PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus has a new look in honor of Juneteenth.

The bus is now covered in vibrant, colorful artwork created by Polk County artist Sharard Saddlers. The design takes up each side of a PSTA bus — 37 feet long and nearly 9 feet high. Saddler’s design was voted on both internally and externally on social media in April.  

Saddlers, who says he started painting about three years ago, titled his artwork, “A Path of Courage, Unity and Love.”

“I’m self taught, so it’s not like I took a class,” he said. “I started on cardboard, so I would just get a piece of cardboard from the job. I was working at Burger King.”

Since then, he’s seen his work in museums, on T-shirts and in art competitions all over Florida. But he said having his work featured on the side of a bus in honor of Juneteenth is his proudest moment.

“I feel like Juneteenth, just like any other black holiday — it’s a joyous event for unity," he said. "It’s something that deals with our history. So I really wanted to have the history piece included and not just the celebration but how we got there."