When I first covered Eric “Esh” Hornsby and Mark Stevens’ Tampa Bay Fresh Fest in 2019, Hornsby and I talked about the often underappreciated and misunderstood graffiti that came out of New York City’s Black and Latinx neighborhoods in the 1960s.
Tampa Bay Fresh Fest brought an artful combination of graffiti and street art to Tampa that year, and it continues to do so. I was happy to see a diverse group of artists painting Tampa’s walls that February including Zulu Painter and Cam Parker.
Fresh Fest returns to Tampa Bay this March, albeit on a smaller scale due to COVID-19. As I wrote this, Esh was planning a tribute mural to American singer and activist Eartha Kitt in Tampa’s Channelside neighborhood.
March 2021. tampabayfreshfest.com
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This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2021.