behind Central Ave

St. Petersburg is home to a growing number of murals. There are maps online that help you find the murals but if you walk along Central Avenue and explore the streets and alleys close by, you will encounter most of them.

below: There’s a short alley behind the north side of Central Ave that is home to quite a few street art pieces. This is the view westward from 6th St. North (toward 7th St N)

street art and murals painted on walls and buildings in an alley

below: This is the mural at the east end of the alley.  This portrait among the fishes and mermaids was painted by Derek Donnelly

mural of a man with black rimmed glasses painting on the wall, marine scene

part of a mural, a mermaid with long pink hair and a pink fin

part of a mural with fish

below: Colourful mural by kosharekart

a mural by kosharekart

below: Some paper pasteups that have seen better days
paper pasteups, partially peeling

paper paste ups on a wall in a lane

below: Circle patterns in a mural by Megan Kelly

below: Frida Kahlo

a small mural on the side of a garage, portrait of Frida Kahlocar parked in front of a mural

below: Another painting by kosharekart

female figures with very decorated clothing, painted in a mural

close up of a mural showing a woman in a sail boat, with a large bird and its beak beside

below: Another Derek Donnelly fish.  The lower portions were once a brighter orange but it`s faded over time (painted in 2014).

a car is parked in front of a mural of a very large fish painted by Derek Donnelly

mural in an alley by kosharekart

below: Boat on the water

mural in a lane, a woman stands beside a boat on very wavy water

below: Hearts, a bird, and a snail

mural in an alley of a female figure dressed in a red heart covered dress.  There is a large snail on her lap

below: Someone seems to disapprove of Mr. Cactus.

a small sticker of a cactus with a face, stuck on a mural beside a face

below: `Twiggy`by Brad Mize is at the rear of 648 Central Ave.

very large face on white background, mural in an alley

pale purple background, cursive writing of the words life is magical
“Life is Magical When You Look” with a black cat sitting on the moon nose to nose with a dragonfly in a mural by Christy Faris

mural of a black cat sitting on the curve of a new moon, also a dragonfly by the cat

below: Brad Mizes ‘Mr. Sunshine’ is now partially behind a fence.  The sun is a copy of a 1940s design used to promote the city of St. Petersburg.

bright yellow sun on sky blue background, mural, sunshine mural

below: Fish in a birdcage

small sticker on a post, white background, black drawing of a fish in a birdcage

mural around a door that makes it look like it's in India, some white lotus flowers painted beside the door

below: Adios! Let it go

black mural with hands and the word adios in cursive

below: Treat yo self, woof woof, by aurailieus

mural of a black pug dog on blue background

below: Mural for Caskey, a musician, or more specifically, for his song “Thank God I Made it” which was released about the same time that the mural was painted (May 2021).  Artist: skycaptain

skycaptain mural ode to musician caskey

below: Shark mural by Shark Toof, a 2015 SHINE mural, on the east wall of the State Theater building.; It too is a little bit faded.

mural of a grey shark on an orange red wall
a car parked in front of a mural that is the same orangish red that the background of the mural is, a large shark with mouth open and many teeth

below: This the Hindu Goddess, Saraswati, who symbolizing knowledge, learning and wisdom was well as, music, art, and speech. She was painted by Palehorse Design. Follow the link to learn more about the mural.

large 50 foot by 30 foot mural by Palehorse Design of the Hindu goddess saraswati playing a musical instrument called a veena.  She has four arms to represent the four elements of inner life, mind, intellect, ego, and consciousness.

below: “Space Rainbows” by Ricky Watts

view from behind trees in a parking lot, large mural called Space Rainbows covers the side of a building

Space Rainbows mural from the side

Many of these murals are the product of SHINE Mural Festivals. Follow the link for more information about these festivals.

