Free Expression Tunnel

Love it! Love that they’ve maintained it. I loved writing surprise happy birthday messages to my wife when we were students at NCSU. GO PACK!!!
–class of 2001

This is probably the best tunnel I’ve ever seen!
Cool that people can spray and paint like they want in there!

Do you like culture? What about going off the beaten path? Like street art? Well this is your place. It’s neat to see and makes you feel like a local knowing that this is here. It’s hard to find, however. If you’re by the book store and library in the plaza, you’re close. It’s just under Yarbrough Drive close to the Katharine Stinson intersection.

Definitely a must stop if you’re in Raleigh North Carolina and like to paint

We visited the Free Expression Tunnel after my daughter’s learned about it on a campus tour. It is really something to see. While there’s a good mix of trash talk, there’s also some lovely sentiments and fine graffiti art. Since it is always changing, I think it’s worth visiting often. While there I kept thinking that maybe the next Banksy will appear here.
Tips:
The entrance to the Free Expression Tunnel is located at 2620 Yarbrough Dr., Raleigh (for GPS).
On the weekend there seems to be plenty of public parking at the entrance
There were two random cans of spray paint when we went. The tunnel is inspiring, so we’ll definitely bring spray paint next time, and leave it behind for others.

My husband took me here today as he is an alumni of NCSU :) Pretty neat place.

Thanks for the great reviews. My company re-​built this back in 2008 and I’m glad to know its being well received.

Pretty neat thing to have on campus. Wish they had readily available paint, though.

Like so many NCSU alumni, and especially those of us who lived in the Tri-​Towers but had most of our classes off the Brickyard, the Free Expression Tunnel was a highlight of my time at NCSU.
The invigorating smell of fresh paint was my Poor College Student version of that first big whiff of a fresh, hot cup of coffee every morning. Nothing like walking into your 8am Zoology lab with a bit of a huff-​high!
My middle school and high school had big boulders out front for painting birthday wishes and athletic gloating for everyone to see. NCSU has an entire tunnel, what’s not awesome about that?
Now I know the FET has had a bit of negative publicity in recent years but, as is the case with any forum of free speech, you will get your trolls, your bigots, and your «crassholes» coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of the near-​complete anonymity. The Tunnel shouldn’t be judged on these bad apples!
Far more often, the Tunnel was a harbinger of news that could brighten your day, even if you weren’t acquainted with the intended recipient (s) of the spray-​painted messages. Whether it was a Mr. Wuff cartoon, a birthday shout-​out to Joe Shmoe, announcements of the latest frat shindig or «good luck» to a sorority’s newest pledges, or a romantic-​yet-​public proposal (i.e. «Katie my ‘brown eyed girl’” — a personal favorite), the Tunnel was a way to feel tied into and connected with your fellow students, and almost always brought a smile to my face.
Many happy memories. Long live the Free Expression Tunnel!

Have a drink at home, grab your can and shake it.
I lurk all the time because the walls always change.
Smells like paint, looks like how I wish most of downtown looked.

There are few places on State’s campus that bring back the nostalgia quite like the Free Expression Tunnel. Suddenly, long nights where we would clumsily (well, I was clumsy with it… some of us were actually talented) paint pictures or spray paint hilarity next to existing works fill my senses as quickly as the smell of the old paint.
It’s where ambitious artists know they’re stuff will be seen (it’s directly between most of the on-​campus residents and their classes), if only until someone paints over it with the announcement that their sorority is having a whatsit over at the doohickey. It’s where students try to lift you with a laugh, only to find that most of the time it was the paint fumes that made the idea seem funny to begin with.
But it’s also the place where, because anything goes, sometimes things can be spray painted on there that bring the secret service down on you and a lot of unwanted attention to a campus. If nothing else, the «racist graffiti debacle» has shown the power of this part of campus.

Perhaps one of the best known (or at least the most photographed) places in Raleigh, these small tunnels on NCSU’s campus offer a haven for Graffiti artists, taggers, and vandals who don’t feel like breaking the laws.
Basically, this is one long tunnel that’s covered completely in Graffiti, and is repainted over occasionally to allow new artists to tag it up.
If you’re an aspiring Graff artist in Raleigh, this is the place to come hone your skills without worrying about getting a vandalism citation. Even for those who aren’t artists, however, it offers a level of amusement (if you’re interested in graffiti) and rewards return visits due to the amount of new stuff added constantly.
While some of the stuff you see is run of the mill trash talk, there’s usually at least one or two interesting pieces at any given time by some very talented artists. The last decade or so has seen some people rise from vandalism or tagging into the world of high art (Banksy is the one springing into my mind at the moment, although I’m sure there are others), so who knows? Maybe you can see the next high culture artist’s work before they make it big.