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Meet the artists who paint book murals on LA’s North Figueroa Bookshop

July 25, 2025

If you’ve been inside, or even just driven by, North Figueroa Bookshop in Highland Park, the home of LA publishers Unnamed Press and Rare Bird, you’ll notice the signage.

The building has cool, hand-painted murals of book covers on its façade. Last weekend, I was in the neighborhood and decided to swing by the store, and I saw the sign painters were hard at work in the afternoon heat painting a mural of Tessa Hulls’ Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic memoir, “Feeding Ghosts.”

Outside the North Figueroa Bookshop on July 19, 2025, sign painters (L-R) Jazmin Navarro and Natalie Cruz work on a mural depicting the cover of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel "Feeding Ghosts" by Tessa Hulls. (Photo by Erik Pedersen) — Outside the North Figueroa Bookshop on July 19, 2025, sign painters (L-R) Jazmin Navarro and Natalie Cruz work on a mural depicting the cover of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Feeding Ghosts” by Tessa Hulls. (Photo by Erik Pedersen)

The painters, Natalie Cruz and Jazmin Navarro, paused their work to tell me about what they do.

“It first started when this book shop opened. I did the signage for them,” says Cruz, who like Navarro is a graduate of Los Angeles Trade Technical-College (and in another funny coincidence, they both know my nephew, a painter who also attended the school).

And soon enough, Cruz says the store asked if she’d do more. “They wanted to paint a book cover on this wall right here. I hadn’t really done murals a lot before, but I was like, ‘Sure, yeah.’ I was confident my ability,” she says.

“I had never painted a mural before, either,” says Navarro.

That first one, a mural of Val McDermid’s period thriller “1989,” features a colorful cassette tape, and both say it was a special one. (I like it, too; I took a picture of it back in 2023 when I first saw the mural.)

“My favorite one was probably the first one,” says Navarro of this initial effort.

“Yeah, because we were kind of doubting ourselves for like a second right there,” agrees Cruz, who also liked a Sly Stone portrait she painted for the building.

Murals for Val McDermid's "1989" and Ivy Pochoda's "Sing Her Down" at the North Figueroa Bookshop on March 18, 2023. (Photo by Erik Pedersen) — Murals for Val McDermid’s “1989” and Ivy Pochoda’s “Sing Her Down” at the North Figueroa Bookshop on March 18, 2023. (Photo by Erik Pedersen)

Tyson Cornell, co-owner of North Figueroa Bookshop, spearheaded the mural project.

“We wanted the shop to feel timeless, human, and deeply rooted in the neighborhood, and hand-painted signage felt like the perfect expression of that. There’s a warmth and intentionality in hand-illustrated work that just can’t be replicated by vinyl, digital, or other signage. It reflects our belief that books—and bookstores—should be made with care,” said Cornell in an email.

”Natalie and Jazmin are extraordinary. They bring a sense of craft, joy, and individuality to everything they do with the art here at North Figueroa Bookshop,” said Cornell. “We feel very lucky to collaborate with artists who treat every detail as an opportunity for expression.”

Not only do the artists enjoy the work, but they say they’ve become part of the community.

“We come here every couple of months to change these, and we see the same people,” says Cruz. “We’ve become friends with the people who pass by because they see us all the time.”

Plus, the painters say watching the murals go up is part of the enjoyment of this handmade work of art and skill.

“It really sparks something,” says Navarro. “It’s very inspiring for people to see it in their community.”

“It’s also very engaging, too. People, when they’re walking by, are always asking questions. It draws people in,” says Cruz. “People are curious; they want to see the process.”

And there’s another reason they both feel so welcome in the neighborhood.

“We’ve never been tagged over,” says Cruz. “People recognize quality.”

For more information about the store, check out North Figueroa Bookshop. And for more on the sign painters, check out examples of the work of Natalie Cruz at natpainted.com and Jazmin Navarro at drippysigns.com.

Meet the artists who paint book murals on LA’s North Figueroa Bookshop Orange County Register

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Meet the artists who paint book murals on LA’s North Figueroa Bookshop

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