Art on a Large Scale

Over the past few years, public art proponents — including Jennifer Steele, the executive director of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, and Jayson Kretzer, the executive director of the Bay Arts Alliance in Panama City — have advanced mural initiatives across the region.

Larger-than-life paintings now decorate public buildings, roads, businesses, underpasses, stormwater conduits and boardwalks, connecting cityscapes with our region’s history and wildlife.

This year, the Best of the Emerald Coast Winners Soirée at Grand Boulevard in Sandestin will recognize prominent artists as well as businesses that emerged as winners in an annual poll among Emerald Coast Magazine readers. The event will feature original works by Daniela de Castro Sucre, Sarah Page, Maxine Orange, Lindsay Tobias and Morgan Summers.

Leading up to the Oct. 12 soirée, the five artists have been painting panels, each one related to one of the five senses, that will form parts of a movable mural to be displayed at the event. Homebuilding contractor Luke & Blue’s is building the mobile mural, which will remain on display at Grand Boulevard through Nov. 15 and will be used, going forward, in association with arts  organizations throughout the Emerald Coast.

“We’re thrilled to have these murals in Walton County,” said Stacey Brady, director of marketing and communication for Grand Boulevard, which has long been a promoter of public art. “We believe art can improve the fabric of a community.”

Lindsay Tobias, Santa Rosa Beach. Photo by Sean Murphy

Lindsay Tobias, Santa Rosa Beach

There are two people living inside Lindsay Tobias’ head. One is a health guru who has dedicated years of her life to improving her clients’ well-being — helping them to get pregnant, reverse symptoms and understand their medications. The other, her artist alter-ego, she calls Doman.

“They are literally different identities,” Tobias laughed. “When you introduce yourself as a functional or holistic nutritionist, you’re like, ‘I am peace. I am zen. I am one with nature.’ And then, when you introduce yourself as an artist, you’re like, ‘I am freaking crazy.’”

After six fulfilling years as the founder of Keep Your Plants On, a program focused on gastro intestinal health, hormones and the relationship between food and the body, Tobias is selling the business and handing Doman the reins.

“It sounds cheesy, but art is 100% my most authentic self,” Tobias said. “I’ve really missed getting to be wholly that in the last couple of years. About two years ago, I did my first mural and there was no looking back.”

Art is nothing new for Tobias. Her grandmother, a skilled oil painter, taught Tobias how to sketch and create images as a girl, and she has worked as a professional artist for many years doing business as Art By Doman. Tobias’ art pieces on canvas are symbolic, often melding abstraction and realism. Her murals are more lighthearted.

“I think of murals as more fun, like I’m at a rave,” Tobias said. “I’m at a dance party when I’m doing a mural. When I’m in front of a canvas, I feel like I’m standing in the Louvre.”

Morgan Summers, Panama City. Photo by Lou Columbus

Morgan Summers, Panama City

Known for bold colors and larger-than-life lettering, Morgan Summers has played a huge role in revitalizing the Panama City public arts scene.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Michael in 2018, the Bay Arts Alliance enlisted the help of several muralists who added color to the city as it worked to rebuild. Summers was raised in Panama City but had left years before to pursue a career in Orlando. When she learned that her hometown was investing in its arts community, she knew that Panama City was where she needed to be.

“I think there’s a lot of mythology around the idea that the only place that artists can make a living is in major metropolitan areas,” Summers said. “So, it really means a lot that my community has embraced its artists and is breaking that stereotype.”

Summers dove into mural work, combining her fine art, design and marketing backgrounds with her love of ’60s sign painters to develop a series of murals on display in her studio, Uh Beautiful Mes. In so doing, she gained the confidence to join up with the Bay Arts Alliance and create one of Panama City’s most recognizable murals, titled “Greetings From Panama City.”

The postcard-themed painting, located on an exterior wall at the Bay County Chamber of Commerce, exemplifies Summers’ style. She also has produced murals at El Weirdo Taco Pub, First Watch, Beachy Beach Real Estate and the Publix Sports Park in Panama City Beach.

