I regularly drive past Sunset Park on the way to my favorite beach, so I’ve watched the slow progress of this public art installation with some interest. Late last month was the official ribbon cutting for The Sunshine City Mosaic, a project that took three local artists (Alex Kaufman, George Retkes, and Laura Spencer) over three years to complete.

That might seem like a lengthy amount of time until you consider that work on the mosaic mural was interrupted by not one but two hurricanes last year. And, at 175′ it’s also officially the longest in Florida, as well as in the greater Southeast. No small feat.

I stopped by early this week and not only was blown away by the beautifully detailed scenes that depict St. Petersburg’s natural wildlife, but by the sheer number of hand-laid tiles. Even more amazing when you consider that each of the 15,000 tiles was cut by hand. Easy to understand why the artists consider their walkable mural to be a labor of love!