More Than Just Pretty Pictures

Essay and photographs by Don Kendrick

What is art? It’s a fair question. As the definition has expanded to incorporate an increasingly diverse array of artistic expression, there remains a constant about the creative process, regardless of form. The artist must produce something that captivates, inspires, intrigues or incites the viewer’s interest, emotions and passion. As is true with all art, the audience will not always like or even appreciate what the artist has created or understand the intent. This remains true for street art as well. The tools of the trade include not just brushes and paint, but spray paint of every sort, fingers, stencils and almost any other implement you can think of to apply it. For the naysayers out there who try to summarily dismiss street artists, I encourage them to take to the streets – literally – and approach this form of artistic expression with an open mind. My apologies to the artists I did not get to talk with and get their social media info. Where the information is known, the artists’ Instagram site has been listed. Regrettably, this essay/blog is not a comprehensive look at all of the incredible art created in this year’s Fresh Fest. But ALL of these artists may be found on Instagram through @Tampabay_Fresh_Fest!

What began as acts of rebellion, despair and voicelessness in the 1970’s with graffiti artists has now blossomed into an internationally recognized form of artistic expression. Today, a loose confederation of like-minded artists who have something to say and express artistically, have created a separate genre of art by literally taking it to the streets. In the U.S., major metropolitan centers now welcome, embrace and promote these artists as a way of enlivening the urban landscape and, perhaps in some measure, spontaneously starting conversations about art with local communities. The Tampa Bay area is experiencing a similar wave of creative expression. While St. Petersburg has become more famous with the city’s endorsement of murals/street art through its SHINE festival, Tampa has yet to throw itself fully behind this phenomenon except for small pockets of support here and there. Tampa Heights and Seminole Heights have welcomed the explosion of art, but much remains to be done in Tampa to fully embrace these artists and their amazing work.

For me, the scale, perspective and artistic execution of painting on a “canvas” as large as the side of a building is simply mind-boggling. The ability to visualize and create artwork, and then flawlessly translate it to a 20 by 40 foot (or even larger) wall by Tampa’s street artists is always absolutely impressive. And nowhere is it more evident than with the Tampabay_Fresh_Fest annual event. Their artistic processes are as varied as their art, yet they all arrive with the same result – incredibly fantastic art.

Although this essay/blog is not a comprehensive review of all the art created during Fresh Fest, the cumulative effect I hope it achieves is the understanding that these great artists here in the area are producing some really amazing works for public enjoyment and the greater good.

It is my hope that this blog will accomplish two goals: First, shine a light on this third annual Tampabay_Fresh_Fest event, the artists, their art and their work process. Second – and maybe more importantly, advocate for more community and city support to encourage and sustain this particular form of art. As this is the third annual event, there is at least some local business and community support, but this could and should be stronger with broader local business and Tampa city government advocacy and support. Speaking with one of the organizers of Fresh Fest, Eric Hornsby, aka “artist_esh,” one of the biggest challenges is a sustained source of funding to purchase supplies for the event, and at some point hopefully, try to pay the artists for their time. As Dr. Dawn Molina, owner of Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness, commented, “Our neighbors and friends seem to all be on the same page, and we believe the wall art bolsters the community in many positive ways. We look forward to having and participating in the Tampa Bay Fresh Fest Event year-over-year!”

This year’s event had some 58 artists working in at least seven different locations: Robertson Billiards (1721 N. Franklin St.), Tampa Muay Thai (1622 N. Franklin St.), Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness (1607 N. Marion St)., Crossfit Downtown Heights (1601 N. Marion), Southeastern Seating (903 E. 17^th Ave), Southern Brewing (4500 N. Nebraska) and the Seminole Athletic Club (4423 N. Florida Ave) to create a wonderful panoply of street murals (see the map at the end). This year’s Tampa Fresh “Central” revolved around Robertson Billiards on Franklin St. and culminated with a “block party” there on Saturday afternoon, February 15th. Although Fresh Fest officially ran from 10 – 15 February 2020, a number of artists continued working on their murals into the following week.

Over the next three weeks, from 20 February through 7 March, I traversed the Tampa Heights and Seminole Heights area among three central locations, including a series of several smaller mural sites, meeting and conversing with nearly all the artists, and catching some of them in the process of creating really incredible art. The main locations – Robertson Billiards (Franklin St), Southern Seating and Southern Brewing (both on N. Nebraska) – were the nucleus of where a lot of the works were created, but other sites at Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness (TBHW) and Crossfit Downtown Heights on N. Marion St., Tampa Muay Thai on Franklin St., and the Seminole Athletic Center on N. Florida Ave. provided superb canvases for the artists. Even as late as the first week of March, work at a few locations continued.

Robertson Billiards

On N. Marion St, TBHW and Crossfit Downtown provided the canvases for a set of artists who used both brush and spray paint as their primary tools of the trade. Follow these artists on Instagram: @carlos_pons, @graffitinerd, @ripe143, @Lang.stn, @d1a5, @unknownknowitall, @guscutty, @steventellerarts, and @kathryncrawfordart, who plied their craft with skill, artistry and vision.