Maxine Orange, Fort Walton Beach. Photo by Zhalman Harris

Maxine Orange, Fort Walton Beach

One look at a dissected cat was enough to steer Maxine Orange away from studies in anatomy and physiology and back toward her true calling.

“I just decided that I wanted to be an art major, but my mom was like, ‘Okay, you can be an art major, but you have to make sure you’re going to do something where you’re going to be able to get a job.’ That was what led to a major in graphic design and a minor in painting.”

In years since, Orange has succeeded as an assistant art director for Tennis Week magazine in New York, a graphic designer for Quiksilver in California, a wedding portraitist, handbag designer, muralist, gallery owner and splatter-paint studio owner. She is also the vice chair of the Fort Walton Beach Cultural Arts League.

Orange, a resident of Fort Walton Beach since 2012, has painted murals that grace The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island, the Fort Walton Beach Landing and businesses along Scenic Highway 30A. She uses her talents to encourage conservation and environmental stewardship.

In 2022, Orange and a group of other civic-minded artists teamed up with Okaloosa Erase the Trace, a nonprofit that mobilized volunteers to help clean up trash-filled areas in Okaloosa County and paint 12 storm drains. The project depicts a variety of colorful marine wildlife and reminds passersby of the impact of litter on coastal ecosystems.

“Murals are a really cool way to both beautify and make a statement and impact the community,” Orange said.

Sarah Page, Defuniak Springs. Photo by Alex Lewis

Sarah Page, Defuniak Springs

She calls herself an adventure artist.

“I have mixed passions between art and the environment,” said Defuniak beach muralist Sarah Page. “I like to incorporate a lot of outdoor inspiration. It’s fun to inspire others to love and protect the outdoors through my art.”

Page is a lover of hiking and travel whose path to artistry has itself been an adventure. In 2007, the Georgia native moved to Tampa to attend the University of South Florida. She later embarked on a 10-year career in marketing and graphic design in the nonprofit sector.

In 2018, Page successfully applied to paint a mural for the Shine St. Pete Mural Festival. She was hooked. Six months later, she quit her job and decided to pursue Sarah Page Art full time.

“The courage kind of came along the way,” Page said. “One thing happened, and I got a little more confidence. Then another thing happened, and that boosted it a little bit more. I had a really good job, but when your heart knows, it just knows.”

In 2020, Page moved to the Emerald Coast. Today, her brightly painted pelicans, pirate parrots and radiating sunsets are seen in many Destin, Santa Rosa Beach and Sandestin locations.

“Public art transforms neighborhoods,” Page said. “It creates a sense of safety and community. Of course, I didn’t know that going in. I’m learning that along the way, but it’s like having your own personal billboard, and you get to paint it. What could be better than that?”

Daniela de Castro Sucre, Pensacola. Photo by Bridges Breeze Photography

Daniela de Castro Sucre, Pensacola

Pensacola muralist Daniela de Castro Sucre’s works are often enormous in scale, but each brush stroke is intentional and meaningful.

She grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and began taking art classes while young. At 15, she and her family moved to South Florida and connected with family friend and renowned Spanish realist Conchita Firgau, who took Castro Sucre under her wing. 

“It was almost like a master apprenticeship at her studio,” Castro Sucre said. “I studied with her for three years. She basically taught me how to see things.”

As a child, Castro Sucre obsessed over the veins and textures of leaves. Studying under Firgau, she learned to capture such detail in her work. In college, she spent hours bent over microscopes. Castro Sucre’s love of detail is evident in her large-scale depictions of plants, animals and hands — a few of her favorite subjects.

Castro Sucre has pulled from many experiences to arrive at her current style. Her studies in graphic design, for example, led to a fascination with saturated color palettes, a departure from her Spanish realism training.

“I used to be more of a miniature painter,” she said. “I painted with tiny, little brushes, and I was happy to do little canvases. Now that I’ve been a muralist for six years, I paint gigantic canvases, because it has affected me that much.”