‘Catalyst Sessions’ recap: Jenee Priebe, SHINE Mural Festival

The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance’s SHINE Mural Festival has come a long way in its six years, coordinator Jenee Priebe said Tuesday on The Catalyst Sessions.

There are close to 600 artistically-minded murals in St. Pete (in other words, art for art’s sake, not large-scale advertising). Allthough not all of them were created through SHINE, the ones that were came from many of the best-known local, regional, national and international artists, painting right there, in real time, on St. Petersburg walls.

In other words, St. Pete as an arts destination is due, in some ways, to the SHINE Mural Festival. Certainly in the colorful world of public art.

“Everyone here knows that we have a thriving arts scene,” Priebe explained. “We have so many incredible museums. But the murals, you just can’t miss ‘em. It says everything for you. It really lets you know, as soon as you set foot in the city, this is a city that cares about art.”

We discussed the innovative PixelStix technology that allows for self-guided, digitally-curated audio tours of SHINE murals, the durability of paint-on-walls over time and the cumulative effects of the blazing Florida sun (spoiler alert: it all depends on where the mural is located) and the upcoming festival, Nov. 7-14, which will be slightly smaller in scale, thanks to both Covid-19 and Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent budget cuts.

And we looked at a half-dozen really cool murals.

Gribbin

Today on The Catalyst Sessions: Longtime St. Pete musician Tom Gribbin.

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