The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance celebrates BIPOC Mental Health Month with a self-guided tour of the Murals in Mind experience, an art in wellness initiative recently launched to promote mental wellness and healing through the arts. The tour spotlights the joy of community inclusiveness, culture and connection.
“The Murals in Mind initiative was designed by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance to offer communities a healing experience through the arts that leaves the participant feeling inspired, uplifted and hopeful,” says Terry Marks, SPAA CEO. “With this tour, the SPAA wants to celebrate inclusive community-making through the arts.”
The uplifting tour includes stops at murals featuring recorded performances, dance, music and stories celebrating community inclusiveness, with a suggested route starting in St. Petersburg’s waterfront Bayboro Harbor and ending in the heart of the city’s creative downtown community. The tour includes:
- Rooted in Community, located at 1000 3rd St. S., created by Kenny Coil and Marc Berenguer featuring interviews by Your Real Stories.
- Wisdom, Growth, Progress, located at 701 9th St. S., created by Zulu Painter featuring a dance performance by Alexander Jones of ProjectALCHEMY, Talia Demps and Esophia Higgins-Wilkins with a composition by Jeremy Carter.
- Golden Child with Da Big Gunz, located at 593 22nd St. S., created by Princess Smith and featuring a performance by writer and theatre artist Shelby Ronae.
- Nowness is the Portal, located at 3000 Central Ave., created by Miss Crit and featuring a performance by Studio@620 founder Bob Devin Jones reading a poem by Anastasia Wirick.
Participants are invited to visit each mural and scan a PixelStix marker with any smartphone to view and listen to the Murals in Mind performances and stories. Each of the murals and recorded experiences was curated to uplift the community by showcasing joyful performances and stories.
Murals in Mind shifts negative perceptions and offers hope and help for day-to-day living. This 24/7 accessible gallery is a public and daily reminder that there is hope, help, and resources to provide a shift in thinking, feeling and action. Learn more here
SPAA’s Mission
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance is the umbrella organization serving this vital arts and cultural community. We do so by driving arts-related economic development and funding, advocating for art and artists, educating at all levels and facilitating the growth of our City of the Arts.
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To honor Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Integrative Counsel hosted a special virtual roundtable discussion called ArtMinded bringing together creatives, artists, and mental health professionals in the community for an enriching talk about how arts, in all their forms, positively impact mental health on an individual and societal level.
Because of her creation of Murals in Mind, SPAA CEO, Terry Marks was a participant along with:
- Listen to Your Art Therapy & Empowerment Services, LLC (w/ Jasmine Parker!)
- Dr. Diohn Leoni's art + work
- Girls Rock Camp St. Pete (w/ Jesse Miller)
- Jennifer H. Carey, LMHC's Illuminating The Stories That Bind Us podcast
- IC Founder Dayna Wood's Art:
- Steven Kenny, Diohn's partner & artist
"Studies have shown that creative expression can have a powerful impact on one's mental health. Prioritizing creative expression engages your mind and creates a container for healing."
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA) has announced the return of its garden party brunch this May, the Hats Off To Performing Arts gala. Hosted in the gardens of the Rutland-Farley Estate overlooking the bay in South St. Pete, the event will honor SPAA’s “Arts Advocates of the Year,” Tampa Bay Rays Co-President Brian Auld, the Rays, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
St. Petersburg, FLORIDA (May 18, 2023) - The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA), along with its community partner, Kahwa Coffee, are delighted to announce the third artist in the collaboration that supports the building of the St. Petersburg Arts Endowment through the sale of art-wrapped coffee canisters. Frederick “Rootman” Woods is a Florida native who grew up in the small North Florida town of Hampton. From an early age he loved to draw and taught himself by studying the technique of the Old Masters’ paintings. Over time, his own unique approach to art emerged, one that combines many different styles with a modern twist.
