(Photo by Franki Weddington, CL Staff Intern)

Hani Shihada’s art might not be on display in the Tampa Museum of Art (which would be difficult, given that it is in the process of being torn down and rebuilt), but his work in the One City Center brick plaza a few blocks from the museum is garnering attention anyway.

Shihada is a chalk artist who creates murals on city sidewalks.

“I do mostly Michelangelo because people are familiar with it," Shihada said Friday afternoon, on day two of his outdoor art exhibit-in-progress. "It gets a reaction, which brings attention to my own work.”

(Photo by Jason Kushner, CL Staff Intern)

Shihada, who usually works in New York City, is visiting as part of the Tampa public arts program. Shihada has been creating his sidewalk masterpieces for nearly 30 years and says that it usually takes about three days, or 40 hours, of work, to complete his pieces. He will be working on his current drawing in the afternoons and evenings in the Poe Plaza Amphitheatre along Franklin Street just south of Jackson Street until Monday.

After so much work and so many hours, it seems natural that an artist would be attached to his work—which can be a problem for someone whose art can be washed away even by a light rain. Shihada says it doesn’t bother him.

“I’m not sad to see it go," he said. "I create art to interact with the public, and my work does that. It has accomplished its goal, so I’m never upset when it washes away.”

(Photo by Franki Weddington, CL Staff Intern)

This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 4, 2008.