CLEARWATER, Fla. — The city of Clearwater has commissioned an artist to paint giant underwater mural scenes on two water tanks with half the cost of the project being covered by a federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

What You Need To Know

  • City of Clearwater has commissioned an artist to paint 2 water tanks 

  • City won a federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts which covers half the cost

  • Christian Stanley was chosen out of 50 professional artists who applied for the commission 

  • Stanley is painting underwater mural scenes with red drum fish and tarpon

“We were only one-of-two in the Tampa Bay area with the other one going to the University of South Florida,” said Amber Brice, arts and cultural affairs manager. “We were the only one in Pinellas County. So, we were really, really happy.”

Brice said the public utilities department wanted to beautify their water tanks located at 2709 State Road 580. The Clearwater public art and design board chose Christian Stanley to paint the murals out of 50 professional artists who applied for the commission.

“Christian rose to the top as the favorite pretty quickly,” said Brice. “We had the budget for one tank.”

Once the city received the one-to-one matching federal grant it could afford to paint both tanks which cost a total of $60,000, according to Brice.

“Given their prominent location on a well-traveled commuter road, we saw this as a fantastic opportunity for public art,” she said. ”We wanted these murals to focus on water conservation and wildlife.”

Earlier this month, Stanley completed the first mural titled “Tailing” which feature two red drum fish in a mangrove flat. 

“We’re really happy with how it turned out,” he said. “I think the colors and everything really show through.”

The second mural, titled “Silver Kings” features tarpon and it’s expected to be complete in early July.

“We really just wanted to highlight the local ecosystem,” said Stanley. “Really just be bringing this type of nature out of the water and just kind of onto the street for the people of Clearwater.”

The murals are 23-feet tall and 140-feet wide.

Stanley is from Winter Springs, works on murals with his wife and bills himself as the essential Florida artist for the southeast region. He said public art can play a powerful role in developing community identity and showcase what residents value.

“We love just visiting new locations and bringing just art and vibrancy to the street,” said Stanley. “Kind of the uplifting and just general well-being that it brings to the community.”

Brice has been on a mission to bring more public art to Clearwater which she said has been lacking. Last October, she commissioned artists to paint murals in Coachman Park. In March, Brice got businesses in the Gateway neighborhood to agree to have murals painted on their exterior walls.

“I’m trying to bring as much public art to Clearwater as possible,” she said. “A lot of our concentration has been downtown so far. So, this was an opportunity to bring something to the Countryside neighborhood.”