The Pueblo Levee Murals: A Flood Wall That Became Miles of Paint

The concrete walls that hold the Arkansas River away from downtown Pueblo were built for one unglamorous job: stop the next flood like the one that wrecked the city in 1921. Somewhere along the way, they picked up a second life.

It started in the 1970s, when students from what is now Colorado State University Pueblo began painting over the graffiti on the levee. By some accounts they worked at night to stay out of sight of the police, but the city warmed to the idea, and the painting kept going. Decades and many artists later, the stretch of color along the river was certified by Guinness as the longest painting in the world, a roughly three-mile run of murals. A dedicated coordinator has helped organize the work since 1988.

The walls you see today are not all original. By 2014 the aging levee was cracking and had to be resurfaced, which meant erasing the old art. The Pueblo Conservancy District, which manages the levee, worked with the mural project to start fresh on the new concrete, with new panels going up beginning in fall 2021.

It is free, it is outdoors, and it pairs naturally with a walk near the river. For where to look and how the project works now, check the Pueblo Conservancy District at pueblolevee.org.