Carytown Monarch Butterfly Mural
A monarch butterfly mural connecting Carytown's character to the natural world surrounding it.
The Project
Carytown is one of Richmond’s most distinctive shopping districts — eclectic, colorful, and rooted in independent business culture. The monarch butterfly mural was designed to reflect that spirit through a subject that connects the neighborhood to something larger.
The monarch migration passes through Virginia every year. The mural captures that moment of passage — a creature in transit, pausing on a wall that has its own story to tell.
The Process
The design was built from site data: the colors of the surrounding storefronts, the texture of the brick, the light conditions at different times of day. The butterfly’s wing patterns were rendered using measured color values from the building’s materials, creating a piece that feels grown from its environment rather than applied to it.