Scene from the Sidewalk

All photos by Randall Cole: Taking a closer look at some of the world's great street art |

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"FUTURISTIC FEMALES"

by ShellShaker

Murals have a the ability to transform any given space and environment and possess a level of impact that traditional canvas paintings or prints don't quite provide. —ShellShaker

Chinese American multi-disciplinary artist ShellShaker says she dropped out of art school in her "quarrelsome 20s"  but a decade later "the creative whispers started to turn into screams." "Something magical happens" she says "when you walk away from the expectations of others and start to pay attention to that inner calling." In early 2024 ShellShaker joined (left to right) @bacpac_live, @artthoutifa, and @paige.reesor.art at @The_Styles_Shop for Futuristic Females night as part of First Fridays Art Walk in Phoenix's Grand Ave Arts District's. 

LOCATION: 1020 Grand Ave unit B1 Phoenix, AZ 85007

IG: @shellshaker

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ALBERTA, PORTLAND

by Jesse Reno

Living and working out of a converted church in Portland, Oregon, self-taught Jesse Reno says he's created more than 4,000 paintings over the past 20 years and usually has a dozen paintings in progress at a time. Reno describes his symbolism-rich work as Contemporary Primitive (a basic wisdom of things based on connection to one's ideas and dreams rather than institutional knowledge) and Abstract Narrative (creations made up of intuitive actions and changing directions as forms emerge). He describes painting as "finding treasure." This treasure was painted in 2018 for @CollagePDX at Alberta St and NE 17th Ave.

Photos ©2024 Randall Cole https://scenefromthesidewalk.blog/

LOCATION: 1639 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211

IG: @jessereno

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"HARMONY" by Gleo

Whether working large or small Colombian artist Gleo "maintains a common language: color and shapes, elements that in turn create dialogue with the spaces built by the human imaginary." Gleo says "we all form one with nature" and her work searches for a universal language to describe the human experience. In 2021 she created this work for the @ShineOnStPete festival as a tribute to two people who's love and teaching have transformed her. Photos ©2024 Randall Cole

LOCATION: 2336 5th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

IG: gleo_co

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"MIRACLE FOR COLUMBIA"

by Milagros Collective

Named one of the world's 25 "Coolest Film Festivals" Columbia, South Carolina's Indie Grits festival provides opportunities for filmmakers often overlooked elsewhere. In 2017 the festival theme was "Visiones" and was all about Latinx representation in the U.S. and as part of festival Milagros Collective—founded by Felici Asteinza and Joey Fillastre—painted this mural at Taylor and Assembly Streets. The mural is offered as a good luck charm for the Latinx community and features good luck offerings from a variety of Latin American countries.  Photos ©2023 Randall Cole https://scenefromthesidewalk.blog/

LOCATION: 1101 Taylor St, Columbia, SC 29201

IG: @milagrosyall  

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FREE WEST PAPUA

by Dale Grimshaw

Born in Northern England, Dale Grimshaw credits drawing and painting with helping him through a difficult childhood. After an extensive gallery career Grimshaw began spending more of his time painting outdoors and his work is inspired by strongly held humanitarian beliefs. Grimshaw's work has exposed many to his message of support for the Free West Papua movement, but he says "this political message is always achieved by an emphasis on powerful direct emotions and a deep empathy for his subjects." This 2019 mural was painted in Greensboro, NC as part of the @KotisStreetArt effort to transform the landscape of the city

LOCATION: 2416 Battleground Ave, Greensboro, NC 27408

IG: @dale_grimshaw

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BAD ASTRONAUT

by Floyd Medoza III

In mid-2022 as the world still struggled to find some new normal the people of Houston emerged from their homes to discover a new 36,000 sq ft brewery at Fulton and Burnett Streets, dedicated to providing an "out of this world experience"—Bad Astronaut. Supporting Houston's emerging street art scene has been part of their vision from day one and their walls are covered with work curated by the annual @SprayCityWalls festival. In 2023 Pasadena, Texas, artist Floyd Mendoza III added this on-point wall. Working in a wide range of mediums and styles Mendoza has done work for the Houston Rockets and Crown Royal and is always on the lookout for new ways to stretch his creativity. 

