Downtown Lakeland is gaining eleven building-sized murals this month. This week they're half-finished, and that state won't come back once the artists pack up. Color Wave Walls, the city's first mural festival, runs Nov. 6 through 14, according to the festival's site. The painting itself started earlier and ends later. The Ledger reported that artists would work from Nov. 4 to Nov. 18.
So the festival is really a construction schedule. A wall you pass on Thursday may look different by Saturday, and the finished piece will stay on that building for years. The murals are meant to stay up long after this week, so the time to watch them happen is now.
Why the Walls Look Different Every Day
The Ledger reported that the murals are painted over several days, "at various hours as heat and weather allow the artists to work," and that residents are encouraged to walk by and check on the progress. Because of that, there's no single viewing time. A morning walk and an evening walk down the same block can show you two different stages of the same wall.
The scale varies a lot from wall to wall. French artist Temponok is spray-painting a mural about 132 feet wide and 40 feet tall on the side of the Truist building at 114 N. Tennessee Ave. That works out to roughly 5,280 square feet. Canadian artist Megan Oldhues's wall at 309 S. Tennessee Ave. is about 1,040 square feet, so the Truist mural covers about five times the area on the same street. A small wall can move from sketch to finished in a few sessions. The Truist wall is the one to check on more than once.
The organizers chose locations with walking in mind. The Ledger reported that co-founder Gillian Fazio and her team went to downtown businesses with prominent walls, "soliciting businesses in prominent public spots that would be visible and walkable." Fazio explained the thinking in that same interview:
"It promotes that concept that we want people to come back to Lakeland, grab coffee or grab dinner and see the new walls."
The Walls, Street by Street
The festival's artist page and The Ledger's list give each artist's hometown and assigned wall. Most of the walls sit in pairs or threes on the same street, so grouping them by street gives you a loop to walk rather than eleven separate stops.
North Kentucky Avenue
- Mwanel Pierre-Louis of Miami, on the south face of 201 N. Kentucky Ave.
- The festival's Community Wall, listed at 201 N. Kentucky Ave., right next to Pierre-Louis's wall
- Reinier Gamboa of Miami, on the north facade of 202 N. Kentucky Ave.
Tennessee Avenue
- Temponok of France, on the north face of the Truist building at 114 N. Tennessee Ave.
- Megan Oldhues, a Toronto-based artist, on the north side of 309 S. Tennessee Ave.
Massachusetts Avenue
- Kitsune Jolene, Belgian-born and based in Australia, on the west-facing facade of 236 N. Massachusetts Ave.
- Naomi Haverland of Orlando, on a church wraparound at 417 N. Massachusetts Ave.
- Nina Valkhoff of the Netherlands, on the south front of 820 Massachusetts Ave.
Florida Avenue
- Greg Mike of Atlanta, on the south-facing wall of 229 S. Florida Ave., where Flowers by Edith is listed in the Downtown Lakeland directory
- Buble Gum of Spain, on the north-facing wall of 701 N. Florida Ave.
Pine Street and Main Street
- Steven Teller of St. Augustine, on the eastern facade of 316 E. Pine St.
- Keith Goodson of Auburndale, at 101 W. Main St.
Goodson is the only Polk County artist on the list. The other painters come from Miami, Orlando, St. Augustine, Atlanta, Canada, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Australia. That spread matches how the field was picked. Polk Arts reported 438 applications from 33 states and 21 countries for the 11 spots. The festival's FAQ says its judges look for a mix of local, national and international artists, and that applying is free.
The Business Owners Picked the Designs
The designs themselves were chosen downtown, one wall at a time. The Ledger reported that the organizers paired each artist with a business owner. Each artist submitted two possible concepts, and the business owner chose the final mural. So the image going up on each wall was chosen by the business that hosts it. That's a different arrangement from a city commissioning a piece and assigning it a location.
The organizers set some content rules too. According to the same Ledger report, nothing heavily political, nothing divisive, no nudity and no objectionable material.
Some businesses came to the festival on their own, and others were recruited. Fazio told The Ledger that "half the walls were applications" and that the team went looking for the other half once word got around. She also said the business owners helped get the walls ready, including trimming back bushes.
The festival was started by two Lakeland artists. Fazio and Katerina Santos met while painting murals at Disney Springs in 2023 and 2024, according to The Ledger. The festival's team page lists Juan Travieso as creative production director. Santos told The Ledger that they took the parts they liked best from festivals elsewhere to build one that is "very family focused and centered around our community in Lakeland."
What's Still Ahead This Week
If you're reading this on Thursday, Nov. 12, there are still two days left to take part, plus several more days of painting after that.
- Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 12, 5 to 9 p.m. The "Wave Maker" artist Q&A and panel at Haus 820, with food and drinks, according to 6AM City's festival preview. Nina Valkhoff's wall is at 820 Massachusetts Ave., so it's worth a look on your way in.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Your second chance to help paint the community mural at the Lakeland Downtown Farmers Curb Market. The Ledger reported these hours for both the Nov. 7 and Nov. 14 sessions. The Downtown Lakeland calendar puts the market on N. Kentucky Ave. between Lemon and Oak streets, the same street as the Pierre-Louis and Gamboa walls.
- Saturday, Nov. 14. Community activation and closing ceremonies, per The Ledger. For times and locations, see colorwavewalls.com.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Longest Table at Munn Park is on the Downtown Lakeland calendar the same day. It isn't a Color Wave event, but it's downtown during the market hours.
- Through Wednesday, Nov. 18. The painting window The Ledger reported keeps going after the closing ceremonies, so some walls may still be getting their final coats next week.
A Saturday plan is easy to put together. Paint at the Curb Market in the morning, walk the two Kentucky Avenue walls next to it, then follow the street list above as far as you like.
Built to Stay, and to Grow
The murals stay after the lifts leave. Fazio told The Ledger that every mural will remain up for at least two years. Each wall will be sealed and get a plaque with the artist's name and information about the piece, and the hope is to build an open-air mural museum around Lakeland.
The festival is planned to happen every other year. The FAQ describes a November festival every other year that brings new artists, some new walls and new community programming, with the stated aim to "begin to sculpt an arts district for Lakeland." Each future round is meant to add to the walls going up now.
The funding is set up for the long run as well. The Color Wave Fund at GiveWell Community Foundation says donations pay for production, artist pay, materials, equipment, lifts, supplies, community engagement and mural preservation. The festival site says money from merchandise sales goes toward "the lifts and liters of paint." Fazio told The Ledger that each artist is paid fairly and also gets support for travel, lodging, paint, equipment and wall preparation.
Downtown property owners who want a wall in the next edition can email the team at [email protected]. According to the FAQ, submitted walls are judged on visibility, accessibility, scale and overall impact within the festival area.
At Premier Realty Network, we've worked in Lakeland long enough to watch downtown blocks change, and a wall that changes week by week is our kind of local news. If you're wondering how downtown's growing public art collection fits into your own plans in Lakeland, schedule a complimentary home consultation with our Lakeland experts.
