For the 10th year running, St. Petersburg is about to get a little weirder, a lot more colorful, and hopefully, only mildly chaotic. The SHINE Mural Festival, a beloved local art spree put on by the non-profit St. Pete Arts Alliance, will now run from Nov. 8-17, thanks to a pair of hurricanes that gave Florida their annual thumping. Originally scheduled for mid-October, Hurricane Helene and her buddy Milton decided to rearrange everything – and the festival dates – just for fun.
Since 2015, SHINE has turned this beach town into a giant public art gallery, with almost 170 murals spread across downtown and its eccentric neighborhoods. It’s like a Jackson Pollock painting exploded over the city, but in a good way. Artists from every corner of the globe – plus a few suspiciously quirky locals – descend on St. Pete to paint the town, quite literally, in ways that would make the local zoning board sweat.
In just 10 short years, this town of retirees, rebels, and stray cats now boasts more than 600 murals, making it a Mecca for Instagrammers and curious tourists who wandered in looking for a Dali painting and stumbled upon a 40-foot flamingo instead. And this year? Fifteen more masterpieces are getting slapped up on the walls, along with a series of events to celebrate the art of spray paint and mischief.
The original plan was to end the whole shebang with a bash at FloridaRAMA – don’t worry, it’s not a cheap car dealership, just a warehouse-turned-artspace that smells vaguely of paint fumes and hipster ambition. Now, that party is the festival’s kickoff event, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9. Expect an ungodly mix of live music, performance art, and Chris Dyer’s book launch, because nothing says “party” like reading.
Of course, what would SHINE be without a little real estate promo shoved into the mix? This year’s mural magnum opus will be a four-story piece on the side of Reflection, a shiny new condo tower that just popped up at 777 Thirrd Ave. N. Sponsored by HP Capital Group, because why not? Developers love a good mural – especially when it distracts from the fact that they’re building yet another glass fortress in a city that’s barely above sea level.
So, grab your sunscreen, your sarcasm, and maybe a raincoat. It’s SHINE time, and in St. Pete, even the walls have stories to tell.
SHINE mural fest: kick-off party at floridaRAMA!Saturday, Nov. 9, 8-11pm
“Cosmic Dreams and Sunshine Beams” mural celebration with artist Ashley Cantero Thursday, Nov. 7, 6-8pm
Link to all tickets online at www.floridarama.art