LOCATION: 1519 Fulton St, Houston, TX 77009

IG: @mendoza.creates  @badastronautbrewing

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"CHILD LABOR"

by Hopare

While one girl applies makeup her friend collects mica, a mineral commonly used in makeup. In 2023 Hopare created this allegory on Fannin St in downtown Houston, addressing the connections between child labor and consumption and the contradictions of modern society. The mural is one of more than two dozen large works curated by @StreetArtMankind around Houston as part of its "Big Art, Bigger Change" project—bringing beauty to the city while also promoting social and environmental justice. In little more than a decade French artist Alexandre Monteiro, aka Hopare, has become an important figure in urban art, adding his poignant visual statements across the global stage. 

LOCATION: 1617 Fannin St, Houston, TX 77002

IG: @hopare1  

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"COMMUNITY IS ESSENTIAL"

by Nik Richard

Nik Richard is an urban planner and artist from New Orleans and currently teaches advanced illustration at Loyola University. Richard uses his art to narrate his journey and the colorful life and history of the people and environment of Southern Louisiana. In 2021 Richard was asked to paint "Community Is Essential" for the new @YayaArtsCenter in New Orleans' Central City. This mural sits across the street from the former Flint-Goodridge Hospital, which served primarily Black patients in New Orleans so, using his mother as muse for the composition, Richard's work reflects on the role of culture, health and healthcare, and social justice in defining "essential community." 

LOCATION: 3322 Lasalle St, New Orleans, LA 70115

IG: @nikrichard  

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"THE MANGROVE REFUGE"

by Michael Vasquez

St Pete native Michael Vasquez describes his work as "exploring identity and the cultivation of community amidst an inherent disposition of broken homes inside marginalized neighborhoods." often relying on his own photos of friends Vasquez's figurative paintings narrate neighborhood events and tribulations as his subjects navigate the pressures of peers and society at large. For the 2023 edition of ShineOnStPete festival Vasquez painted the Vorasane Family and Friends, a displaced set of Lao immigrants. The scene is set about 1980 on Gandy Beach in Tampa Bay with a 1978 Datsun 280Z serving as "centerpiece and point of pride," while the solitary gazes allude to some deeper story. 

LOCATION: 2063 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33713

IG: @michaelvasquez_  

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"LINEAGE"

by Add Fuel

Portuguese artist Diogo Machado started out using the name Add Fuel to the Fire, painting "a cast of slimy, eccentric and joyful creatures" influenced by interests ranging from sci-fi to video games. In 2008, refocusing his work around the symmetry and repetition of traditional Portuguese tile designs, Machado shortened his moniker to Add Fuel. Creating a visual dialogue between heritage and modernity relevant to the global stage on which he works, Add Fuel says local exploration and investigation is an integral part of his process. In Cincinnati in 2022 for the @BlinkCincinnati Festival, Add Fuel relied on the stories and history of @RookwoodPottery to guide this composition occupying the "space between pattern and figurative." 

LOCATION: 1714 Race St, Cincinnati, OH 45202

IG: @addfuel 

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"THE COMMUTER"

by Nicole Salgar

"This is a representation of the pathways we follow through transitions and transformations throughout our lives." Influenced by her Latin roots and passion for horror, sci-fi, and folk art, Miami-based Nicole Salgar says this piece is a portrayal of a gatekeeper to other dimensions and realities. "Ultimately" she says, "this mural is a culmination of the feminine spirit of all things being tied together through reality, nature, dreams, space, and time. A boundless energy which makes up the entire universe.“ Salgar says much of her work does not allow her artistic freedom, but appreciated that this 2021 work for the Shine Festival in St Pete gave her that complete license.

