10 Years of Shine Mural Festival

By Marcia Biggs

Streets and alleyways across downtown will explode with color and excitement October 11-20 when the 10th annual Shine Mural Festival, presented by Reflection St. Pete, comes to town. The opening event will take place on Friday, October 11, from 5-8pm in front of the Morean Arts Center on Central Avenue, where a group exhibit featuring over 100 SHINE artists dating back to 2015 will launch the week’s festivities. The show promises to be a festival retrospective, an impressive collection of work from the artists who have transformed the streets of St. Petersburg into a globally recognized destination for mural art.

Visitors are invited to watch live as 14 new murals come to life from a curated group of local, national, and international muralists, plus a series of street art related events, tours and community Bright Sport projects. Featured artists this year include:

Finton Magee, Australia

NeSpoon, Poland

Abys, France

Emmanuel Jarus, Canada

Stevie Shao, Seattle

George F. Baker III, Atlanta

Tes One & Vitale Bros, Tampa Bay

Cristi López, St. Petersburg

Frankie Gonzalez, Tampa Quinn Cale, Tampa

Bright Spot Artists:

Ya La’Ford presents the Brightest Star, Community SHINES

Zulu Painter in partnership with AMI Kids

Naomi Haverland in partnership with Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center on the Pier

Dwayne Sheppard & Brian McAllister in partnership with Florida Art Education Association (FAEA)

Create your own self-guided route, participate in one of the daily trolley tours offered through Star Trolley or experience the art up close with a walking or biking tour with Florida CraftArt.

Closing the festival on Saturday, October 19, from 7-9pm will be an epic street art party at FloridaRAMA (formerly Fairgrounds at the Factory St. Pete) featuring a solo show and book release by 2023 artist Chris Dyer, custom installations from 2021 artists Ricky Watts and Nicole Salgar, DJ and special performance by Woes Martin and puppeteers of The Mighty Giants, Giano Currie’s interactive photography experience After Hours Photoshoot and more. A limited number of VIP tickets will be available for purchase.

Festival director Jenee Priebe is particularly excited about the opening reception at Morean Arts Center which will be an homage to the festival featuring more than 100 Shine artists showing both old and new works. She is also happy to see local artist Tess One on this year’s roster. “He is one of the original Shine founders and the only one who has never provided a mural,” she said.

Bright Spots, which are special destination works, include renowned multimedia artist and area resident Ya La’Ford and Zulu Painter, who will work with AMI Kids to create a major mural. This will also be a special year as 600 to 800 educators come to St. Petersburg for the annual conference of the Florida Art Educators Association.

Produced by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, SHINE has created nearly 170 murals throughout downtown and the surrounding arts districts since 2015.

Volunteers who can commit to working the entire festival are encouraged to inquire. “We have lots of work that needs to be done supplying the artists every day with food and water and lunch,” Priebe noted, “and we need bike safety riders to assist us with the the bicycle tours.”

For full event details visit www.shinemuralfest.com, follow Instragram or Facebook at @shineonstpete & @stpeteartsalliance #shineonstpete

Additional support for SHINE 10 is provided by City of St. Petersburg and other generous sponsors. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.

Mural Trolley Tours

Star Trolley has a full schedule of Shine Mural Tours lined up daily October 11-20. Tour times are 4pm Monday through Thursday, and four tours starting at 10 on weekends. Make reservations at www.Star-Trolley.com/ tours ; cost is $45/person.

Star Trolley founder Richard Novikas has announced the opening of a new home office at 2215 6th Avenue S. in the Shops at the ArtsXchange in the Warehouse Arts District. This will be the starting point for all tours, with a gift shop, ticket office and ample space for free parking.

Walking and Bike Tours

Florida CraftArt is once again sponsoring SHINE Mural Walking and Bike Tours. For more information, check out floridacraftart.org