- Nicole Abbett
- Artist Carl Cowden III, right and his son, Carl Cowden IV, left.
If you’ve ever driven down Florida Avenue then you are familiar with the Florida Ave Mural, or what many refer to as the brightly colored painting with local scenes painted across the name of the city. Located at 1102 N. Florida Ave. (facing Royal Street) the postcard-themed artwork can’t be missed as you’re heading north out of the brick-paved roads of downtown towards the more urban streets of Seminole Heights.
One evening a few months ago, I came to a complete halt on my bicycle when I discovered that the iconic mural was gone. I was thinking "what have they done?!" All remained was a blank, concrete colored rectangle. I immediately posted a photo of the giant blank rectangle on facebook in attempt to find out what happened. Thanks to the powers of the internet, I found out within minutes that it was being restored. Whew!
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2012.