would cover the entire
50-foot wide by 30-foot
tall wall.
The State Theater
said yes, the Alvarez
Foundation donated the
funds, and the artists
donated their time and
talent. The result, “State
Lines”, was a huge success
and the community
unveiling party with live
music and food trucks.
Street art had made the
creative art form. “It was
our intention to set the
bar for future murals in
the area and to create a
project that focused on
artist expression,” says
Parks.
As other street artists
began adding color
to downtown buildings,
interest in the murals
grew. In 2015, the St.
Petersburg Arts Alliance,
as the sponsoring organization,
along with a
Student artists with the Gibbs High School Mural Club work on a mural in Clearwater with their teacher Brian
McAllister.
core group of artists and
volunteers, including Tes One, Michelle
Tannu, Casey Paquet and Parks,
stepped in to organize a more formal
effort that would draw attention to St.
Pete’s “vibrant, creative and inspiring
murals in public spaces.”
took a leap of faith for businesses to
say yes not knowing in advance what
the wall would look like,” says Parks.
He credits attorneys Goldman Wetzel,
Furnish Me Vintage, Kevin Brady Studio
and The Sage Building for being the
pioneers. It also took a “miracle” for
artists from Rome, Montreal, Miami and
Los Angeles to say yes to coming here
when St. Pete was not yet well known
for its mural art, says Parks.
Today, SHINE draws internationally
attention, with artists and businesses
welcoming the opportunity to be part
of the festival. The city’s mural collection
now numbers over 500, with
more painted every year. “The murals
are really beautiful and make St. Pete
a special place,” says Parks. “Over the
years, we really made an effort to go
out and personally invite top quality artists
and place them with the right businesses
and in the right area of town. It
was a very purposeful, curated effort.”
This year’s festival will have sev-
anniversary. One of the most exciting
projects is a new partnership with the
Foundation, to create two murals
focused on ocean conservation. Both
will be funded by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration—
another major coup for St. Petersburg
funded a mural project of this type,
says Priebe. One of the murals will
be painted by Portland artist Blaine
Fontana on the wall of BAMA Sea
Products, a seafood processing facility
in the Warehouse Arts District. The
other will be created by the Vitale Bros
at Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters
Training Center.
There are also four community mural
projects; two of them involving the
city’s youth. Local artists Chad Mize
and Jay Hoff are working with youth
from the LGBTQ Welcome Center to
create a mural titled, “Come Out.”
Brian McAllister, an arts educator at
the Pinellas County Center for the Arts
at Gibbs High School, is spearheading
a team from the school’s mural club to
work with students from the Boys &
Girls Clubs of the Suncoast. Together,
they’ll paint a mural at the landmark
Royal Theater in the heart of an historic
African-American neighborhood. “It’s a
great project and a chance to honor the
history of the building and the community,”
says McAllister. “It’s also a great
learning experience for students to get
out of the classroom and work on a
large-scale artistic project.”
“SHINE brings the best mural artists
in the world here and gives them a
space to make their magic,” says Breen.
one of the biggest creative engagements
in the whole Southeast.”
“IT’S ALSO A GREAT LEARNING
EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS TO GET OUT
OF THE CLASSROOM AND WORK ON A
LARGE-SCALE ARTISTIC PROJECT.”
— BRIAN MCALLISTER, ARTS EDUCATOR AT THE PINELLAS
COUNTY CENTER FOR THE ARTS AT GIBBS HIGH SCHOOL
STPETE.COM 9
/STPETE.COM