It doesn’t cost anything to be kind and considerate to others.

That, in a nutshell, is the message from the Sarasota County nonprofit Embracing Our Differences, Inc., which spreads it through art and education, and art-in-education, through a variety of specialized programs.

This is the organization’s third footprint-expanding year in St. Petersburg. Starting this weekend, Poynter Park, 1000 3rd Street S., will be home to Embracing Our Differences’ third consecutive outdoor art exhibition.

This consists of a walk-through open-air gallery of 50 billboard-sized enlargements of artworks, and written comments, expressing the power of positivity.

The 2026 gallery opens with a free public festival, Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Planned are community partner booths, family and children’s activities, food trucks and live music.

The star of the show, of course, is the oversized art exhibit. Nearly 15,000 submissions for this year were received from 125 countries, 48 American states, 574 schools and a cross-section of young people and adults, amateur and professional artists and writers.

“Generations” by Mae Bouchard, 10th Grade, East Lake High School, Tarpon Springs.

According to President and CEO Sarah Wertheimer, 60 percent of the student submissions came from Sarasota, Manatee and Pinellas counties. The gallery will remain in Poynter Park through April 12.

“For us,” she said, “the main reason we do it is to really try to promote these values, kindness, respect and inclusion. And to try to give artists and writers a voice to be able to express themselves.

“And in return, have the viewer be able to see themselves in someone else. And also be exposed to someone else’s point of view or perspective.”

That can make the world seem a lot less big and a lot less scary, Education Director Patrick A. Jackson suggested. “From an educational standpoint, there are so many students that are experiencing bullying for whatever reason – their color, their creed, because they like to play basketball instead of football, whatever it is.”

Schoolchildren will go on field trips for docent-led tours of the Poyner Park billboards.

“And so to have a platform like the exhibition, as well as some of our other in-the-schools programs, students can see themselves and have conversations with their peers about this artwork. They continue to realize that they are not alone in their existence.”

“Portraits of Friends” by Anna Wang, San Diego, California.

Today, March 3, representatives from Embracing Our Differences are reading in six elementary schools in south Pinellas County.

Come November, the organization’s successful “Bucket Fillers Reading Day” (“what are you doing to fill someone’s bucket with kindness?”), featuring guest readers, will come to St. Petersburg schools for the first time.

Now in its eighth year in Sarasota and Manatee counties, this program teaches children how to “fill buckets” through everyday acts of kindness, love and appreciation.

Making the world a better place may be more complicated than singing “all you need is love,” but that’s a good first step. With its Poynter Park outdoor exhibition, the Embracing Our Differences staff wants to focus and emphasize that message, and display evidence that human beings, no matter who they are or where they live, are pretty much the same.

“I think [the exhibit] is inspirational, and also thought-provoking,” Wertheimer said. “It will make you think not only about your own life experiences, but those of your friends, your family, your neighbors.

“It really opens up people’s eyes to all of our unique talents and attributes, but also all that we have in common with one another.”

Poynter Park, 2.1 acres, is adjacent to the University of South Florida Bayboro campus.

Learn more about Embracing Our Differences, Inc., at this link.

“Divided Game” by Santiago Cornejo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.