SHINE® St. Petersburg Mural Festival

Returns for its Ninth Year in 2023

The ninth annual SHINE® St. Petersburg Mural Festival comes to life October 13–22! Produced by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, this year’s festival is presented by REFLECTION St. Pete and will feature 14 local, national, and international artists who will add new murals to the more than one hundred existing SHINE murals in the St. Petersburg art districts and surrounding neighborhoods. As in past years, highly respected artists from around the globe were commissioned to participate in the curated event, where they are invited to turn public spaces and blank walls into artful creative expressions.

The 2023 festival kicks off on Friday, October 13 from 5–10 p.m. with “All City!”, a celebration of the origins of graffiti and street art featuring live painting, hip hop, and food and drink options. The Second Saturday ArtWalk, featuring SHINE-themed exhibitions at participating galleries, happens October 14 from 5–9 p.m. Also on Saturday, from 12:30–1:30 p.m., is the Art of Lettering workshop for kids. Not to be missed is the Spraycation Release & Arts Leader Happy Hour at Bayboro Brewing on Thursday, October 19, 5:30–7:00 p.m. For those who enjoy punk, metal, horror, and sci-fi subcultures, the Dark Space exhibition, on Saturday, October 21, is the place to be from 7–11 p.m. Full event details are available on the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance website and on Instagram and Facebook (@shineonstpete).

The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the arts and to supporting area artists, arts organizations, and creative businesses. The ninth annual SHINE festival is produced by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance with support from the City of St. Petersburg; it is sponsored in part by the State of Florida Division of Arts and Culture, the National Endowment for the Arts, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, PODS Moving & Storage, Great Bay Distributors, REFLECTION St. Pete, and additional sponsors listed on the website.

ARTISTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NINTH ANNUAL SHINE® ST. PETE MURAL FESTIVAL

This year’s group of mural artists is comprised of four international, four national, and six local artists who have been commissioned to add new murals to the St. Petersburg area’s art districts. They include:

INTERNATIONAL – Andrea Wan (Canada), Dave Bonzai (London), Bryan Beyung (Canada), Loretta Lizzio (Australia); NATIONAL – Bunnie Reiss (California), Hannah Eddy (Nevada), Hoxxoh (Miami), Max Sansing (Chicago); LOCAL – Artist Jones (Tampa), Chris Dyer (St. Petersburg), Fabstraq (Tampa), Michael Vasquez (St. Petersburg), Rhys Meatyard (St. Petersburg), Sarah Sheppard (St. Petersburg).

The Bright Spot projects, a series of community murals that will also be added to the art district as part of the festival, include: “Girl Power,” hosted by Alyssa Marie of The Happy Mural Project and completed by Girl Scouts of West Central Florida; and “From Far East to West: The Chinese American Frontier,” an extension of a special exhibition at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, created by Chenlin Cai in partnership with the museum.

For more information about this year’s SHINE Mural Festival artists, as well as a map of the mural locations, visit the website for St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Also be sure to follow the SHINE Mural Festival at @ShineOnStPete on Instagram and Facebook for up-to-date news and announcements about the event.

In addition, a free interactive PixelStix app is available for download, which offers a map of the murals and their locations and an accessible audio tour for those visiting the city on foot or by bike or other transportation. This interactive technology enables anyone with a smartphone or device to get a closer look at the mural art and listen to the stories behind the artists and their work. Click here to learn more and download the app.

Photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Art Alliance for editorial purposes only–all right reserved. Check out previous years’ SHINE festival here. Also check this out here.

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