Tampa Bay's must-see murals, and the stories behind them

Head to Salcines Park for the other half of West Tampa’s history

1705 N. Howard Ave., Tampa
Illsol and Michelle Sawyer dove into West Tampa's history with members of the community and the West Tampa CRA to select another set of individuals important to West Tampa’s history. Their “Faces of West Tampa” mural, commissioned by the City of Tampa in 2018, features Clara Frye, the nurse who founded West Tampa’s Clara Frye Hospital; Hillsborough County’s first African-American judge, George Edgecomb; West Tampa Department store owners Emiliano Jose and Juanita Salcines; local historian E.J. Salcines; West Tampa athletes; businessmen; activists; sports heroes; and more.
Photo c/o City of Tampa

Southeastern Seating’s wall of murals contains work by local legends Cam Parker, Derek Donnelly, Aurailieus Artist, Capco, Zulu Painter, Sebastian Coolidge, and more

903 E 17th Ave., Tampa
One can never say how long a mural or a collection of murals will stay in place. But for as long as the murals at Southeastern Seating stand, they’ll tell a story of a generation of Tampa Bay muralists and graffiti artists working together to beautify some of Tampa Bay’s most neglected neighborhoods. A dozen muralists covered the walls of Southeastern seating during 2019’s Tampa Bay Fresh Fest, creating an outdoor gallery of paintings that includes Auraileus Artist’s Bob the Robot, a portrait of Lizzo by Cam Parker, Zulu Painter’s “Listen with your Heart,” and one of Derek Donnelly’s signature sea turtles.
Photo by Jennifer Ring

Cam Parker murals commemorate Tampa’s love of music

1703 N Tampa St., Tampa
Tampa muralist Cam Parker’s been painting music-inspired tribute murals for years. There’s the gay icons mural inside Southern Nights, the Lady Gaga mural in Tampa Heights, the Lizzo mural Parker completed at Southeastern Seating during the 2019 Tampa Bay Fresh Fest. And now, a huge mural inspired by Beyonce’s Renaissance album. Parker completed the mural in the six days preceding the Renaissance World Tour’s August 2023 stop at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
Photo via Cam Parker/Facebook

’Living Shades’ places the visual arts within Ybor City’s finest attributes and history

2112 N 15th St., Ybor City
Hillsborough Community College’s Ybor City campus has been a gathering spot for local artists for many years. It’s a facet of Ybor City’s story that now has a mural to back it up. Edgar Sanchez Cumbas and Jay Giroux’s “Living Shades,” painted on the Ybor City Campus Visual Arts Building in 2021, alludes to what makes Ybor City unique, from its history and vibrant nightlife to its art, architecture, food, and roosters.
Photo c/o hccarts/Flickr

NYC graffiti legend Queen Andrea shares her love of downtown

1415 N Ashley Dr., Tampa
Tampa muralist Tony Krol invited NYC graffiti legend Queen Andrea to Tampa for the inaugural Tampa Walls in 2022, and she did not disappoint. The self-described letter queen lent her lettering talents to a wall just off I-275 in between Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park and Water Works Park. What once said nothing now says, “We love downtown.”
Photo c/o Tony Krol

Cage Brewing is now a gigantic octopus, and we love it

2001 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg
Marcolina’s Fine Arts Gallery artists Blake Emory and Guillo Perez III covered Cage Brewing in a giant octopus in August 2023. Part mural-part sculpture, Emory and Perez III’s octopus tentacles extend beyond the brewery walls, reaching the sky.
Photo via Marcolina’s Fine Arts Gallery/Facebook

Matt Callahan’s Green Bench Brewing postcard mural is as iconic as St. Pete’s green benches

1133 Baum Ave. N, St. Petersburg
Within the beautiful block letters of Green Bench, Callahan somehow managed to paint the entire City of St. Pete: pelicans, gulf, banyan trees, downtown, and all. Drink it in with a cold glass of beer.
Photo via cityofstpete/Flickr

Matt Kress and Audrey Jennifer bring Ray Charles & Tom Brady together in Tampa

1000 N Florida Ave., Tampa
Don’t ask us why Ray Charles and Tom Brady share a wall off Florida Avenue in downtown Tampa, but you’ve got to see it.

Kress and Jennifer completed the mural in 2021 in advance of Super Bowl LV. The game was historic for several reasons. One, it was the first time a team—our Buccaneers—got to play a Super Bowl game in its home stadium. Second, due to COVID, it was the least-attended Super Bowl in history, with attendance limited to 25,000 fans. Third, Tom Brady became the oldest quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl at age 43. And fourth, it marked the second Buccaneers Super Bowl victory in history.

The first time I saw the mural, I thought perhaps the artists added Tom Brady later, but Kress and Jennifer deliberately painted the two together. In a 2021 Interview with 10 Tampa Bay, Jennifer said, “Tom Brady is a new addition to our area, but he's somebody certainly to be celebrated and the whole Bucs team making history this weekend. Ray Charles being somebody who is a classic, I think everybody looks up to. I just think people will find unity in it with the sports and music. Those are things that bring everybody together.”

