In downtown St. Petersburg, the century-old Ventnor Apartments are going out in a blaze of bubblegum glory. The entire block has been washed in pink and turned into a temporary mural park, a final curtain call before the buildings come down to make way for a branded luxury tower.
The Paint It Pink activation stretches across five aging buildings, where more than 20 local artists have covered walls, fences and even tree stumps in bright, camera-ready artwork. Visitors have been flocking to the corner to snap photos and weigh in on their favorite pieces, with public voting on the murals open through April 12.
Art as a last hurrah at Ventnor
The send-off is a collaboration between the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and Valor Real Estate Development, which plans to fold select murals into the future Roche Bobois St. Pete Tower. Valor CEO Moises Agami said the unapologetically pink palette was chosen as a nod to “the ethos of St. Pete” and as a way to honor the site’s long history.
According to FOX 13 Tampa Bay, the St. Petersburg City Council signed off on the redevelopment last July, and demolition of the Ventnor buildings is scheduled to start the week of April 20.
Festival and public vote
To kick things off, Valor staged a free #PaintItPink art festival on March 22, turning the block into an all-day open studio with live mural painting, food trucks and music. Throughout the day, more than 20 muralists worked on-site while crowds wandered through the pink maze of buildings…