Riley Gregor ’22

Class of 2022
Bachelor of Fine Arts

Posted: July 21, 2025

Riley Gregor ’22 is breaking through the conventional walls of the business world by covering the walls of the city with his handiwork. And it all started with his final project as a student in the University of Louisville’s fine arts department when he proposed the bold idea not to hang his art in the university’s gallery space, but to paint directly on the display walls themselves.

Gregor, who is originally from Louisville, joined the bachelor of fine arts (BFA) program at UofL’s Hite Art Institute at age 23, finishing what he had started years before at High Point University.

“I came in with a background in street art and graffiti,” Gregor said. “A subculture like that is not always accepted inside an institutional classroom.” Yet he was met with the opposite reception. Associate professor and photographer Mitch Eckert became Gregor’s mentor and was quickly enamored with Gregor’s graffiti as a genre.

Under Eckert, Gregor explored photographing graffiti-adorned scenes of abandoned buildings and train spots, creating permanent records of places that were otherwise wasting away or would someday be demolished. This was quite a different feel than what the professor and other students were used to at the time, yet Eckert eagerly accepted Gregor bringing such a focus into the space.

When Gregor first saw UofL’s fine art gallery space, he informed Eckert of his desire to paint directly on the movable display walls, in line with his graffiti background.

“He told me it had never been done, and they’re not going to go for it. And I said, ‘Well, put me in front of somebody!’ Eventually I became the first person to paint graffiti on the movable walls, so that I could wrap all four sides of it,” Gregor said. In doing so the walls arranged in the gallery became like the buildings of a city as a surface for his multi-dimensional work.

“(Eckert) was really a catalyst in getting my exhibition approved,” Gregor said. “Having him behind (me), we definitely had some hurdles to jump through but it was great. I owe a lot to him, and he’s been a great friend and continues to be a mentor to this day.”

Not only was Gregor establishing his unique artistic voice in the classroom, but he also began developing ideas while at UofL for using his art as a business. He remembered the sensation when he first encountered public art – the sheer scale of it made him feel immersed in the piece, grabbing hold of his feelings stronger than most artwork in a studio or gallery. “When I found that feeling, I just became hungry and wanted more,” he said.

The challenge was to find clients and turn something commonly viewed as an impermanent fad into a priceable product to sell them. He wasn’t sure such a business plan was possible until discovering a Louisville group specializing in commercial murals. In addition to seeing their success, he began to meet several community business owners and artists who made his college-conceived dreams look like a vocational possibility.

With a clearer vision and that same hunger, Gregor graduated from UofL and got straight to work pursuing mural projects full time.

“I did not want to take a step back, because I knew if I did, I would lose that momentum and that hunger I found,” he said.

The most important ingredient in the pursuit was never giving up “even when it’s tough and you don’t know where your next paycheck’s coming from, it gets scary,” he said. “But I’ve never shied away from hungrily getting after it.”

Eventually, what started as a vision for a simple mural company became Straightedge Creative, a company specializing in public and commercial murals, logo consultation and artistic event curation. Their project reach has extended beyond Kentucky and Indiana into states across the country, collaborating with businesses including restaurants, history museums and aquatic centers. Gregor has even found his alma mater as a client on occasion, and has visions for future campus work.

In addition to his dedication, Gregor also learned through failing, coming to a better understanding of his capabilities and the importance of quality versus quantity.

“For the first two years, there were a lot of paintings I didn’t want to do. But I can honestly say through doing a multitude of projects, I can start to see the final rendering of a project in my head through one conversation, and it’s a much more collaborative process between the client and myself,” he said. “Every wall and every project’s different, and I can steer the client in what orientations and color palates will look good because I’m the professional here.”

Gregor’s life exhibits his persistence in ways far beyond his business. His original undergraduate journey was disrupted by a battle with addiction. He was beginning anew when he enrolled at UofL, and – harnessing the redemptive power of art – is now celebrating over seven years sober. Long after completing an intensive at The Healing Place, a nationally recognized recovery program in Louisville, Gregor returned to cover the facility’s walls with his very own large-scale murals that read, “Where hope is found & change happens.”

UofL provided Gregor not only with a new start, but the advocacy and equipping necessary to pursue his unconventional dreams and stay true to himself. Gregor sees graffiti as a name or alternate identity of oneself that can be put out there for the world to see – a stamp that says, “I am here.” Now able to do what he loves to do, every evidence of his handiwork also carries in it the powerful message of never giving up.