The Ultimate Self-Guided Street Art Walk in Hintonburg, Ottawa

A Self-Guided Street Art Walk Through Hintonburg, Ottawa

Hintonburg sits just west of downtown Ottawa, bounded by Scott Street, the O-Train tracks, the Queensway, and Holland Avenue. The neighbourhood grew up as a working-class, industrial area, and that history still shapes the murals you'll find here. Many of the walls in this walk sit on old shopfronts, garages, and utility boxes along Wellington Street West and its side streets.

Ottawalls has documented many murals in Hintonburg so far. This route covers six stops with full artist and location records, plus a note on where to find the neighbourhood's smaller, scattered pieces. Before you head out, open the Ottawalls map and filter by Hintonburg to follow along.

Stop 1: Urban Art Collective, 50 Bayswater Avenue

Urban Art Collective (UAC) is a studio and gallery space that opened in December 2022, and its exterior carries many murals.

Welcome to Hintonburg mural by Jimmy Baptiste, showing stylized graphic novel style characters and a skull figure in black and white on a brick wall at Urban Art Collective on Somerset Street West, Hintonburg, Ottawa. — Welcome to Hintonburg mural by Jimmy Baptiste at the Urban Art Collective

"Welcome to Hintonburg," painted by Jimmy Baptiste in 2023, is the black and white piece facing Somerset Street West at 1086 Somerset St W. It went up a few months after UAC's "Disrupt" street art festival, which brought together local artists for a collaborative painting event.

Pigeon People mural by Stephany Victorine, Kalkidan Assefa (Drippin Soul), and Martin Freundorfer, showing stylized graphic figures painted on the exterior of Urban Art Collective at 50 Bayswater Avenue in Hintonburg, Ottawa. — Pigeon People mural on the exterior of Urban Art Collective at 50 Bayswater Avenue in Hintonburg, Ottawa.

"Pigeon People," from 2025, covers the Bayswater Avenue side of the building. It was created by Stephany Victorine with Kalkidan Assefa (Drippin Soul) and Martin Freundorfer, and the title refers to UAC's founders and core community members.

Graffiti Octobot mural by Martin Freundorfer, showing a mechanical robot character painted on the black brick exterior of Urban Art Collective at 50 Bayswater Avenue in Hintonburg, Ottawa — Graffiti Octobot mural by Martin Freundorfer at 50 Bayswater Avenue

Martin Freundorfer's "Graffiti Octobot," also from 2025, is on the same building. It shows a mechanical robot figure against the collective's black brick exterior.

Stop 2: The Working Class Tribute, 1 Spadina Avenue

Ryan Smeeton painted this mural in 2018 for the Wellington West BIA. It shows a faceless figure holding a wrench in one hand, a reference to the area's industrial past, while the other hand points toward its present as an arts hub.

The Working Class Tribute mural by Ryan Smeeton, showing a faceless figure holding a wrench in one hand, painted on a wall at 1 Spadina Avenue in Hintonburg, Ottawa.

Stop 3: Round We Go, 987 Wellington Street West

This piece by Rene-Pierre Beaudry, known as ARPi, references the old Ottawa Electric Railway, a tram line that once ran through the city. The design pairs that history with images of cycling and nature, using the phrase "round we go" to connect the city's electric past with present-day transportation choices.

Round We Go mural by ARPi on Wellington Street West in Hintonburg, Ottawa, depicting an Ottawa Electric Railway tram alongside cyclists and nature imagery, with the text 'round we go' painted across the wall — Round We Go mural by ARPi on Wellington Street West in Hintonburg

Stop 4: The Proudest Plumage, 1195 Wellington Street West

Painted on Hairfellas barbershop, this mural by Kalkidan Assefa (Drippin Soul) was funded through the City of Ottawa's Paint It Up Program and made with a group of youth through Jaku Konbit Ottawa's Youth Mentorship Program.

Mural titled 'The Proudest Plumage' by Kalkidan Assefa (Drippin Soul) on the exterior of Hairfellas barbershop on Wellington Street West in Hintonburg, Ottawa.

Stop 5: Racism is a Pandemic Too, 96 Fairmont Avenue

Maya Hum painted this Bell Box mural in 2021. It shows the portrait of a Black woman integrated into a garden of abstracted flowers, a combination Hum often uses to connect care for people with care for the environment. The piece serves as a public reminder to address racism and celebrate diverse identities.

Racism is a Pandemic Too mural by Maya Hum, showing the portrait of a Black woman integrated into a colorful abstracted garden of blossoms, painted on a Bell Box at 96 Fairmont Avenue in Hintonburg, Ottawa. — Racism is a Pandemic Too mural by Maya Hum painted on a Bell Box at 96 Fairmont Avenue in Hintonburg, Ottawa.

Stop 6: Railbender, 7 Armstrong Street

ARPi painted this mural in 2016 for Railbender Tattoo, commissioned by shop owner Alex Neron. The central image is a pair of large hands modeled on Neron's tattooed arm, one holding a tattoo gun and the other a pencil eraser. Train tracks wrap around the building as a nod to ARPi's interest in railways and graffiti history, and small sparrows reference the Hintonbird House Project.

Railbender mural by ARPi, showing large hands holding a tattoo gun and a pencil eraser, surrounded by train tracks, sparrows, and a giant face, painted on the exterior of Railbender Tattoo in Hintonburg, Ottawa. — Railbender mural by ARPi, painted on the exterior of Railbender Tattoo in Hintonburg, Ottawa.

Bonus: Daniel Martelock's Bird Army

Beyond these six stops, keep an eye on the laneways between Holland and Parkdale, and on utility boxes and side walls throughout the neighbourhood. Daniel Martelock has painted dozens of small bird murals across Hintonburg as part of his ongoing "Bird Army" series, featuring chickadees and sparrows in helmets.

Bird Army mural by Daniel Martelock in Hintonburg — Bird Army mural by Daniel Martelock

Keep the Archive Going

This walk covers six of the many murals documented in Hintonburg. Browse the rest on the Ottawalls map, filter by neighbourhood to find more, and if you spot a piece that's missing, tagged over, or removed, you can submit it here to help keep the archive accurate.