{"id":96098,"date":"2025-12-26T10:33:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T10:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/96098\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T10:33:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T10:33:32","slug":"street-mural-removals-foster-activism-solidarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/96098\/","title":{"rendered":"Street mural removals foster activism, solidarity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Ken Welch recently pledged<\/a> that St. Petersburg would create \u201cpowerful new expressions of who we are\u201d following the state\u2019s removal of street murals. The community isn\u2019t waiting around.<\/p>\n

Local artist Michelle Sasha has launched the Love Thy Neighbor<\/a>\u00a0project to paint free murals celebrating inclusivity on private properties. Demonstrators will cover sidewalks around St. Petersburg\u2019s Progress Pride flag intersection with chalk art Sunday before lining up along Central Avenue in a show of solidarity with marginalized groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sasha, founder of ArtFluent Creatives, said she has a \u201cunique opportunity to offer something that can bring people together\u201d and amplify their voices. Her initiative has received an outpouring of interest over the past few days, and she began painting driveways and mailboxes Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not giving too many limitations on what I\u2019m willing to do, as long as it is promoting the right type of love and inclusivity,\u201d Sasha said. \u201cI\u2019m honored and humbled by the fact that I have an opportunity to make my voice really loud, and show people we can lead with love and not hate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tamara Leigh, editor of Blaque\/OUT Magazine, is one of three local stakeholders organizing the grassroots #STANDUPSTPETE event<\/a> Sunday. Participants will adorn sidewalks between 23rd and 25th Street with \u201crainbows, love and support\u201d between noon and 2 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leigh credited the event\u2019s \u201cgreat response\u201d to residents who \u201cmay not have close ties\u201d with marginalized groups but value the city\u2019s diversity and inclusivity. \u201cI think St. Petersburg has a long, storied history of being a place where people are told that they belong, and that we\u2019ll stand up for them,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can erase the streets, but they can\u2019t erase us,\u201d Leigh added. \u201cThey can\u2019t erase our story, they can\u2019t erase our culture and they can\u2019t erase our contributions to this state, to the city or to this country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tamara Leigh, editor of Blaque\/OUT Magazine, stands in front of the Pride Progress mural in St. Petersburg\u2019s Grand Central District. Photo provided.<\/p>\n

Sasha said art can provide a sense of security. The LGBTQ community<\/a> knows they are in a safe place and surrounded by allies when they cross over the Pride mural.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She and many others believe the Florida Department of Transportation is undermining the importance of that message. Sasha wanted to provide a vibrant, permanent recourse for affected stakeholders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She will paint \u201cwherever works for the property,\u201d and people have offered creative ideas. Sasha is also happy to paint murals on buildings near the current street art.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A previous, similar project in north Pinellas County led to Sasha hiring several people, and her business morphing into more of a \u201cmural agency.\u201d While she accepts donations and would \u201clove\u201d for a local company to provide paint, Sasha will \u201cjust come out of pocket if need be, and that\u2019s no problem to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paint costs $50 to $80 per gallon, and pride flags require 11 colors. Sasha said 60 people have requested murals as of Thursday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She hopes other artists, including those in Hillsborough County, will join her initiative. Sasha is prioritizing Pinellas but is \u201copen to anyone signing up at this point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want the politics or religion or things like that to cloud the fact that this project is simply just humanity and loving and trying to make people feel welcome in their homes and communities,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to be here as a resource to help people through a time when they feel pretty helpless.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leigh\u2019s group is accepting chalk donations until 4 p.m. Saturday. Those interested can drop off supplies at the Allendale United Methodist Church at 3803 Haines Road N.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leigh believes it is important for people to push back against what many people consider state overreach \u201cin every way they possibly can.\u201d She also noted that art fosters joy and bridges cultural divides, and believes both are critical during a divisive time<\/a> in the nation\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, I think that the hits will continue to keep coming, and I hope that folks stand steadfast and stand strong,\u201d Leigh said. \u201cI hope that they get inspiration from what happens on Sunday to continue fighting \u2013 to show that no matter what happens, that no matter what gets erased, we\u2019re here and we\u2019re still together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information on the Love Thy Neighbor project, visit the website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information on the #STANDUPSTPETE event, visit the website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A collage of the five murals scheduled for removal. Image: City of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Ken Welch recently pledged that St. Petersburg would create \u201cpowerful new expressions of who we are\u201d following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-96098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}