The 16th Avenue Steps by Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher
San Francisco, California
Photo source: Yellofish
Street art is best known as murals that cover entire walls—and sometimes even the buildings themselves. It has the incredible ability to turn the world into an outdoor gallery, but there’s one surface that’s often ignored: staircases. When painted, public stair art is a stunning and unexpected canvas for portraits, geometric patterns, and intricate mosaics. Each rise of a step is one fraction of a larger image. When viewed at the base of the staircase, the individual elements come together for an awe-inspiring effect.
Just as artists have assistance when painting big murals, these types of stair projects are often completed through with the help of many people. The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps in San Francisco, for instance, was a community effort. Ceramist Aileen Barr and mosaic artist Colette Crutcher worked with about 300 volunteers over a two-and-a-half year period to complete their project. Likewise, a group of artists called Dihzahyners formed a project called Paint Up! and used their creative abilities to beautify staircases in Beirut, Lebanon, one step at a time.
Here are 18 of the most stunning steps from around the world.
Snake of Light by Xomatok
Lima, Peru
Staircase in Seoul, South Korea
Photo credit: Kevin Lowry
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photo credit: rleigh
Paint-splattered steps at Zacheta Gallery by Leon Tarasewicz
Warszawa, Poland
Scala by Horst Glasker
Wuppertal, Germany
Yarn-bombed stairs by Magda Sayeg
Patterned stairs by Dihzahyners
Beirut, Lebanon
Tehran, Iran
Photo credit: My Persian-Speaking Friends
Patterned stairs by Dihzahyners
Beirut, Lebanon
Piano steps
Valparaíso, Chile
Photo credit: Jean-Baptiste Yunès
Stairs of Peace by Jood Voluntary Team
Syria
Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte
Caltagirone, Sicily
Photo credit: Andrea Annaloro
Anamorphic stairs by ZAG & SìA
Paris, France
Patterned stairs by Dihzahyners
Beirut, Lebanon
Holsteiner Treppe by Professor Horst Gläsker
Wuppertal, Germany
Photo credit: Frizztext
Origami steps by Mademoiselle Maurice
Angers, France
Women are Heroes by JR
Brazil
Musical theater staircase
Seoul, South Korea
Photo credit: Kimhwan SEOULIST