Water Street Tampa is a welcoming community with diverse experiences for everyone to enjoy, and art is an important piece of the neighborhood. Perception and experience of art intensifies and clarifies life experiences, contributing to a sense of place. These public artworks help to celebrate the incredible city of Tampa and the cultural values of Water Street Tampa: inclusivity, resiliency, connectivity and well-being.
Public Art
Art in the Community
“The Whale & The Parrot” mural by Alessandro Etsom
“You Belong Here” by Tavares Strachan
“Love Letters”
Mangrove Street Art on Water Street
“WATERFRONTIER” by Ya Levy La’ford
“All the Mornings of the World” by Bosco Sodi
“Peace & Love” neon street art by Adam Fujita
“Three Arcs” by Jim Campbell
“Equality Diversity” an augmented reality art mural by Leon Keer
“Bruces Juices” mural at Meridian Greenway
“The Wanderer” by Mwanel Pierre-Louis
Neighborhood Art
Our neighborhood becomes more vibrant each day with new public art created by local and world-renowned artists.
About the Artists
Tavares Strachan
Standing above Sparkman Wharf and serving as both geographic identifier and guiding principle, Tavares Strachan’s monumental text-based neon installation proclaims “You Belong Here.” Born in Nassau, Bahamas, Strachan’s artworks have been installed around the world, bringing untold stories to our attention and shining a light on social and cultural histories of which we may be unaware. The artist says, “I’m interested in the unknown, I’m interested in mining that gap, trying to find that space between. Art allows me to meander, navigate from one world to another.” You Belong Here is an anthem for Sparkman Wharf’s core values of diversity, connectivity and community.
Ya Levy La’ford
Ya Levy La’ford, a Tampa-based artist, created a site-specific, immersive mural, titled WATERFRONTIER. The mural greets visitors in the Strategic Property Partners’ lobby with its dynamic abstract lines inspired by the contours and urban layout of the waterfront neighborhood of Water Street Tampa. Grounded in La’ford’s distinct style incorporating bold geometric lines, the artwork draws from the district’s pedestrian, streetcar and vehicle pathways. WATERFRONTIER invites viewers to locate themselves within the space, making visible the interconnectedness of the area as a dynamic waterfront and centerpiece of community life.
Alessandro Etsom
Alessandro Conti was born in Bergamo in 1994. He obtained the title of Master of Art at the Andrea Fantoni School of Art. Today he is a professional street artist and spray paint is his main medium within artistic production that includes large-scale murals in public spaces, private commissions and communication and advertising projects through street art. The interaction with the observer and with the context constitutes the main purpose behind the design of an intervention. Etsom takes care of image and message with a great versatility that has convinced brands and agencies at international level to work with him. Since 2016 he has taken part in public art events and festivals. His interventions have appeared in Italy, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
Bosco Sodi
Bosco Sodi, a Mexican-born contemporary artist, lives between New York City and his foundation, Casa Wabi, in Oaxaca, Mexico. The stunning presence of Sodi’s lush, verdant painting, titled All the Mornings of the World, installed in a niche along the staircase enlivens the Strategic Property Partners’ lobby. Wabi-sabi, the Japanese philosophy and aesthetic of acceptance and imperfection, is a powerful reference for Sodi’s art-making process. He finds color inspiration wherever he travels and is drawn to natural pigments. Sodi explains, “The shape and scale of the canvas, the painting as an object that transmits meaning – everything becomes secondary to the experience of color.”
Adam Fujita
Adam Fujita is a Product Designer and artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. His neon style work has been an exploration of protest and resistance through the use of the medium of street art and the internet. Adam has been making political statements and protests with his neon street art and graffiti most of his adult life. He has addressed gender issues, police violence, women’s rights, corporate greed, nativism and more.
Mwanel Pierre-Louis
Mwanel Pierre-Louis is an Artist based out of Miami, Florida. His work combines realism and abstraction in a narrative that draws from personal interactions and pop references. Mwanel’s paintings feature juxtapositions of fragmented experiences and a strong emphasis on the relationship between subject and color.
Born in New York, from Haitian descent, he’s spent time living and absorbing the culture from New York, Miami and Los Angeles. Pierre-Louis attended New World School of the Arts high school program in Miami, Florida and Art Center College of Design’s illustration program in Pasadena, California. His clients include Starbucks, Fader Magazine, Adidas and Atlantic Records. Mwanel’s work has been exhibited in Scope Art Fair during Art Basel, Miami and Switzerland, as well New York City. He’s been apart of the 5th annual POW!WOW! Hawaii’s “Exploring the New Contemporary Movement” in the Honolulu Museum of Art. In 2019, Mwanel had his first solo show with Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles and continues to have more shows with galleries such as Talon, Antler, Spoke Art and Nucleus Galleries.
Leon Keer
Leon Keer is a world leading artist in the anamorphic street art. A message seems to be present in his work. Current issues are reviewed, such as current environmental concerns and the livability of this world. The inspiration behind his mural in Water Street Tampa was finding a contemporary feel that reflected on the diversity of people and businesses located in this new district. A focus on balance and cohesion in diversity with a representation of a collection of minerals which you can see as the colors of the rainbow symbolize gender equality.
