Inspired by the beautiful works of art on buildings in St. Petersburg and Tampa, Clearwater took a leap in 2018 to create its own mural program. Four murals went on city and private buildings that year and three more are about to get underway.
“We’ve seen a lot more attention since the murals went up,” said Christopher Hubbard, the city’s Cultural Affairs Coordinator. “People are taking a downtown art tour led by the Clearwater Arts Alliance. We’ve also created a virtual tour people can take at home on downtownclearwater.com. Look under Downtown Arts Tour.”
All murals are located within the Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency boundaries.
Local artists created three of the murals already on display, including Cecilia Lueza of St. Petersburg, who created the mural Elysian Days on Waterson Street. Another mural was created by artist team Illsol at Creative Contractors near the Pinellas Trail, with the third on a flag shop in downtown, created by the Gibbs High School Art Club with assistance from artist Brian McAllister.
“We wanted to have a diverse collection, essentially, and we do,” Hubbard said. “We’ve had muralists from all over the world want to participate.”
The newest installations will get underway in April and should be finished by the end of May, he said. Two will go in at 701 Franklin Street and one at the intersection of Garden Avenue and Cleveland Street.
For now, the city has no further plans for murals on city buildings, but is still open to applications for private murals, Hubbard said. A virtual map is available on the Downtown Clearwater website.
