Transforming Public Spaces: From Artistic Uncertainty to Mural Mastery

August 21, 2024

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences

Each twist of Riley Gregor’s journey from student to full-time artist and business owner has contributed to his present-day success, encompassing everything from his early days of skateboarding, to the “no rules” world of graffiti, to now celebrating seven years of sobriety.

After completing treatment at the Healing Place to begin his recovery, Gregor intended to study Graphic Design at UofL’s Hite Institute of Art and Design, but he was not accepted into that track. Ultimately, he pursued and graduated from Hite with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in two-dimensional art instead.

“I did not know how that was going to look because I am not a studio painter,” Gregor said. “I was extremely cautious and also interested in how I was going to develop as an artist, because the art that I like – graffiti – is criminal, is massive, and has no rules. So how do you bring that into an institution?”

Unsure of his place in the world of art, Riley forged ahead in the classroom while simultaneously pursuing creative projects in the community, leveraging personal relationships to generate interest and to build a client base.

“I wanted to be creative, I wanted to do art – how that was a thing, I had no idea,” Gregor said reflecting on the beginning of his artistic and business evolution.  “How the journey started was – from the bottom. I wanted to put my work out there, which started with one client, which started with no pay just to have the opportunity, and one client led to another and that feeling I got from it was just extremely rewarding, because one, I was doing something I truly love, and two, it was able to impact the community around it.”

Today, he is the owner of StraightEdge Creative, a company that creates vibrant, large-scale murals throughout Louisville, in addition to branding and creative consulting for nonprofits, city development, rehabilitation projects, and more.

Gregor enjoys the collaborative aspect of the projects he completes, and every blank wall he takes on poses new and exciting artistic challenges and opportunities for him to infuse new energy and vibrant color into the community.

A recently completed project is a mural featured on the outside of the Clark County Museum building, which serves as an entrance of sorts to the NoCo Arts and Cultural District in Jeffersonville that is now more inviting and walkable for pedestrian traffic. Gregor states that he wanted to create something that was very vibrant and welcoming to the arts district itself while also celebrating the history within the museum.

The mural features an image of James Howard, one of the first people to build steamboats in Jeffersonville.

“The steamboat pictured next to James Howard is actually the one of the first that he built himself with his team, taken from a photo archive,” Gregor said. “It’s perfect from an imagery standpoint because these are archival photos that have been warped into my style, color, and vision.”

To create a common thread throughout all of his visual projects in the community, Gregor is now using a newly branded color palette and consistent icons for StraightEdge Creative, which will be incorporated into each piece moving forward. While every work of massive art is different and unique, Gregor’s goal remains the same.

“The goal is to stop someone dead in their tracks,” he said. “My work being in the public, people commute, they pass by every day, and if I can stop someone dead in their tracks during that time of day to look at the mural, I feel like I have done my job."

Hite Art Institute Acting Department Chair and Associate Professor of Art Mitch Eckert played a pivotal role in helping Gregor integrate his work into studio settings, while he grew his business outside of class.  

"He was my mentor through the program. He was extremely interested and is a photographer who doesn’t come from a graffiti background, but he was willing to learn about it and expand on it just as much as I was, which was so instrumental to me,” Gregor states.

During Eckert’s experimental photography class, Gregor began to document works of graffiti, which in and of themselves are not meant for longevity. As buildings are torn down, other artists paint over pieces, and many themselves are located in abandoned areas that are never seen.

Having the chance to marry the two concepts of “high art” and “low art” through this course paved the way for Gregor to visualize and realize his success today as a muralist and as a business owner.

“Riley is a testament to the strength of the programs in the Hite Institute of Art + Design,” Eckert states. “Riley is motivated, with a clear desire to succeed in his mural business. He can move fluidly across mediums and adapts to a wide range of artistic practices. His sense of curiosity and perseverance are traits I welcome in my classroom! It is critical in today’s market to diversify creative output, and Riley is a great example of an artist who can be nimble to accomplish his goals.”

For young artists studying at the Hite Art Institute, Gregor’s advice is clear: “Work hard in the classrooms and grind even harder outside of the classrooms.”

“I believe in this work because I quite frankly believe it’s the coolest thing on planet earth. And to be able to share that with everybody and to be able to bring something new to the table and to have those assets in the back pocket – the why is that I am hungry. I love it. It is fun, it is challenging, and I did not know how much manual labor would be involved when I first started – it is a great deal. But it is extremely rewarding.”