St. Pete mural Credit: Cathy Salustri

I'm not sure when St. Pete went mural-crazy, but it has. I challenge you to find an empty wall in DTSP and, if you can, tell me if it's empty by Sept. 10. That's when this year's SHINE festival ends. Starting Sept. 1, artists paint the town. Want to see art in progress? Head to one of the best things about this year's SHINE, the mural on the intersection of Central and 5th Ave., and we do mean on — Cecelia Lueza, a local artist who's done this sort of thing in Fort Lauderdale, and a team of volunteers will paint a mural on the intersection with traffic paint. Fort Lauderdale loves it — says it calms traffic and makes the intersection safer. I say it makes it more vibrant. Either way, the 'Burg wins. A block party with music, Carmada and pop-up art surrounds the painting party.


SHINE Mural Festival Block Party

Central Ave. and 5th St.

Sept. 1, 6-11 p.m. shineonstpete.com.

This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2016.

Cathy's portfolio includes pieces for Visit Florida, USA Today and regional and local press. In 2016, UPF published Backroads of Paradise, her travel narrative about retracing the WPA-era Florida driving...