The city of St. Pete has several large art institutions with major collections and international draw... from the gorgeous Dali museum to the Chihuly collection to the beautiful Museum of Fine arts, the Morean Arts Center and Duncan McClellan Hot shop. St. Petersburg has a lot to be proud of and we have thriving markets and grass root artist conclaves for noise music to fine art painting.
When I operated the eve-N-odd gallery I got to see tourists and locals on a daily basis. People were thrilled with my tiny gallery and almost everyone bought a little something. But what people really go ga-ga for is the street art... It's so accessible... it's free... it's for the people... they can pose with it for a selfie. It's about them and being somewhere at a time and a place. People connect with street art because it's essentially FOR them. The 600 block alley has been slowly filled with street art to make it more of a walking outdoor gallery. And because of this a street art mural tour was created where people pay to go on a tour and hear about the artists and the art they made.
I propose that the City of St. Pete make a mural walking tour from the Central Avenue alley of the 400 block up through the 700 block... All the alley space should be donated to artists who can do a non offensive piece of art. Non offensive which was perviously defined to me as "city rules" was---no guns, no drugs, no sex/nudity in the work. But other than that--the artists should be given the opportunity to paint what they want... what is in their heart to paint. I suggest that city has a fund to pay artists for their materials and money for their time. There should also be a free for all wall... where people can tag whatever they want there and rehearse their skills. (of course nothing offensive) This free wall would attract artists from all over the world to paint...
I would hope that the city would put someone in charge of this who not only has a connection to artists but is not biased by their own desire for power and control. And building owners should be rewarded for allowing the walls to be painted perhaps a break in property taxes. And building owners who refuse to participate should pay an art tax--since they refuse to support their art city they can help support the arts in another way. I wonder if this is how Berlin does things??
I know this whole idea of street art is a can of worms, so to speak... but i feel that the risk will be worth the gain and hopefully will keep everyone coloring inside the lines.
