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Sarasota's 'Calls for Walls' helping spread art across the city

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Published  June 25, 2025 4:39pm EDT
Sarasota
FOX 13 News
Calls for murals to be painted in Sarasota

Calls for murals to be painted in Sarasota

FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon shares the calls from the city of Sarasota to bring more artwork to all parts of the city without using tax payer dollars.

The Brief

    • A mural painted to recognize Sarasota’s black pioneers, Lewis and Irene Colson, will be dedicated on July 3.
    • The City of Sarasota is seeking walls with high visibility and artists to help bring murals to life.
    • Murals are funded through developer fees and with no expense to taxpayers.

SARASOTA, Fla. - If you’ve driven around downtown Sarasota you have likely seen some new art going up.

They include murals, painted on local buildings.

It’s part of the city’s ‘Call for Walls.’

The murals also showcase Sarasota’s history.

The City is looking for blank walls with high visibility, to bring art into all parts of Sarasota.

In Sarasota’s Rosemary District, a new mural caught the attention of Debbie visiting from out of town.

"It adds color, it adds interest," she said.

The mural is painted on a gym wall of Sarasota School of Arts and Science by local artist Kaitlyn Ramirez, known as Swirly Painter.

"I think it’s really nice. I like that it adds to the feel around town. It links to the arts that are down here," said Debbie.

The mural pays homage to the Rev. Lewis Colson and his wife Irene, a mid-wife.

"Lewis Colson was actually a surveyor for the city of Sarasota before it was even created. He’s known to have driven the first stake to plot Sarasota," said Ciera Coleman the City of Sarasota’s Public Art Administrator.

The Colsons are pioneers of the area once known as Overtown, a historic black district.

"It’s really exciting to see people respond to the murals and go and look up the COLSON'S and start to understand the impact they had on this area," said Coleman.

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Local perspective:

The mural is part of the ‘Call for Walls’ initiative.

It’s a partnership between the City of Sarasota and private building owners to install art across the city.

Past projects include a tribute to Sarasota’s circus history.

"All of these murals really involve a lot of neighborhood participation. We really want them to be really compatible with the neighborhood," explained Coleman.

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What's next:

The Colson mural will be recognized during a dedication ceremony on Thursday, July 3, at 10 a.m. outside the Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences gymnasium.

The city is also looking for an artist to paint a large-scale mural on 10th and Osprey.

"They're looking for someone who can paint Florida, Flora and Fauna with a focus on native birds. We are looking for areas across the city and districts and neighborhoods that don’t have a lot of public experiences and trying to find locations that are high impact and supported by the community," said Coleman.

READ: Woman creates art from old cardboard material

What you can do:

To find out more you can visit the city website at this link.

To be considered as an artist, you can email: PublicArt@SarasotaFL.gov.

The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon through the City of Sarasota.

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