Quick answer: Little Havana’s best-known murals sit along Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street) between 13th and 17th Avenue, anchored by the Celia Cruz mural at 13th Avenue and the roughly 50-foot Little Havana Wall at 14th Avenue. The whole route is walkable in under an hour, and it’s at its best for photos in early morning or late-afternoon light, when the colors read true and the sidewalk isn’t in shadow from the buildings.
This isn’t an exhaustive catalog, murals get repainted and added to over time, but it’s a reliable route covering the pieces that define the neighborhood’s visual identity, in the order you’d walk them from 12th to 17th Avenue.
1. The Celia Cruz mural
Location: SW 8th Street & SW 13th Avenue
A large-scale portrait of the Queen of Salsa, painted by Miami-raised artist Alexandra Seda (known as Miss Lushy), sits directly over Celia Cruz’s own star on the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame below. It’s become the single most photographed piece of art in Little Havana since it was unveiled in 2021, and for good reason: the color palette and framing were built specifically to work as a portrait backdrop.
2. The Calle Ocho Walk of Fame stars
Location: SW 8th Street, roughly 12th to 17th Avenue
Not a mural, technically, but inseparable from the mural walk: sidewalk stars honoring Latin entertainers and cultural figures, several of which sit directly beneath a mural or painted tribute to the same person. Shoot these low and close, a wide-angle, ground-level shot reads better than a standing photo looking straight down.
3. The Little Havana Wall
Location: SW 8th Street & SW 14th Avenue
At roughly 50 feet wide, this is one of the largest single murals on the strip, pulling together faces, music, flags and color into one composition meant to summarize the neighborhood’s identity in a single wall. Because of its scale, it’s genuinely difficult to capture in one frame with a phone camera, plan to shoot it in sections as well as one attempted wide shot, and stitch or select later.
4. The painted rooster sculptures
Location: scattered along Calle Ocho, positions change periodically
Six-foot rooster sculptures, each individually painted and often dressed as a specific profession or character, stand as informal neighborhood mascots. The rooster is a recurring symbol of Cuban pride and good luck, and half the fun of this stop is simply noticing how many you can spot as you walk the strip, they move locations occasionally, so don’t rely on an old map to find a specific one.
5. Cuban history and flag murals
Location: various storefronts along SW 8th Street, particularly 15th–17th Avenue
Smaller-scale murals depicting the Cuban flag, historical figures and scenes of pre-revolution Cuban life appear on shutters and side walls throughout the corridor, many painted by the same working artists whose galleries you’ll pass a few doors down. These tend to be the murals visitors miss on a first walk because they’re not as large or as centrally placed as the Celia Cruz mural or the Little Havana Wall, worth slowing down for. Some of the newer pieces carry an explicit political message, we cover one of the more striking examples in our piece on the Patria y Vida art movement.
6. Domino Park’s painted details
Location: Máximo Gómez Park, SW 8th Street & 14th Avenue
Not a wall mural in the traditional sense, but the painted tile work and decorative elements around the park’s perimeter carry the same visual language as the murals nearby, and the park itself makes for a strong photo backdrop with the dominoes games in the foreground (ask before photographing individual players directly).
The best time of day to photograph Little Havana’s murals
Early morning (before 10am) and the last hour before sunset give the most even, saturated light without harsh shadows across the wall surfaces, and both windows also happen to be lower-traffic times, which matters for getting a clean shot without cars or crowds in front of the wall.
How to see all of them in one route
Start at 12th Avenue and walk west, hitting the Walk of Fame stars as you go, the Celia Cruz mural at 13th, Domino Park just past it, the Little Havana Wall at 14th, and the smaller storefront murals between 15th and 17th. The whole loop is under a mile and comfortably walkable in 45 minutes to an hour if you’re stopping for photos at each one. For everything else worth doing on the same walk, see our Little Havana things-to-do guide, and for the exact boundaries and getting there, our Little Havana map guide.
FAQ
Where is the Celia Cruz mural in Little Havana?
At the corner of SW 8th Street (Calle Ocho) and SW 13th Avenue, directly above her star on the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame.
Who painted the Celia Cruz mural?
Miami-based artist Alexandra Seda, known professionally as Miss Lushy, painted the mural, which was unveiled in April 2021.
How long does it take to see Little Havana’s murals?
Comfortably 45 minutes to an hour on foot for the main route between 12th and 17th Avenue, longer if you’re stopping for photos at each one.
Are there guided tours that include the murals?
Yes. Our Little Havana food tour passes several of the neighborhood’s best-known murals as part of the route, with a guide who can point out the ones a first-time visitor tends to walk right past.
Photographed and mapped by the Little Havana Tours team. We pass most of these murals on our Little Havana food tour every day, so if you’d rather have someone narrate the art while you eat, that’s an option too.