So you can ask us why Ray Charles and Tom Brady are on the same mural. Both lived in Tampa at different times, but to artists Kress and Jennifer, they’re symbols of how sports and music bring people together in Tampa. Go Bucs! Hey, hey!
Photo via Audrey Jennifer/Facebook

Teamwork makes the mural work

230 1st St. SE, St. Petersburg
One of the coolest things about Tampa-based artist Ya La’ford is how much she includes the community in her work. Take her Rowdies mural for example. The Rowdies’ color palette isn’t exactly the best. Sorry Rowdies fans, but bright yellow and neon green? Yuck. La’ford’s addition of black and silver to the mural was a much-needed improvement. But what we like most about this mural is that it includes the footprints of all the Rowdies players.
Photo c/o Ya La'ford

Black History Matters

2240 9th Ave. S, St. Petersburg
It’s shocking that we need a street mural to tell people that Black history matters in 2023, but judging from Ron DeSantis’ actions, we needed this mural. In the wake of DeSantis’ move to cancel AP African American history, 19 local artists (one for each letter of Black History Matters) took to the streets to affirm that, regardless of one governor’s actions, St. Pete knows that Black history matters. Even the darkest chapters of our lives deserve acknowledgment in our history and art.
Photo via cityofstpete/Flickr

Leo Gomez pays tribute to healthcare workers during the COVID pandemic

701 6th St. S, St. Petersburg
There was no real antidote to the fatigue healthcare workers felt during the COVID pandemic, but acknowledgments like Leo Gomez’s 2021 Shine (stylized “SHINE”) mural at Bayfront Health help. Gomez’s “From Our Hearts” is a colorful tribute to how art can bring joy and color into our lives during difficult times.
Photo via Shine Mural Festival/Facebook

Tampa Bay contemplates play at North Greenwood Rec Center

900 N Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Clearwater
From the moment this pandemic started, Tampa Bay couldn’t wait to get back out and play. Zulu Painter captured that spirit perfectly in his 2021 Valspar-sponsored mural at Clearwater’s North Greenwood Rec Center. Valspar created its Back to Bright initiative in 2020 to give back to Tampa Bay for continuing to host their tournament during the difficult pandemic years. Keeping that positivity in mind, Zulu’s design features a little girl dreaming of all the fun she’ll have once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Photo by Jennifer Ring

Sebastian Coolidge’s “Solid Gold” is a surrealist masterpiece

1100 block of Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg, across from Green Bench
Home to the Dali Museum, St. Pete is a surrealist town. As such, it’s played host to some of the best contemporary surrealists alive and working today. This short list includes muralist Sebastian Coolidge, whose work is both out of this world and solidly grounded in St. Pete. The way he plays with perspective on Tampa Bay’s buildings is a thing of beauty. Coolidge’s aesthetic doesn’t have a damn thing to do with Tampa Bay’s palm trees, pirate legends, sports teams, or beaches, and that’s one of the reasons we love it. In his 2014 storybook mural, “Solid Gold,” Coolidge creates another dimension under a kitchen table.
Photo via cityofstpete/Flickr

Gulfport Garage remembers a Gulfport legend

2731 Beach Blvd. Gulfport
Keith Stillwagon left a legacy of Florida-inspired murals throughout Gulfport and beyond when he passed in 2021. Stillwagon was known for his Florida-sunset-inspired color palette and the images of Florida flora and fauna he embedded within his murals. Gulfport photographer Larry Busby is trying to find and document all the murals Stillwagon created for Gulfport residents within their private homes. But for now, Stillwagon’s most accessible public mural remains at Gulfport Garage for all to see.
Photo c/o Keith Stillwagon

Steven Spathelf’s oranges dot Dunedin

If you’ve ever visited Dunedin, chances are you already know the Steven Spathelf legend. Spathelf is the artist who painted all those oranges on Dunedin businesses and private residences.
Photo by Jennifer Ring

What started as a middle-of-the-night secret art project in 2009 became a beloved City symbol. Now Spathelf gets paid to paint his famous oranges on private homes and businesses around Dunedin. Most are tiny clusters—just a few oranges in the corner of a building. But others have made their way into full-on murals, like the vintage citrus poster on the side of Rosie’s Tavern.
730 Broadway, Dunedin
Photo by Jennifer Ring

In Feb. 2023, Spathelf painted his 1000th orange alongside his postcard murals at Weaver Park. Commissioned by Dunedin residents Donna and Shannon Smith, Spathelf’s been gradually painting the history of Dunedin into a series of postcard murals along the historic Heron House wall that borders Weaver Park. There are now 15 leading up to the orange mural, which tells the story of Spathelf’s oranges and his “Dunedin Through the Years” postcard mural project.
1258 Bayshore Blvd., Dunedin
Photo by Jennifer Ring

Anna Hamilton welcomes you and your dog to Dunedin

371 Main St., Dunedin
Anna Hamilton’s “Welcome to Dogedin” mural on the side of Skip’s Bar & Grill is a monument to Dunedin’s best friends—the dogs and cats who kept Dunedin residents company through the years. When Hamilton first painted the mural in 2010, it was just a “regular mural” with three dogs and a sign encouraging folks to donate to get their pet’s image added to the mural. More than a decade later, the wall hosts over 1000 Dunedin dogs and cats.
Photo by Jennifer Ring

Tes One and Vitale Brothers capture Dunedin’s creative spirit in ‘Make Believe.’

730 Broadway, Dunedin
Dunedin is more than just oranges and dogs. Tes One and Vitale Bros' “Make Believe” captures Dunedin’s creative spirit in waves of paint at Stirling Commons, home to Stirling Art Studios & Gallery and other art venues.
Photo by Jennifer Ring

Zulu paints the town purple

1011 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg
St. Pete has a lot of murals on buildings and a lot of murals on streets. But as far as we know, Zulu Painter’s mural for Casa’s Family Justice Center (stylized “CASA”) is the only one in the city that spans two buildings and forms the crosswalk between them. The mural serves as both a beacon of hope and an invitation to those in our community experiencing domestic abuse. There’s a place where you can get help. It’s that bright purple building off First Avenue North in St. Pete.
Photo by Jennifer Ring