SHINE Mural Festival 2023 Archives

SHINE Mural Festival 2023- Bryan Beyung and James Lee Chiahan

Jun 242025

When the Sun is Up, the Moon is Absent! was created by Bryan Beyung and James Lee Chiahan for the 2023 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

From the artists about the mural-

In 1987, the Kien family stood on a red dirt road in a refugee camp called Site 2 somewhere along the border of Cambodia and Thailand. With their loved ones scattered, their home displaced, and their country suffused in violence, they place their hopes on a vague future. Absurd events become strangely, sadly common. Fate, or luck, or kindness brings them safe passage across the sea to Boston, MA; Montréal, QC; and finally, Bradenton, FL, a few minutes away from where this wall stands.

The youngest of the four depicted is our friend Anhdi. Today, he lives in Bradenton with his wife and three kids, who we invited to help paint and add to their family’s story directly. It’s a story with many secret turns and memories that shape their specific experience, but it’s also one that’s universal to so many who have had to flee their homes amidst conflict in the search of a new beginning. It’s a story of survival and the human spirit, and we feel so lucky to have been able to try and express it.

SHINE Mural Festival 2023- Rhys Meatyard

Art, Artists, Florida Street Art, Painting / Painters, Public Art, St. Petersburg Street Art, Street Art

Jun 062025

Breaking Free by Rhys Meatyard for the 2023 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

From the artist about the mural-

For my mural, I wanted to do something hopeful and bright, and the color palette reflects that intent. I took inspiration primarily from classical art and 70s prog rock album covers. I am a big fan of Roger Dean – the artist behind covers for bands such as Yes and Uriah Heep – and borrowed some of his themes for this piece. In the foreground, you see two statues in a colonnade, and as your eye moves across the piece into the mid and background, you become aware that the land and temple are breaking apart, with parts floating off into the sun. The furthest statue has awakened and is stepping off of her base, gazing into the sun. Although the context – the solid ground she has been standing upon is breaking apart – should be frightening, she is looking into the light and moving towards her new existence. This is a metaphor for the process of being reborn in the breaking we all face in our lives, for waking up to the beautiful and terrifying reality of self, and becoming another thing and venturing into the unknown.

Spatially, the piece unfolds for you as you round the corner approaching it. Your first view is of the static statues, and as you come closer, the rays of sunlight draw you in to the rest of the scene. There is not much room to stand back from the piece, so you are forced to confront its magnitude up-close, pulling you into the world in which it exists.

SHINE Mural Festival 2023- The Artist Jones

Art, Artists, Florida Street Art, History, Painting / Painters, Public Art, St. Petersburg Street Art, Street Art

Feb 262025

This mural by Tracey Jones, aka Artist Jones, located on the PSTA ticket office building in St. Pete, was created for the 2023 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival.

The work includes an image of John Donaldson, a former slave from Alabama who became the first black man to settle on the lower Pinellas Peninsula. He purchased a forty acre farm there and was one of a small group of pioneers who, along with his family, created the foundation for the community that would later grow into today’s St. Petersburg.

SHINE Mural Festival 2023- HOXXOH

Art, Artists, Florida Street Art, Painting / Painters, Public Art, St. Petersburg Street Art, Street Art

Apr 242024

Rainbird, by Miami-based artist Douglas Hoekzema, aka Hoxxoh, was created for the 2023 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

SHINE Mural Festival 2023- Michael Vasquez

Anaheim, Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, California Art Shows, Florida Street Art, Painting / Painters, Public Art, St. Petersburg Street Art, Street Art

Jan 252024

The Mangrove Refuge (The Vorasane Family and Friends; Gandy Beach circa 1980) by Michael Vasquez was created for the 2023 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

The artist’s statement about the mural-

A displaced Lao family (and friends) find refuge and a moment of reflection amidst the mangroves of Tampa Bay’s Gandy Beach.

A 1978 Datsun 280Z serves as a centerpiece and point of pride, fusing together car culture and masculinity. Similar aspects of clothing and style signal togetherness, emulation, and a shared sense of identity—yet their solitary gazes set them apart from one another and allude to a deeper and more personal past, present, and future…

Vasquez is currently part of the group show TRADITIONS: Honoring Heritage, Ritual and Family at Muzeo in Anaheim, California. The show is curated by Thinkspace and Tlaloc Studios and is on view until 2/25/24.

Also check out his Instagram for current work.