Atlanta artists transform car wash into outdoor art gallery

In Atlanta, you can now contemplate art and get your car sparkling clean at the same time.

The Westside Mural Project — a collaboration between West End restaurant Lean Draft House and artist/curator Letter 75 (a.k.a Michael Jones) — is a site-specific project at the Clean Moto Carwash at 1339 White Street near the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail in Southwest Atlanta.

The project, which kicked off on June 21 with a three-day painting event, enlisted 14 Atlanta-based artists to paint the interior walls of the self-service car wash bays. The result is an eclectic mural gallery for car wash customers to discover while they wash their vehicles.

Each artist was given the challenge of painting two 20’ x 9’ interior facing walls. Participating artists include Joe Dreher, Philip Harris, William Downs, Lacey Longino, C Flux, Matthew Evans, Jagua, TJ Sander, Larkin Ford, Aaron Putt, Xenia Aims, Jacob O Kelly, Lewis Foster, Krista Clark and Michael Jones. One of the car wash bays was designated for members of the public to try their hand at mural painting alongside the curated artists.

The idea for the project originally emerged through a conversation between the owners of Lean Draft House, which is next door to the car wash, and Jones, who was visiting the restaurant.

“My vision was to create spaces that interact with the audience,” says Jones. “I hope somebody becomes so engulfed with the work that when they leave, their car is still dirty.”

The project will be on view through June 2019. (Artists’ names are listed underneath the images of their murals.)