“This is one of my relationship pieces. One day you decide that the past does not serve you anymore. The frayed rope around the heart represents how long you've been holding onto the pain until you decide to let it go. As you free yourself, you recreate yourself from a new space in your life. You are now a new person. The window is your soul, and the ladder represents the person who wants to know you. Sometimes your window opens to new beginnings; other times, not so much.
When you eventually decide to let someone in, they can see the true you. The balloon represents your higher self, where souls connect and soar on a much higher level,” states Fred, about his canister design.
Launch Event
SPAA and Kahwa Coffee will celebrate the launch of this third artist wrap at a special event on Thursday, May 25 from 6-8pm at Woodfield Fine Art located at 2323 Central Avenue, St. Pete, FL. The business community and the public are invited to support the St. Pete Arts Endowment by purchasing these limited edition canisters online at https://kahwacoffee.com/products/artcoffeecan starting May 25th and in stores on May 26th.
Past art wrapped canister artists are Chad Mize and Glenyse Thompson.
Kahwa Coffee owners Sarah and Raphael Perrier are available for media interviews. To schedule MEDIA interviews, please email Brooke Palmer Kuhl at [email protected] or call 727.235.2389.
About Kahwa Coffee
Kahwa Coffee Roasting Company is a wholesale and retail coffee company based in St. Petersburg, Fl. Founded in 2006 by Sarah and Raphael Perrier, Kahwa has become the largest independent coffee roaster in the state of Florida. Kahwa’s reputation is built on quality and consistency of the product. 100% premium quality Arabica beans are selected from different origins around the world; these beans are then blended and skillfully roasted to produce a complex flavor that allows each origin to yield its most distinct palate. Each blend is roasted and packaged on demand to guarantee quality and freshness. Kahwa’s wholesale customers skyrocketed in 2008 after receiving the stamp of approval from world-renowned French chef, Paul Bocuse, who selected Kahwa coffee for his highly esteemed restaurant in Epcot, Chefs de France. That same year, Kahwa’s first retail cafe opened in downtown St. Pete with the goal to create an environment with personalized customer service and a community meeting place where all walks of life can come to socialize.
Today, with 15 retail locations and over 800 wholesale customers, Kahwa is dedicated to expanding its customer base while still maintaining the greatest quality of the product and an exceptional customer service experience. For more information, visit www.kahwacoffee.com. Stay connected to Kahwa: facebook.com/kahwacoffee and @KahwaCoffee on Twitter and Instagram.
About the St. Pete Arts Alliance
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance is the umbrella organization serving this vital arts and cultural community. We do so by driving arts-related economic development and funding, advocating for art and artists, educating at all levels and facilitating the growth of our City of the Arts. In December 2015, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA) established an arts endowment fund at the Community Foundation Tampa Bay. The purpose of the fund is to ensure that the arts community has a resource available for sustainability. SPAA‘s role is to raise these funds and work with the city to award grants, through its Arts Advisory Committee to our arts community. This advisory committee will be gathered through a grants process, as laid out in Chapter 5 of City Ordinances. As an organization that advocates for all the arts within St. Pete, we want to ensure that our efforts go towards building the resources for the future. This fund will assist with many different needs for the arts community. This is how the visual and performing arts community will grow. Encouraging public support for this endowment is a key element, so that arts within St. Petersburg has wide community involvement. Kahwa Coffee understands the importance of the arts within St. Petersburg and has stepped up to make this collaboration possible. Without their vision and interest in supporting the arts, this project would not be possible.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Brooke Palmer Kuhl
Kahwa Coffee PR
[email protected]
(727) 235-2389
"I create contemporary abstract art for collectors, art lovers, interior designers, and commercial applications. Inspired by people and conversations, my work combines vibrant use of color and balance, conveying the exuberant connections we have with each other and our environments." - Glenyse Thompson
Gifting an Art Wrapped Coffee Canister is the easiest - and tastiest - ways to support your local artists! Your friends, family, colleagues, and employees will enjoy a cup of Kahwa Coffee while proudly displaying a piece of art by local artist Glenyse Thompson in their home or business. Glenyse's particular design is a special, limited-time offer. New artists will be announced every season!
