Muralist Steph Rager On Transforming Streetscapes One Storefront At A Time

Steph Rager is a talented Los Angeles-based muralist, illustrator, and sign artist. While her artistry shines in a wide range of mediums, Rager’s colorful, geometric, large-scale mural pieces are gaining a great deal of notoriety around southern California. Rager frequently works with brands to enliven their storefronts or the exterior walls of their offices with her signature mural work. In fact, her murals can be seen around Los Angeles in popular hot spots like ice cream purveyor Coolhaus’ Culver City location and Atwater Village-based creative studio and event space, LightLab.

LightLab Mural

Steph Rager (aka A Dapper Line)

“I'm drawn to mural work because it's a chance for me to work alongside other business owners and
creatives. The buildings I paint are projects they've put their heart and soul into,” says Rager.

These murals are an opportunity for Rager to use her unbridled creativity in a way that also represents the brands themselves. Rager works in colors similar to those used on her clients’ social media and website branding. For those paint colors, Rager trusts Dunn-Edwards EVERSHIELD ® exterior or SUPREMA ® interior in all of her projects. “They offer the best coverage, the colors are freaking glorious, and I know they won't start fading after a year in the LA sun.”

Coolhaus mural

Working as a professional muralist allows Rager to engage with her audience in a very direct way. Creating murals is an extremely public form of work, and for Rager, community engagement is one of the most rewarding parts of her job. With passers by she gets to share about what it's like to be a female business owner in a mostly male dominated profession. And they often share candidly about their day, their love for their neighborhood, how they've watched it changed and their hopes for its future. “Every time I work on a project, I get to know that neighborhood and its community in a whole new way,” she notes.

Up next for Steph Rager she’ll be starting her annual rework of LightLab’s mural, followed by a project in
Los Angeles’ historic Highland Park neighborhood. Given Rager’s fun, bold use of color, we’ll be eagerly
await her her upcoming work.

To learn more about Steph Rager visit www.adapperline.com

All photography by Skandia Shafer and courtesy of Steph Rager.