The Muralists of Tomorrow

Gibbs High School art teacher Brian McAllister and mural club students Andy Bray and Thomas Hunter with their latest piece of public art.

The Legacy of Gibbs Mural Club Lives On in Color

By Abby Baker

For 10 days, Gibbs High School art students chipped away at the deep sea-depicting mural on the side of St. Petersburg Distillery. They aren’t old enough to enter, but they’re old enough to participate in public art.

Teacher and illustrator Brian McAllister runs the Gibbs High School Mural Club. McAllister previously taught children the art of mural painting overseas when he lived on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan.

In 13 years, the club has exploded into a mural-producing team of 36 students who are responsible for work on the side of the Morean Arts Center, Gulf Coast Arts Alliance and many more local spots.

“It’s not kids doodling on walls,” McAllister said. “This is significant, professional work.”

The Walls

The distillery’s cheekily named “Raising Local Spirits” mural faces the school and features a mask-wearing diver and a spiraling octopus.

McAllister estimates a mural this size would typically cost more than $20,000.

Though the latest mural’s price was not disclosed, the club typically receives donations for their wallscapes, and those donations pay for things like cranes and buckets of paint. McAllister donates his time.

“Everything we do, everything we receive, goes back into the club,” he said. “We have a big responsibility when it comes to public art projects like this.”

McAllister has seen hundreds of students cycle in and out of the club as seniors graduate and people grow up, but he is a constant.

The Kids

Gibbs senior Anderson (Andy) Bray is the club’s president and worked as part of the distillery mural’s “octopus team.” She’s wrapping up her high school career after four years and several permanent art fixtures in St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

“It feels bittersweet,” Bray said, sitting on a colossal wheel of a crane tire. “It’s kind of a once in lifetime thing to paint something this big, and be all over Tampa Bay.”

Towering over her, Thomas Hunter has to agree.

“I just hope I’m able to leave here as an upperclassman that inspires others and leaves my mark,” Hunter said. “Getting to challenge myself and watch things evolve … it’s a lot of fun.”

The stains of blue paint adorning the distillery’s lawn – a byproduct of the mural – will wash away, but the mural and the work by Gibbs students will live on in a city that loves its painted walls.

“Once you’re in the mural club, you’re always in the mural club,” McAllister said.

See more artwork at jbmstudios. com and check out their Insta @ gibbs_mural_club.