An Interview With Myles Cavanaugh

A conversation on murals, movement, and making art that breathes…

Tell us how you got started?

It’s funny — a neighbor recently told me that when I was about 10 years old, I told her I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I had totally forgotten that, but apparently, it was in me from early on. I was always drawing as a kid — I didn’t even realize it was “art.” I’d just sketch little characters or faces on whatever was in front of me. It was a way of processing things. Over time, it became more serious, but in the beginning, it was just something I always did.

What inspired you to open your studio in Stockton?

The river — I really can’t live without it. There’s something about being near it that keeps me grounded. It’s always changing, and I check in with it every day. That draw to the river definitely pulled me here, and once I landed in Stockton, it just felt right.

What inspired you early on to become an artist?

I think it really clicked when I was a teenager working at the Swan Hotel in Lambertville. There was this painting by Anthony Michael Autorino — a night scene of New Hope with the river and reflections of light — and it just stopped me. It was magical. That moment made me realize what art could do, how it could hold emotion and place all at once. And then I saw that the painting had been resold for more than it was originally bought — it blew my mind. Not just that it was beautiful, but that it was valued, and even collectible. That stuck with me.

Where did you study to learn your craft?

I was a pretty shy teenager — spent a lot of time with a sketchbook, drawing knights and medieval scenes. Eventually, I studied fine art at Pratt in Brooklyn, which gave me a strong foundation. But it was travel that really shaped me. I went to Spain when I was young, and something just clicked — I started painting every day. In my twenties, I took extended trips across Europe, painting for months at a time, then coming back to the States to do a show. That rhythm — paint, travel, show — became the way I grew.

When did you realize you could make art a business?

It was about 30 years ago — my first real show in Lambertville. I sold all 20 pieces. Every single one. That was it — I was hooked. It felt incredible to know people connected with the work enough to take it home. That was the beginning of the addiction, for sure.

You mentioned you want to focus on murals. Tell me why painting murals inspires you?

I love that murals live out in the world — people pass by, engage with them, and make them part of their everyday life. There’s something powerful about that public connection. I also really enjoy the collaboration — working with someone to dream up a theme, then figuring out how to make it original while still staying true to their vision. It’s like a creative puzzle, and I love the challenge. A mural transforms a space. It can shift the energy of a room, a building, a street. People interact with it differently than they do with gallery art — it’s public, accessible, and alive in the environment. It invites people to pause or feel something in a space they might otherwise walk past. That connection — between the art, the place, and the people — that’s the real benefit.

Tell us about your first mural.

My very first mural was in a French restaurant in Lambertville — years ago. The space recently changed hands, and during renovations, one of the contractors actually cut out the section with my signature and gave it back to me as a keepsake. It was wild. Full circle. Like a little piece of my early artist self made its way home.

Final Thoughts

Everything’s going digital — fast, filtered, scrolled through. There’s so much less connection to things that are made by hand. That’s why painting still feels important to me. It slows things down. It’s tactile, it’s imperfect, and it’s real. Success, for me, is being able to keep making that kind of work — to stay excited about it, and to have it resonate with people in a meaningful way.