All photos were taken in mid-April, 2022

Time to Think

large mural by parking lot in St. Petersburg, called Time to think, painted by Derek Donnelly and Sebastian Coolidge, a man in a shirt and green tie, upper body only, is opening his middle to release a jellyfish like structure

This large mural, titled “Time to Think”, was painted (2014) in the Central Arts District of St. Petersburg by Derek Donnelly and Sebastian Coolidge. It represents the idea that corporations and businesses should embrace creativity in their communities. Big business (the man in the green tie) opens himself up to new, and more creative, ideas and projects.

part of a mural, man's hands have created a circular opening in his middle to release a jellyfish with a pink brain

part of a mural, time to think, by Derek Donnelly and Sebastian Coolidge

a pink brain inside a translucent jellyfish head, part of a mural

at 1st Street North & MLK

below: The northwest corner of Martin Luther King Blvd and 1st St North in St. Petersburg Florida where there are a few murals on the buildings. The mural of the cat and dog in the foreground was painted by Matt Kress.

northwest corner of 1st Street North and Martin Luther King Blvd showing some one storey buildings with murals on the sides

below: On the other side of the building (an animal hospital) are more cats and dogs.

part of a mural, a cat face that is partially obscured by a white fence

part of a mural, two dogs

part of a mural, a cat's head, mouth open, tooth showing

In the first photo, you can see small parts of another mural. This one features well known cartoon characters such as the cats Felix and Garfield, as well as Disney’s Donald Duck, Daffy Duck, and Goofy. It was painted by Greg Mike as part of the SHINE mural festival in 2021.

below: The whole mural

mural by Greg Mike featuring lots of well known cartoon characters

mural by Greg Mike featuring lots of well known cartoon characters including Felix the cat and Donald Duck

part of a mural by Greg Mike

Garfield the Cat in a mural by Greg Mike

Disney's character Goofy in a mural by Greg Mike

mural by Greg Mike

below: The last mural here, on the far side of the back building, is another recent painting. Also part of the SHINE 2021 festival is “Tell Me How You Feel, Part III” by Bakpak Durden.

mural by Bakpak Durden a large jaw from a skull with white teeth, a hand is reaching out to touch it

at the roundabout

below: In the middle of the roundabout is a sculpture called “The Sun on the EDGE” by Ilan Averbuch. The title is a play on the word edge as the roundabout is located in the EDGE District of downtown St. Petersburg.

in the foreground, words in chalk on the sidewalk about love, then a roundabout with a circle of grass in the middle.  there is a large sculpture in the roundabout.  a large circle of sun rays, by Ilan Averbuch

blog_roundabout_sun_trolley

below: Mural by Chad Mize

mural on the side of a building, a man on the right side with a mug in his hand, rest of mural is geometric shapes in reds, blues, and yellow

below: Tow Away Zone

sign saying tow away zone in front of a mural in red, blue, and yellow

below: Stickers on the back of a sign along with a page of notes

stickers on the back of a street sign

below: Raphael emerges from the sewer where the Mutant Ninja Turtles hang out

manhole cover on the sidewalk, chalk drawing of head and shoulders of teenage mutant ninja turtle with a red mask, Raphael

below: All you need is love, and some chalk

drawing in chalk on the sidewalk, a little yellow submarine and words from Beatles song, all you need is love

Downtown Hollywood Mural Project

The Downtown Hollywood Mural Project (DHMP) is a collection of more than 25 murals scattered around downtown Hollywood Florida.

close up detail of the colours and shapes in a turtle shell, mural

below: A sea turtle by Ernesto Maranje swimming on a wall.

sea turtle mural on a wall

below: Mural by Logan Hicks

mural of a person suspended in midair

below: A woman’s head in blue tones by rone

rone mural of a woman's head in blue tones - whole horizontal mural in parking lot with cars parked in front

rone mural of a woman's head in blue tones

below: A watery scene, ‘Off the Deep End’ by Nice ‘N Easy (aka Allison Matherly and Jeffrey Noble).  This is only a small section of the mural; it covers the whole wall and there is another pink life ring floating in the water.

aquamarine coloured water in a mural with pink tile edges on the pool and pink life ring floating in the water

below: A few zany and lovable characters by Kenny Scharf

abstract cartoon like characters in a mural, palm trees

below: Blue lattice, or pulsating waves, or something like that, by Hoxxoh

mural by hoxxoh of blue circles or pulsating waves on a wall

below: A large Mona Lisa over the entrance by 2alas (aka Andrew Antonaccio)

large face in grey tones made by vertical lines of differing darkness, over the entrance to a building, also shards of colour, triangles on white background

below: Pentagon-like shapes and a few squiggles, by Molly Rose Freeman

below: Palm trees and other plants on a pale pink wall, by Nicole Salcedo

mural by Nicole Salcedo, a pale pink wall with black outline drawing of trees and plants

below: Vertical rectangles of colour, part of a mural by Henning Haupt.