LOCATION: 615 23rd St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

IG: @nmsalgar  @shineonstpete

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"HARMFUL ALGAE BLOOMS"

by IBOMS

"Did you know harmful algae blooms have tripled since 1984, closing beaches, causing people illnesses, and killing marine life?" In 2020, for year six of St Pete's Shine Mural Festival, @StPeteArtsAlliance partnered with  @PangeaSeed Foundation and produced a special Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans edition. For his contribution on the west wall of the Grand Central Brewhouse Jabari Reed-Diop, aka IBOMS, depicted the harmful impact of red tides in a way that also stays true to his artistic style.

LOCATION: 2340 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

IG: @i.b.o.m.s  @shineonstpete

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"HIERO"

by Detour

“I am obsessed with the practice of my craft,” says Massachusetts-born artist Hiero Veiga. Now based in Florida Hiero has been spray painting since age 12 but has long since moved on to increasingly complex portraits, scenery, and psychedelic art. In 2022 Thomas Evans, aka Detour, asked for permission to paint a portrait of Hiero and battled heavy rains to create this stunning wall for @outerspaceproject in downtown Atlanta. Detour describes his work as the point where art and innovation meet, and his ever-evolving work challenges fine art paradigms and expands our views on creativity. 

LOCATION: 95 Pryor St SW, Atlanta, GA 30303

IG: @detour303  @hieroveiga

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"DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR"

by Nils Westergard

In 2017 Richmond, VA photographer Selah Marie, aka @VisualNarrator crafted a floral headpiece for a stunning photo she titled "Don't Touch My Hair." A year later prolific Richmond artist Nils Westergard leaned heavily on Selah's image in painting this mural behind @DramandDraughtGSO at Gate City Blvd and Eugene St in Greensboro, NC. Greensboro arts organizer @KotisStreetArt says Westergard's mural is "a continuation of a series of floral inspried portaiture that attempts to express the sometimes overwhelming affect of organic beauty."

LOCATION: 300 W Gate City Blvd, Greensboro, NC 27406

IG: @nilsrva  

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BLINK CINCINNATI

by Mr June

In late 2020, as St Pete's Grand Central Brewhouse was still preparing to open. Music loving founder Kevin Milkey wanted to honor the previous business in that location and its popular record cover-lined walls. He turned to local Tampa Bay artist Carrie Jadus to paint this larger than life imaginary gathering of Bob Marley, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Eddie Vedder, and John Legend. At that point the hardest part of the project began, says Jadus. A massive scavenger hunt through countless   

LOCATION: 1618 Elm St, Cincinnati, OH 45202

IG: @davidjunelouf @blinkcincinnati

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"RECOLLECTIONS"

by Steven Teller

Florida artist Steven Teller uses human figures, animals, and nature to offer a momentary step into a different space. "There is nothing more wondrous than the beauty of the natural world" he says, and his positive representations offer "metaphors of growth." Teller says his 2019 painting of singer/songwriter @dejah.symone for @samflaxorlando was his first time painting with only spray cans. "Just about tripled my speed on this piece, and can't wait to dive deeper into the can game!"

LOCATION: 1800 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL 32803

IG: @steventellerarts   IG: @scenefromthesidewalk

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"LAST CALL"

by Carrie Jadus

In late 2020, as St Pete's Grand Central Brewhouse was still preparing to open, music loving founder Kevin Milkey wanted to honor the previous business in that location and its popular record cover-lined walls. He turned to local Tampa Bay artist Carrie Jadus to paint this larger than life imaginary gathering of Bob Marley, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Eddie Vedder (featured in detail), and John Legend. At that point the hardest part of the project began, says Jadus. A massive scavenger hunt through countless photos ultimately yielded images where they appeared to be genuinely interacting....and now countless more patrons have photos of themselves interacting with Carrie's work.  

LOCATION: 2340 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

IG: @jadusfineart  @grandcentralbrewhouse