St. Pete artist returns to her roots, beautifies Lealman neighborhood through mural painting

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Petersburg artist Laura Spencer lets nothing get in the way of her painting. Not even the rain. 

"Nothing stops me," Spencer shared. "A little bit of rain for a Florida girl is absolutely nothing." 

Her love of art started as a child. 

"I've been studying and working on art since I was a very little kid," Spencer explained. "My aunt and local artists, who were awesome, one was my first art teacher, and that started when I was about five years old." 

Spencer is creating a mural for the Lealman Mural Project, a collaboration between Creative Pinellas, Pinellas County and the Lealman community. 

"It's kind of an exciting way of giving to the community and working with artists and making good things happen," Barbara St. Clair, CEO Creative Pinellas said. 

This mural is being painted on the Mother Kombucha Warehouse in St. Pete. Spencer says the title of the mural is ‘Garden Variety’, and it is a display of native and edible Florida plants. 

READ St. Pete murals celebrate ‘art for art’s sake’ in an outdoor gallery

"What we find is that when people see murals, they start to feel really good," St. Clair said. "They like the mural, it brings beauty and energy to their lives, and it also makes the community more interesting." Spencer grew up in Lealman and it makes her proud to be painting in her hometown. 

"It's wonderful to be painting in Lealman. My mother still lives on the west side of Lealman and I recently became a homeowner here on the east side of Lealman. So, it's really wonderful to beautify a neighborhood that I grew up in," she commented.  

Spencer is providing beautiful artwork to beautify her community. The Lealman Mural Project is about a year old. They have three painted murals completed so far.