Downtown Hollywood Mural Project

mural by Lebo        Downtown Hollywood is being transformed into a canvas for some of South Florida’s best artists. The Mural Project, organized by the City of Hollywood and Jill Weisberg of the Schrift & Farbe Design Group, is changing the face of the city with the artistic reflections of life in Hollywood. The third artist, Jessy Nite, is getting ready to add some color to the city walls.

Talking about the initial idea for the project Jill Weisberg shares, “I read an article in the Miami Herald on a proposed law presented to the Hollywood City Commission to allow murals to be painted in the Downtown Hollywood ‘Live Music District.’ I contacted the Mayor to see if I could get involved because of my extensive experience with street art murals and the fact that I am a Hollywood native. The Mayor connected me with the Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency and after the commission approved the new law, we planned out what the murals program would be like.”  

All planned and ready to go, the City of Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) launched the Downtown Hollywood Mural Project in August with celebrated cartoon artist David “Lebo” LeBatard.  Lebo mural detail

His jazz-inspired mural entitled “Be-Bop Into Outer Space”, located at 1832 South Young Circle across from the Arts Park, was the first mural in the program, followed by acclaimed street and gallery artist Ruben Ubiera, whose mural, “83 Degrees and Sunny” spans over 70 feet of the Downtown Hollywood Ramada’s front façade located at 1925 Harrison Street.

The murals will be as diverse as the artists and the people of Hollywood, reflect various aesthetics and explore numerous topics around life in Florida. Says Weisberg, “So far Lebo’s and Ruben's murals have been figurative and have explored a music-based theme. Ruben's mural is also about the city of Hollywood as a community. Jessy's mural is more abstract. Visually it will be high-contrast and have kaleidoscoping gemstones. All of these murals are artist directed, which is a very important aspect of this program. Basically the artist is free to do what they like so long as the property owner is on board.”  mural by Ruben Ubiera - work in progress

Owners, citizens and art enthusiast will be delighted to see the completion of the 10 major murals and enjoy the sights on a daily basis. Other artists chosen for the project include Luis Pinto, Tatiana Suarez, Michelle Weinberg and Daniel Fila to name a few, so there will be some major public artwork gracing the walls of downtown Hollywood. The artists were chosen based on style, diversity, unique character in their work, experience and clout. The chosen artists have all had national and international museum or gallery shows and have been brought together by the curatorial vision of Weisberg.  mural detail - Ruben Ubiera

Next up is the corner of the building at 1901 Harrison Street, which will be transformed into a 18 by 22 foot piece of art by Jessy Nite.

“I really like the beautiful building so the mural will be site specific, incorporating the corner. The mural is influenced by the actual building and will include my signature style diamond shapes in a graphic kaleidoscope,” explains Nite and adds “ I will create a bold, friendly, colorful and graphic interpretation of the space. I want to turn the building into a colorful landmark for people to enjoy.”

Jessy NiteNite will be painting her mural live during the district’s monthly Art Walk on Saturday, October 20th at 7 pm. An accomplished multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer, Nite expects to spend more than 100 hours on upcoming Saturdays and Sundays from sunrise till dark to bring her vision to life.

The building at 1901 Harrison Street “offers the perfect site for a mural as it is a corner building that boasts a highly visible second floor,” said property manager Ben Schiff. “The design of the mural and reputation of the artist, Jessy Nite, are sure to generate a lot of positive attention.”

The Downtown Hollywood Mural Project is a great example of how to incorporate art into the public space and present a unique identity to Hollywood via art that represents the people who inhabit said space. The new landmarks are not just a joy to look at but also create an interest in art and appreciation of local artists.

A tip for the art collectors: Jessy Nite will create a series of paintings to commemorate the building and her mural, which will be available on her webstore this month.

For more information on the Downtown Hollywood Mural Project, please visit

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