The process begins…with some paint and a blank canvas…

Crossfit Downtown Heights

Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness

For Dr. Molina, this would be the second time she provided her building as a canvas. “Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness became aware of the Tampa Bay Fresh Fest in 2019 upon meeting the artist @warartifex. During the 2019 event, Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness was in the process of opening our third office, a stand-alone building in Historic Tampa Heights, and we were keen on adding some color to both the inside & outside of our office building. We hired @warartifex to provide wall art at our facility. He and his wife, another local artist, worked closely with us to come up with options that represented our business’s message. From there we got to know the people involved with the Tampa Bay Fresh Fest Event and decided that we wanted to work with the artists on other projects.”

For this second round of Fresh Fest art, Dr. Molina indicated that participating in the Tampa Bay Fresh Fest 2020 took a small turn. Originally involved with @warartifex for a second time, she had a discussion with Fresh Fest team members and was presented an opportunity to work with another artist, Carlos Pons, @carlos_pons, the owner of Paz Art Studios. Carlos had an expressionist piece that represented her beliefs and the way she practices medicine at Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness.

Southern Seating

At Southern Seating, fourteen artists enlivened the neighborhood at the intersection of N. Nebraska and Columbus Ave: @artist_esh, @Nerve2_msg, @Chalk_Dirty, @mattlangtattoos, @mattmcallisterart, @PattySauces, Monty Welt, Seria, EZGoodnight, James Olson, Mason Schwacke, @Serum305, @Suarez and @Izzgybor.

Baby Yoda shows the way @artist_esh, nerve2_msg and a graffiti artist

Southern Brewery

At Southern Brewery, the artists @artystaLulu and IndyRock, Charlie Smith, @kosharekart, @ArkU5, @Aurailieus, @Chnkfondue and Cam Parker graced the walls of Southern Brewery.

Upper left – @artystalulu, upper right – IndyRock and bottom @chnkfondue

@arku5 (upper left), @aurailieus (upper right) and @kosharekart

Seminole Athletic Center

works by Lorinda Fore and Crystaline Rojas.

Tampa Muay Thai

Work at the Tampa Muay Thai building included art by @Reda3sb, @Warartifex, Cosby Hayes, @Capco, Derek Connelly, @Noirsone, Jerry Cahill, @Sarahpainter, @artystalulu, Indyrock, @Ashley_Cantero and Jeks.

…south side of Tampa Muay Thai complete, @artystalulu and her shadow hard at work, Kobe Tribute almost done

So what? Why does Tampabay_Fresh_Fest matter? It matters for many reasons, but I will highlight just a few. First, it’s the best possible way to highlight the energy, vibrancy and impact local art and artists can have on the community. Secondly, murals bring foot traffic and tourists to local businesses which results in purchasing goods, services and food in the local area. Finally, murals create interest in an area and make it an attractive space.

But the real selling point is to look at the experience of other major metropolitan areas and realize the positive impact of art in the public space: New York, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia – to name just a few – have all seen amazing results in embracing street art, as noted by the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in a 2016 assessment of community murals as economic development tools (https://uca.edu/cced/2016/07/05/community-murals-as-economic-development-tools/).

“Many cities that want to begin working on a community-based arts initiative begin with a mural in their downtown area. According to Dr. Gayle Seymour, Associate Dean of UCA’s College of Fine Arts and Communication, there are reasons this may be a good place to start. They can be fast and cheap. Though the process for creating a mural can take close to a year, the actual time needed to paint the mural is only one to two months. Considering the high cost of other development projects, murals only cost between $25,000 and $35,000 for the artist, scaffolding, paints, signage, and other supplies. This makes them financially accessible to many communities, though pooling of local resources is usually necessary.”

As the UCA article further noted, “Murals have the opportunity to tell the community’s story, create a unique experience, engage citizens, increase foot traffic and tourism, increase appreciation for the arts and artists, and increase overall attractiveness of the space.” (op.cit.)

In interviewing several local businesses who participated in this year’s Fresh_Fest, I found the support for the event overwhelmingly favorable and interested in sustaining it. Brandon Shannon, Marketing and Media Director, Robertson Billiards, responding to questions on 12 March 2020, noted, “The impact has been 99% positive. Everyone, minus a few less than open-minded people, loves the artwork. It definitely brings the community and travelers from all over together, especially to take selfies. Countless people stop by daily to the see the artwork and take pictures. The Lady Gaga mural on the front of our building even got her [Lady Gaga’s] attention.”

Brandon further observed that “We would like to see even more of the community get involved during the Fresh_Fest weekend. More food, music, games, local small businesses, etc.”

Dr. Molina reinforced that sentiment by commenting, “We would like for The City of Tampa to be more involved and to show more support. The City of Tampa has several walls of its own that it could designate to the event, which would give the Tampa Bay Fresh Fest the ability to grow. There are many of us in the community that would like for Tampa Heights to become an arts district! We have many arts in the Tampa Heights Community from healing arts to visual arts!”

And so, this concludes an altogether too brief journey into the incredible art and artists comprising this year’s Tampabay_Fresh_Fest. Stay tuned — Fresh_Fest could use your help.