Street Mural Removals Inspire Chalk Art Protests In St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — As soon as they learned on Aug. 22 that St. Petersburg would lose several beloved street murals, most notably the “Black History Matters” mural by the Woodson Museum and the Grand Central District’s LGBTQ+ Progressive Pride crosswalk, at the hands of the Florida Department of Transportation, Lauren Sloniger and Jackie McKeon immediately made some signs and stood at the intersection, waving to Friday evening traffic.

They stood there for hours sharing a message of love and support with their community.

Inspired by the support they received in return — mostly honks and cheers of solidarity — the couple returned to the corner on the morning of Aug. 23 and told Patch that they would keep coming back.

“There’s so much the [President Donald Trump’s] administration is doing on such a global scale, on a national scale, that is just so terrible and abysmal,” McKeon said. “Here’s something that, not to say it’s a smaller scale, but here’s something local that’s two blocks away from us. So, we feel like we can go out right now and maybe impact things locally.”

With the murals disappearing at the hands of FDOT crews this weekend — as of Saturday afternoon, only the Grand Central District’s rainbow crosswalk remained — even more local activists and concerned residents are taking to the streets in protest.

• Related: 2 Religious Leaders Arrested For Blocking FDOT Street Mural Removal In St. Pete

A chalk walk-in is taking place at Bayboro Brewing on Saturday at 4 p.m. into the evening. Those attending are encouraged to draw on the sidewalks nearby in chalk. and musical artist Damag3 will speak to the crowd.

A similar event organized by the new grassroots group #StandUpStPete will take place Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. People are encouraged to cover the sidewalks along Central Avenue between 23rd and 25th streets, near where the Progressive Pride crosswalk is located, with rainbows, love and support.

When they’re done creating, attendees are encouraged to line up along Central Avenue from 2 to 3 p.m. wearing shirts and accessories with Pride colors or messages of community, love, support, and diversity.

“Everybody who wants to pick up a piece of chalk and leave their mark is welcome,” organizer Rachel Covello told Patch. “It’s going to be like herding a bunch of gay cats, but we’re hoping to get a lot of people out.”

The event is rain or shine, she added. “If it rains, we’re going to bring the community together anyway and leave our part, even if it’s a damp one. It feels like a storm right now and we can still have an impact.”

Street murals in St. Petersburg and other Florida cities after the state threatened to withhold funding to municipalities over street art that’s inconsistent with state law and the FDOT Design Manual.

In a June 30 internal memo, Will Watts, FDOT’s chief operating officer and assistant secretary, called for municipalities to remove “non-compliant traffic control devices and surface markings, including pavement art installations.”

This includes “pavement surface art that is associated with social, political, or ideological messages or images and does not serve the purpose of traffic control.”

State officials claim that the removal of the street art is a safety issue.

“Non-standard surface markings, signage, and signals that do not directly contribute to traffic safety or control can lead to distractions or misunderstandings, jeopardizing both driver and pedestrian safety,” Watts wrote in the memo. “Furthermore, uniform and consistent application of pavement surface markings is critical for the overall effectiveness of automated vehicle operation, as automated vehicle technologies rely heavily on consistent traffic control devices.”

Studies, including the 2022 Asphalt Art Safety Study from Bloomberg Philanthropies, show the opposite, though.

The Asphalt Art Safety Study found that areas with street art, including intersection murals, crosswalk art, painted plazas, and sidewalk extensions, saw a 50 percent drop in traffic crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists, a 37 percent drop in crashes leading to injuries, a 27 percent increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians with the right-of-way, and a 17 percent decrease in total crashes.

Many activists in St. Petersburg feel that the murals are being targeted because of the communities they represent and have been vocal about their opposition to their removal.

Artist John Gascot, who worked on the original Black Lives Matter mural and the Black History Matters mural that replaced it, said the art mirrors St. Petersburg’s diverse, “underrepresented and underserved” communities.

“They’re a reflection of the community and as a community that has historically had to fight to be heard and seen, there’s an importance to that,” he told Patch.