vertical bars of colour in a mural, mostly red and pinks with some blue and yellow

below: The Concrete Daydream by Rob Robi

mural on awall, blue, pentagon shape within a circle, blue squiggles

The last few pictures are from the same mural, by evoca1 (aka Elio Mercado)

below: A gorgeous vulture (if you can consider a vulture to be gorgeous)

a realistic mural painting of a vulture in shades of grey, in flight, beside two parked cars in a parking lot a man riding on the back of a verylarge vulture, he has a bow in his hand and is shooting arrows

part of a mural, a white dove is flying towards an open bird cage but it has been shot by an arrow

below: The woman holds open the door of a bird cage for the white dove but the dove was shot by an arrow. a woman holds open a bird cage for a wounded dove, mural, by evoca1 paint peeling on mural, woman in blue head scarf is holding open the door of a bird cage

There are a few other blog posts already written about the Hollywood murals.  They are:

  1. emo and remote collaboration
  2. The London Police
  3. Tati mermaid murals

emo & remote collaboration in Hollywood

Emo (aka Eddie Mendieta) and Remote (aka Jay Bellicchi), both from south Florida, collaborated on a large mural in downtown Hollywood, Florida.

a mural by emo and remote, also known as Eddie Mendieta and Jay Bellicchi

Two women, one at each end, reaching for the sun in the middle.  Their hands and fingers are loosely wrapped by a vine that is also reaching for the sun.

part of a mural by emo and remote, large yellow and orange sun in the middle, a hand is reaching for the sun, a vine is growing up the hand and fingers towards the sun

close up of woman's face in mural, in grey tones, lying on her side, width of face is height of wall, blank expression on her face

emo and remote mural, rays of light form the sun on blue sky with finges reaching out, vines wrapped around fingers, small green leaves

one end of a mural by emo and remote in hollywood florida can be seen on the side of a building, as seen from across the street, car parked in front, tall palm tree

London Police in Hollywood

As part of the Downtown Hollywood Mural Project (in Florida) there is a playful mural by The London Police, painted in 2014.

full mural by The London Police on a wall beside a parking lot in Hollywood Florida

The main character is one large smiley face astronaut and the supporting cast consists of numerous miniature astronauts.

close up of big smiling astronaut face looking at a tiny astronaut, in a mural by The London Police

in a mural in Hollywood Florida, five small astronaut characters with ropes as they try to climb up

a pipe comes out of a wall, painted on a mural, small astronaut characters are coming out of the pipe

in a mural, a large black wrench that syas adjust on it T L P signature on mural, 2014, Hollywood FLorida

The above photos were taken in July 2017 .

pesimo DMJC crew and saile_one in Wynwood

There is a large mural in Wynwood that is a collaboration between Peruvian street artist pesimo DMJC crew and saile_one.   Four very large figures cover the side of a building.   The car helps to give a sense of just how big the mural is.

large mural by pesimo93, dmjc crew and saile_one

below: There are a lot of details in the mural….  the spray paint can on the left, the vehicle crashed over the shoulder, an 8 ball,  and a USB stick.   Is it a snake or a wreath of living plants around the neck?  Is it strangling him?  The mask worn by the person on the right has a zipper, a padlock and crossed chopsticks.

large mural by pesimo93, dmjc crew and saile_one - part of the mural with a red car parked in front of it.

below: More details.  The dog is wearing a chain that says “trust no human”, and there are eyeballs on one of the heads.   The man on the left is wearing a badge that says #NoDAPL which is the hashtag associated with the anti Dakota Access Pipeline protest including the resistance at Standing Rock.

large mural, upper part of two people, one has face painted

below: Their “signature” includes their “portraits”.

two stylized heads painted on a door, one is in blue tones and the other in olive green tones, the left is dmjc crew and the right is saile_one. both have cigarettes and baseball caps on backwards. also wearing glasses.