Mural Art Comes To Lealman With Help Of Creative Pinellas, Local Artists

LEALMAN, FL — Creative Pinellas has commissioned mural artists Laura Spencer and Leo Gomez to add an artistic flair to the community they hope will beautify and inspire residents of the community, which is undergoing redevelopment.

Gomez has started a mural that brings his signature color and design to the previously bare walls of the Lealman Exchange and Laura “Miss Crit” Spencer, a Lealman-based artist, has been selected to create a mural in early 2022 at the Mother Kombucha Warehouse on the 28th Street North corridor.

Both projects stem from a partnership between Creative Pinellas and the Lealman Neighborhood Community Redevelopment Agency with the intent of bringing the power of art to help build excitement in the redevelopment process as well as beautify the community.

Through an open call process, both Spencer and Gomez, whose work can be seen throughout the St. Petersburg area, were selected to create murals that would engage the Lealman community.

“Bringing these murals to Lealman makes a really important statement about the power of artists and their art to add to the quality of life and inspire a community,” said Barbara St. Clair, CEO of Creative Pinellas. “Certainly Leo and Spencer’s work will add color and beauty to their locations. Its secret power, though, is that it celebrates the people who live and work in Lealman, and the community they are building together.”

The works of both artists are the result of a Lealman-focused public survey and community meetings held in the summer, as well as personal tours of the mural locations and the neighborhoods surrounding them.

“I wanted to focus on community and design a positive message with the goal of fostering togetherness," Gomez said, adding that he intends the finished mural to "be an image that residents would be proud to share.”

“This is something that is very close to my heart and, for this project, I am researching the history of Lealman and hope to create a work of art that is immersive, interactive and celebrates the simple beauty and liberation that this unincorporated community is founded on," Spencer said.

“We are very excited to be able to bring the work of artists of Leo and Laura’s caliber into Lealman, but are particularly grateful that they have put so much thought and effort into integrating the history and character of the community into their design process," said Christopher Moore, assistant to the county administrator for the Lealman community. “Creative Pinellas has been hugely helpful in facilitating the process to get us to this point.”

Creative Pinellas and Lealman CRA recently funded a mural completed by Cheryl “Jujmo” Weber at 4633 28th St. N in October as well.

To learn more about the project or the artists and future calls to artists, visit Creative Pinellas website.