My family and I stopped by the Greetings from Tampa postcard mural and it instantly felt like one…read moreof those must see spots in the city. The colors are bold and vibrant, and each letter tells its own little story about Tampa which makes it fun to stand there and take it all in. You can tell a lot of thought went into the details, and it really captures the personality of the area. It is also a perfect photo spot. Whether you are just passing through or exploring the city, it is one of those places that makes you glad you stopped. Super easy to find and definitely worth a visit if you are in Tampa. Good spot for sure

Ahh! It's just a cute little mural that is a neat attraction!! I found it and wanted to stop and…read moresee it!! If you're thinking about going and seeing it, GO!! Totally worth it, and there's free public parking as well!! 10/10

Installed in 2022, this 21-foot flamingo stands in the center of the main terminal at Tampa…read moreInternational Airport. The sculpture is made of resin and fiberglass and is by artist Matthew Mazzotta. It was commissioned for $520,000 and is a welcome first impression of the Tampa Bay area. Complete with metal panels on the ceiling to look like water surface and dappled lighting on the floor, it looks like the bird is dipping its head below water to grab a fish. You'll be lucky to get a selfie with Home because it's quite popular! Definitely check it out as you pass through TPA. [Review 18968 overall - 1580 in Florida - 2492 of 2022.]

I am not a native Floridian so I don't know much about this mural. What I think I can gather is…read morethat this mural that takes up almost the entire side of the building is beautiful. It seems to entail much of the local flora and fauna of Florida as well as local fauna like the roosters/hens of Ybor city. It also has hints of Tampa history with regards to the Gasparilla festival and also touches on outdoor/active life hobbies of the area. It's really well kept and actually looks quite new but I'm not sure since I'm not from here. I love local art, street art, murals, sculpture, and almost everything else artistic. I'm thankful that someone took the time to paint this super large mural that apparently has a lot of meaning to the people of Tampa and Florida. This mural is about a block away from the City of Tampa Mural at 1102 N. Florida Ave, so if you like murals, just walk over and check the other one out. The All For Love mural appears to be by the husband/wife team studio of Michelle Sawyer and Tony Krol.

Along the Lemon Street Promenade you can find the 24th annual Florida Outdoor Sculpture…read moreCompetition. Out of 60 sculptures submitted for review, 11 were chosen for display by a committee of community members and Polk Museum of Art staff. The Lemon Street Sculpture project is a part of the Parks & Recreation budget. Each artist chosen receives a $1,500 honorarium which they use to get their pieces to Lakeland and for the installation costs. A crane is made available through Lakeland Electric for installing larger pieces. The app Otocast will give you mor information on the art as each artist describes their piece. All of the art pieces will be on display until the end of 2024. Lakeland residents are able to vote on a People's Choice Award and this year the winner selected was Live Large by local Lakeland resident Keith Williams. The sculpture is based on a smaller piece the artist made in 2017. Keith welds and fabricates his art pieces out of recycled metal. His art studio is called 4th Dimension Art & Fab which offers public art and custom fabrication and welding services for the public. As soon as I saw this delightful piece I had no trouble understanding why it won because it was my favorite sculpture too. The piece features a hiker with his faithful dog at his side. The dog has so much personality I couldn't help but fall in love with him. Live Large will be on display in Lemon Street Promenade until the end of this year. Hopefully Lakeland finds a permanent home for him nearby.

Imagine all the statues, livin' life in peace…read more John Lennon never made it here as far as I know but this statue of the man was sculpted in October 2014 by artist Jose Villa Soberon who also sculpted another John Lennon statue that is in Havana. It was acquired at auction by the owner of the Barrymore Hotel and installed here. Soberon called it "Lennon Walking to the Future" and it resembles Lennon walking on the back cover of the Abbey Road album. It is life-sized and easy to miss as it's in the greenery in front of the hotel's entrance. The hotel is valet parking so you'll want to look for a spot on the street nearby. [Review 332 of 2025 - 1987 in Florida - 23894 overall]

We were in tampa exploring the parks and public art and came across this mural. I am a big fan of…read morepublic art and landmarks so I had to add it to Yelp for others to see. When I got back home I looked up what the story was about this mural. According to the tampa website for public art. In their initial concept, artists Edgar Sanchez Cumbas and Guillermo Portieles wanted to represent the hard working individuals in West Tampa "who embraced a thriving a social and cultural community through its broad mix of nationalities and religions." From this concept and through much input from community leaders and historians, the mural "Kaleidoscope: a Heritage of Color" was created. " Cool piece of public art to check out

