Tampa Walls hosts its first major mural festival this winter

Tampa’s had a few mural festivals over the years, but none took off quite like Shine in St. Petersburg. That’s something Tampa muralist Tony Krol hopes to change with Tampa Walls.

Tampa Walls is an outpost of Hawaii’s World Wide Walls, formerly Pow! Wow! Hawaii, which is exciting for several reasons. Jasper Wong created one of the first mural festivals in the world when he established World Wide Walls in 2010.

That initial mural festival “set the trajectory for all other mural festivals around the world,” Krol told CL. “[It] set the stage for a lot of innovation that happened in street art, and it [showed] the value of public art going up in our communities.”

World Wide Walls has since expanded to more than 60 cities around the world. The list includes New York, Tokyo, Taipei, Taiwan, and DC. Each city has its own festival director. When Krol reached out to Wong in 2017 to discuss a Tampa project, he brought Tampa into a global conversation about murals and mural festivals.

“With so many directors all over the world, there’s not a problem they haven’t encountered in terms of logistics and fundraising,” Krol told CL. “Being a part of this network is a huge privilege and also a very big responsibility. It’s amazing to have access to so much knowledge. The value and the advantage really lies in the resource sharing.”

Krol brought six new murals to Tampa with the inaugural Tampa Walls in 2022. They’d hoped to bring 12-20 murals to Tampa this way—similar to Shine St. Pete—but the funding wasn’t there. The cost of creating a mural, depending on the size of the wall, can range from $10,000 up to $60,0000, Krol tells us. This year, they’re aiming for about 30 walls.

“People don’t realize how much organization and money these things take,” Krol told CL. “We have to raise $200,000 before December to make this happen.”

The good news is that Krol’s assembled a great team of people to bring this mural festival to Tampa. Real Estate agent Justin Ricke provides leads on commercial buildings that could host a mural. And festival Co-Director Ania Amador of Art in Session is an experienced art director with more than a decade of festival experience.

Tampa Walls is still courting sponsors, but a few folks have already signed on.
Art in Session’s providing scholarships to artists participating in Tampa Walls for learning resources and artist retreats. Jason Sowell’s Current Initiatives is Tampa Walls’ fiscal 501c partner. So don’t be surprised if you see a laundromat or two get a new mural this year, as Laundry Project is a Current Initiatives project. The team hopes to host a “free laundry” event during the festival as well.

Symphonic Distribution is helping with the kickoff party and some additional music events. Thanks to their involvement, murals come with a Spotify playlist to help festival attendees get to know the artists who painted these murals and the type of music they enjoy. You can access these by scanning the plaques affixed to each wall.

As for the muralists, Krol’s inviting artists he’s worked with before. New York City graffiti legend Queen Andrea One, who completed the “We Love Downtown” mural at 1415 N Ashley Dr. during the inaugural Tampa Walls in 2022, returns for the 2023 festival. They’re inviting some Atlanta graffiti artists and several Tampa Bay locals.

“Local skateboarder and artist Dylan Perry confirmed he wants to do one, so we’re going to get him on a wall,” says Krol. “Indie Reece wants to paint a wall. We’re going to have Melvin Halsey, who goes by Langstn, do his first mural in Tampa. And also, up and coming artists like [Tampa Bay local] Quinn Cale…and that’s just a handful.”

Festival attendees also have several collaborative murals to look forward to.

“There’ll be a lot of production walls, which means that multiple artists will work on one wall,” Krol told CL. “They’ll each do a piece of the wall and codesign the wall. So that’ll be interesting to see how some of those walls come together. Sometimes they’re super interesting. It’s just amazing to see how many artists can work together at once and knock out a wall in four days. It’s a really cool experience.”

Then there are the special events and experiences. Since the festival is in December, Krol hopes to do something Christmas-related. And they’re currently in talks with USF to get augmented reality added to some of this year’s festival murals. Krol would also love to create a nighttime projector mapping experience for one or two murals, but equipment costs would significantly increase the budget. Eventually, he’d like to add a nighttime projector mapping festival to coincide with Tampa Walls.

What will it take for Tampa Walls to happen as Krol imagines it? The short answer is more sponsors. Local businesses who’d like a mural on their property can sponsor one for as low as $1,000. And if that’s not in the budget, there’s also the opportunity to sponsor one of the scannable plaques Krol’s team plans to affix to each mural.
“Small donations help as well,” says Krol.

We can’t tell you exactly how large or how awesome this year’s Tampa Walls will be, but we can tell you that it’s happening Dec. 13-23, and we’re looking forward to it. Let’s make it great, Tampa.

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This article appears in Aug 17-23, 2023.