Tampa Bay’s murals find new ways to break ground

Leon Bedore once said that murals are reflective of a city that takes pride in its community. “Like all art, it is proof of life. I think the level of art and impact of murals in St. Pete are beginning to align—so there is a deeper appreciation for the work, and it can now co-exist with the community rather than fall into stereotypes of either graffiti or advertising,” Bedore, aka Tes One, wrote.

So how old is Tampa Bay’s mural scene?

Tampa-based muralist Tony Krol traces it back to a mural Bask (stylized “BASK”) and Tes One painted on the old Tampa Museum of Art building before the museum moved to its new location in early 2010.

“Those were the first large-scale murals I saw, and it blew my mind,” Krol told CL. “I thought, ‘Wow, that looks rad. I want to do that.’”

Bask and Bedore painted “Goodnight,” on the front of the old Tampa Museum in January 2008. Although the mural no longer stands, the duo’s “Goodnight” painting is now part of Robert Downey Junior’s private collection.

“Tes One and Bask are probably my favorite muralists in the area because they started everything,” said Krol. “They started the whole culture.”

Pinellas Park-based muralist Derek Donnelly remembers joining Tampa Bay’s mural scene in its beginnings, around 2012. “At the time, there were maybe only a half dozen murals in the whole city [of St. Pete],” Donnelly told CL.

Tes One, Bask, and Palehorse were the only muralists in town. Chad Mize completed his first mural in St. Pete, “Starry Eyed,” in 2014. Then Bedore established the Shine mural festival in 2015 (stylized “SHINE”), bringing 17 new murals to the St. Pete within a two-week festival environment. Now the Sunshine City has over 100 murals.

Thanks to the efforts of Creative Pinellas and Tampa artists, murals are spreading throughout Tampa Bay—and each one has it’s own story.

Every October, Shine brings artists from all over the world to St. Pete to paint our walls. But make no bones about it, some of the best muralists in the world live right here in the Bay area—and we’re lucky to have them.

“There’s been this global renaissance of murals in the past 15-20 years,” says Donnelly. “I was lucky enough to be in St. Pete at the right time, around the right folks, and I just kind of wanted to try it. I really wanted to get something downtown, out in the public.”

Donnelly’s first big mural was Woomorial, still on Central Avenue.
  The Woomorial connected Donnelly with a growing community of Tampa Bay muralists that included Sebastian Coolidge, Zulu Painter, Vitale Brothers, and Christian Thomas.

“We all were for here each other,” says Donnelly. “Just elevating each other as best we could. It still goes on. Everyone’s cheering each other on. There’s an element of friendly competitiveness as well. We’re always trying to impress each other and outdo each other in the friendliest way…I think that made us all better.”

More than a decade later, Tampa Bay’s mural scene continues to grow and improve. Shine is in its ninth year and still going strong. Technology like augmented reality is improving how we experience murals in our community. Tampa Walls is gearing up for its largest mural festival yet. Donnelly’s creating a mural garden outside of his Pinellas Park studio, which he now owns. And new initiatives in Tampa and St. Pete bring graffiti training and practice walls to aspiring artists so Tampa Bay’s mural scene will continue to thrive for years to come.

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This article appears in Aug 24-30, 2023.