- July 16, 2026
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Artist Serena Phillips loves to create canvas paintings, and she has been working towards murals.
When she found out about a mural contest held by Epic Rockworks, a local custom rock and waterfall grotto builder, she was "immediately in," she recounted.
As one of the artists selected through a popular vote, based on a proposal they submitted on provided themes, she was at work on the wall Saturday morning.
As the sun moved higher into the sky, a fortress was taking shape on Phillips' portion of the wall, rising from rock and producing fire while encircling water.
Epic Rockworks owner Anthony Gimenez decided to host the event following a conversation with Sarasota County's code enforcement.
He received a code violation for an Epic Rockworks banner on the wall of his property, located at the intersection of North Tuttle Avenue and 61st Street. He agreed to take it down, but was interested to learn the same rules did not apply to paint.
Five artists were selected, with four ultimately turning out.
The vote to determine the winner will involve three Sarasota judges: Christina Baril, curator and director of exhibitions at Art Center Sarasota; Robyn Holl, cultural curator of Art Ovation Hotel and Clifford McDonald, founder of Art4Change, Inc. The general public also voted on Facebook.
The contest is offering a $500 first prize, $250 second prize and $100 third prize. The results are planned to be announced Thursday at noon, with voting closing on Wednesday at midnight.
"I'm interested in art, and when I saw on Facebook he was doing murals and stuff, I was interested in painting a mural," said Patricia MacLean, who painted "Spring Origin."
She calls herself "just like a wannabe artist."
"I enjoy it," she noted.
Artist Marisa Lara called it interesting that someone wanted to offer non-commercial artists the opportunity to work on the wall.
Lara last produced a mural in 2016, in her father's wife's salon in Quito, Ecuador, and was eager to paint one again.
“The format of having it on such a large scale and the process of taking a sketch in your sketchbook and reproducing it on a wall and having everybody enjoy it is really gratifying for an artist,” she said.
Her piece, "The Grotto," featured a waterfall of hands, tying the concept of civilization to water.
Artists had about a week to prepare after the winners were announced, according to Gimenez.
"Pretty much every night since I found out I won, I've been sketching, buying supplies, promoting the event," Lara said.
She had some helping hands from her family, so to speak, with cutouts of family members’ hands to use as stencils, as well as the help of her husband, Mitchell Lara, also an artist; who filled in parts of the mural.
“The fastest part of the mural is actually putting it up because you do a lot of planning ahead of time,” she said.
Ginger Kreithen, a recent graduate of Pine View School, is now on her seventh mural, with her first at Sugar Boba and Pho in Nokomis.
After a teacher pointed out the competition to her, she signed up for Facebook just to register.
Kreithen has her own art business and paints pet portraits, custom commissions and murals, and also recently started her own club for painting nails. She plans to major in business at the University of Florida in the fall, using her degree towards her art.
Drawing from a picture of a northern spring in Florida, she added rocks and a heron, as she said she loves painting Florida nature and wildlife.
"It's an incredible opportunity, especially because these murals are on Tuttle, and even if they're not going to be there for long, still it's, like, insane," she said. "For example, the first mural that I painted, I put my phone number on it, and three weeks later, somebody already texted me and said, 'Hey, will you come paint a giant fish at my house?' So even having somewhere as small as that can give you so many different opportunities, so just bringing that to a larger scale on a big road is going to be amazing."
As Phillips worked that morning, she said she felt she was making progress. She used AI to generate the image, which she then sketched in a small version.
She said while she calculated incorrectly, making the painting wider than she intended, and while there were many aspects she thought she could be doing differently, she was glad to be painting.
"We’ll see what happens," she said. "It may be great. It may just be OK, and it doesn't matter because I get to paint, and as long as I'm painting, I'm happy. And I get to bring my boyfriend along with me and have him support me along the way.”
The murals are intended to be temporary, as Gimenez plans to add additional rock texture to the wall, covering that area. However, he said that, after seeing the results of the competition, he was considering finding a way to build the texture around the paintings.
“I'm in awe, a bit emotional, because I can't believe that they could turn such a plain wall into something that is not just visually appealing; it's emotionally drawing," he said. "It evokes emotion and feeling. I'm honored that they took the time to express themselves on the wall. I'm even excited that they have the opportunity to get this kind of exposure, even though it is temporary."