I found this cool piece of public art right before you enter the pier in St. Petersburg, Florida…read more This large free flowing net sculpture is very eye catching. The piece was made by internationally known, Tampa Bay native Janet Echelman. The title of the piece, Bending Arc is taken from Dr. Martin Luther King's words "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." Echelman decided to honor the civil rights movement because the site where the sculpture hangs was a location where local citizens protested segregation in the 1950's. The protests led to the 1957 US Supreme Court ruling that allowed people of all races to use the city beach and pool. According to the artist the new pier was designed to be welcoming to everyone. She has said "When I look at the piece moving in the wind you see these arcs move across as the wind blows through. It's a moment to contemplate the interconnectedness of the entire human race. And it's a reminder for us to be grateful for and celebrate the courage of the people who came before us. Who brought us to where we are and the job that we have to do bring ourselves forward again." The art installation was created to coincide with the open of the new 26 acre St. Petersburg Pier. Echelman has created several other net sculptures that are located all around the world. She took inspiration for this piece from historical postcards that had blue and white striped beach parasols and combined the colors with the geometric forms made by colonies of barnacles growing on the underside of the pier. When the wind blows it changes the shape of the soft sculpture. Bending arc is made of 1,662,528 light weight fiber knots and 180 miles of twine. It is made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), an engineered fiber which has been turned into a thread like textile. The strands are braided together and wrapped around sewing bobbins to form the mesh netting that is knotted by hand. The sculpture is 424 feet long and it is 72 feet at its tallest point. It covers 47,500 square feet and weighs a total of 5,330 pounds. The sculpture was paid for by private donors and its infrastructure was part of the new Pier District project. Echelman's contract for the piece with St. Petersburg was for $1.47 million dollars. During the day Bending Arc is blue and white. At night it is illuminated with LED lights so that it appears purple and magenta. You can see it across the water from the parks lining the bay. There are some chairs set up under the sculpture so you can sit and watch the wind blow the netting overhead. I love public art and this is just one of many interesting elements that have been added to the new pier.

Loved spotting this mural on Davis Island across from the 7-11. It screams tropical FL with a…read moredolphin swimming in the waves, two love flamingos and hibiscus flowers. It's definitely a great spot for a cute pic and it will make any day sunny and bright. The best part about this is right before it we did see a dolphin swimming around and the day was just so cloudy so this mural made it bright and happy!

Many neat murals all throughout the town. We really enjoyed exploring and seeing all the colorful…read moremurals

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA is home to one of the largest collections of Street Art I've seen anywhere…read morein the South. The sheer range of styles is sure to please a wide audience from mural fanatics to newbies! --- At my core is a wild & eccentric looking guy dressed in casual clothes (probably made of linen) and holding a DSLR camera in one hand and an artists paint brush in the other. I have been into the arts for as long as I can remember. I spent many a morning as a child sketching everything from the scenery outside my window to abstract thoughts that lodged into my mind. My ability to tap into my right brain continued to be developed through my high school years where I created some of my best pieces only to find them stolen after being submitted to a local art fare. I honestly don't think I ever recovered and for a long time I tried to recreate those pieces, but couldn't. As an adult, my focus shifted to architectural, landscaping  & interior design as well as photography. On ANY given day you will find me designing my dream home or working on photobook projects of my family or sketching landscaping plans for friends, family, and neighbors or hiking in beautiful scenic trails as I immerse myself in the beauty of God's artistry. My love for art is deep and infinite. You probably could not separate the molecules that make me a person from those that make an artist an artist. They are in every fiber of my being. So when I came across the mural project going on in downtown St. Pete around 2015, I nearly leaped out of my car (as I was driving) just to be among the colors and thoughts of those who created each of the individual pieces. The displays range in size from small street planters to the entire sides of buildings. In 2015, most of the murals were concentrated in alleys between Central Avenue and 1st Avenue North, from 4th Street all the way to 24th Street... but now they are literally all over the city. SHINE is a not-for-profit mural art project made up of local artists and members of the community and they have been hosting festivals for a number of years now. Each year new murals have been created and continue to enhance the city landscape for the enjoyment of local businesses, residents and tourists like me. There are paid walking tours available, but if you are crafty, you will find maps online that will self guide you on your own [free] walking tour. 2017 Mural video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVZjedi4wBg --- FINAL THOUGHTS I am completely in my element each time I wondrously drifted through the streets, alleyways and parking lots of St. Petersburg. Time seemed to be irrelevant as I was lost in each of the pieces and the creativity of the artists vision. I truly believe EVERY city should have a mural project that continuously expresses the beauty of thought. I'm so grateful my hometown of Atlanta has such a program. I am also grateful to have witnessed the beauty of this artistry alive all over St. Pete and happy to see it continues to expand and grow. If you have the capacity to truly appreciate the power of expression through art, you should make it a priority to experience these murals for yourself. But if travel is not possible, I've documented as many as I possibly could in the following pics. ENJOY! 2021 / 92