Public & Community Mural Artist
Site-specific murals that celebrate communities, tell local stories, and transform public spaces.
Banks Compton is an Alabama mural artist and public artist creating large-scale murals for cities, municipalities, tourism destinations, community organizations, nonprofits, and public spaces throughout Alabama, the Gulf Coast, and across the United States.
Each project begins with its location. Banks works with clients and communities to develop original artwork inspired by local history, landscapes, wildlife, architecture, culture, and the people who make a place distinctive.
Featured Public & Community Murals
Foley Photo Mural | Foley, Alabama
Created at Downtown OWA, the Foley Photo Mural transforms an unused brick corner into a colorful destination celebrating the city. The mural combines the Heritage Park clock tower, Foley's railroad history, a World War II-era N3N training biplane, Alabama camellias, and oversized “Foley Alabama” lettering designed as a photo opportunity for visitors.
Boligee Community Mural | Boligee, Alabama
This mural at the Boligee Community Center tells the story of the Greene County community across two sides of the building. Historic railroad and agricultural imagery represents Boligee's past, while a logging truck and Interstate 20/59 reference transportation and industry in the community today.
Rooster Day Community Mural | Demopolis, Alabama
Created in downtown Demopolis, the Rooster Day Mural combines local wildlife, flowers, the Tombigbee River landscape, and imagery inspired by the city's history. Community members and children were invited to participate in painting portions of the mural, making the finished artwork a collaborative part of the annual Rooster Day celebration.
Opelika Community Mural | Opelika, Alabama
Created in partnership with Auburn-Opelika Tourism and the Opelika Chamber of Commerce, this mural brings together recognizable local imagery including Samford Hall, the Lee County Courthouse, the downtown fountain, an eagle, azaleas, and dogwoods. Local homeschool students also participated in the painting process.
Eutaw Mural | Eutaw, Alabama
Created in downtown Eutaw, this public mural celebrates the landscape and character of Greene County through native wildlife and regional imagery, adding a large-scale work of public art to the historic West Alabama community.
Linden Community Murals | Linden, Alabama
Banks has created multiple public murals throughout Linden, including Welcome to Linden, an interactive tiger swallowtail mural, the Thomas Terrace mural, and a mural depicting Alabama outlaw Rube Burrow. Together, the projects demonstrate how a collection of public artwork can build visual identity throughout a small community.
Community Participation
Some projects can extend beyond the finished artwork by giving residents, students, or community groups an opportunity to participate in the painting process.
Banks has organized community paint days and collaborative mural projects where participants paint designated portions of a professionally designed mural before Banks completes and refines the final artwork.
This approach allows communities to contribute directly to a permanent work of public art while maintaining a cohesive professional finished piece.
Public Art for Tourism & Placemaking
Murals can also turn overlooked walls into recognizable destinations.
Projects can be designed around pedestrian spaces, downtown districts, parks, tourism destinations, community centers, and other highly visible locations. Interactive elements, recognizable landmarks, and photo opportunities can encourage visitors to stop, engage with the artwork, and share the location online.
Banks works with communities to create murals that are visually distinctive while remaining grounded in the history and identity of the place they represent.
Public Mural Projects Can Include
This is the one place I'd use a concise list on the actual page:
Downtown and municipal murals
Community murals
Tourism and destination murals
Public art installations
Community paint days
Historic and cultural murals
Interactive photo murals
Parks and recreation artwork
Nonprofit and civic projects
Large-scale exterior murals
From Concept to Completed Mural
Banks can manage the mural process from initial concept through installation, including site evaluation, research, original design, surface preparation, materials, equipment, painting, community participation when appropriate, and final protective coatings.
For public projects, designs can be developed in collaboration with municipal staff, committees, community organizations, property owners, and other stakeholders while maintaining a clear artistic direction throughout the project.
About Banks Compton
Banks Compton is an Alabama mural artist and public artist and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). His large-scale work can be found throughout Alabama and across the United States, with projects ranging from downtown community murals and tourism destinations to libraries, schools, businesses, and institutional spaces.
Based in Foley on Alabama's Gulf Coast, Banks travels for public and community mural projects throughout the state and beyond.