebrations and open houses throughout Colfax. The result is an ever-growing collection of murals that tells the story of Aurora through the people, businesses and artists who call it home.
While you can start your journey along East Colfax anywhere, we recommend parking in the parking lot behind The People's Building. Then follow the map in any direction you like to find all the murals. Don't forget to look up!
Find all the Murals in the Map below
#7 Patrick Kane McGregor
You'll have to look up for this one! A Colfax Canvas standout is the “Watchdog” mural, featuring three towering dogs keeping watch over Colfax and Aurora. Each dog has a different perspective. One looks east, another west and the third gazes toward the sky. The artist also incorporated monochromatic tones as a nod to Andy Warhol, creating a bold piece that stands out, and watches over, the Aurora skyline.
#9 AGPNT & RubeZilla
This mural celebrates “Eternal Life Through Love” with a Día de los Muertos-inspired design that honors Aurora’s Mexican and Latinx community. The artist created the piece as a tribute to Colfax's history and the heritage that runs through generations, while also using a neon effect. This is a fitting nod to Colfax’s long history of colorful neon signs that once lit up the corridor. Today, those signs remain an important part of Colfax’s visual history, making this mural feel like a bridge between the avenue’s past and its evolving arts scene.
#32 George F. Baker III, Isaac Lucero, Sofi Rami
This mural brings together the work of three artists in a colorful tribute to women in STEM. Baker III’s playful, childlike imagery encourages viewers to see the world from a different perspective, while Lucero incorporates his Mexican heritage and Rami draws inspiration from nature, humanity, and community. Together, their styles create a vibrant piece celebrating curiosity, creativity, and the women shaping the future of science, technology, engineering, and math.
#33 Cante Eagle Horse & Danielle SeeWalker
This mural, created by two Native American artists, is filled with symbolism rooted in their heritage. At its center is a magpie, a respected bird in Lakota culture representing persistence and determination, surrounded by Dakota floral designs and minimalist dragonflies, which are seen as messengers from the spirit world. The mural’s colors also represent the natural world: earth, water, plants, and the sun. They reflect the Lakota philosophy of Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ: everything is related.
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