This story was reported and produced by reporter Ashley Reyes.
A movement spreading happiness and positivity through mural artwork in St. Petersburg was started by the creative couple Braden and Alyssa Marie Everly.
“We were thinking to ourselves how incredible would it be if we created a mural movement only around the idea of spreading joy. No ulterior motives, no sales, no marketing, just joy we just want to spread joy. Create something that people will smile at when they drive by,” Alyssa Marie Everly said.
The couple began reaching out to every business and building owner they knew, finding supporters in order to begin their Happy Mural Project.
“Our first wall landed very unintentionally right when everything was shut down due to COVID. So, people were in a pretty anxious place at that time, all they were hearing on the news was all of the negative impacts of COVID, meanwhile, we’re painting this giant mural of these happy sunflowers,” Alyssa said.
Their first mural was outside of Lolita’s Catering and Events in St. Pete. Soon after, homeowners near fossil park commissioned a sunflower mural on the front of their house.
The Everlys began to be a part of a growing group of artists commissioned to paint murals around town. They now have five mural locations around the city.
“Seeing the impact of the people who were stopping by the wall while we were painting it and us just kind of telling them about the happy mural project. That was the initial kind of push for positivity,” Braden Marie Everly said.
They reached out to the community asking people to join the movement by helping paint their newest wall called the Hands of Change.
The mural will be featuring the hands of all colors holding the sunflower signature of the project. It is expected to be revealed tomorrow, located on the side of St. Pete City Theatre.
“As people catch onto the happiness that we are spreading, I think these sunflower walls are going to start popping up everywhere, all of a sudden you’re spreading happiness just by throwing some paint on a wall, it’s incredible,” Braden added.
The Everlys are brightening and bringing the community together one sunflower mural at a time. The Happy Mural Project will continue to grow, expanding from Florida to South Carolina, Illinois and even Italy.
They describe their mission as “showering the walls of this beautiful earth with giant sunflowers. We are a passionate couple that believes that happiness is a choice and we want to help the world smile. By painting a collection of our murals internationally, we will start the ripple effect of joy.”
