Update 9/4/25: State workers recovered the new street mural overnight, painting the entire street outside black, per the Woodson Museum.
The Florida Department of Transportation failed to completely erase St. Petersburg’s “Black History Matters” street mural when workers painted the pavement last Friday night.
Less than a week later, someone used FDOT’s outline to repaint the message.
No one has taken credit for the work, done early Wednesday morning on the street outside the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum.
Director Terri Lipsey Scott told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that museum leaders don’t know who repainted the mural, but they understand why. “Resistance is real,” Scott said. “Folks are really taking to heart the matter of silencing the voices of those who have been disenfranchised.”
The mural has been at the center of conversation as Ron DeSantis erases public street art using what the Tallahassee Democrat calls a “law that never mentioned crosswalks to erase street art in Florida.”
FDOT District Secretary Justin Hall previously stated that “all costs associated with the removal will be assessed against the City of St. Petersburg.” A city representative told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that “FDOT has not indicated how they plan to pursue reimbursement for costs associated with the murals.”
The original “Black History Matters” mural, completed by a collective of local artists on June 17, 2023, has also found itself in headlines after St. Pete pastors Andy Oliver and Benedict Atherton-Zeman were arrested for sitting on the work and refusing to move shortly after FDOT crews arrived last Friday night.
The often headline-provoking sign at Oliver’s church, Allendale United Methodist, has since read, “To obey the law is not always to be faithful. To be faithful is not always to obey the law.”
The week prior, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch advised residents to “obey the law” when he announced the city would not fight FDOT’s mandate due to the risk of losing state transportation funds.
The Black History Matters mural is just one of dozens in the Bay area being crudely removed by FDOT. Some, like the Progressive Pride crosswalk in St. Pete included rainbow colors, and others, like the FDOT-approved, award-winning recently-painted over crosswalk outside Tampa’s Rampello K-8 school, promoted literacy. Many of the street murals were previously approved by local governments and FDOT before being painted.
Tampa’s infamous ‘Bock the Blub’ pro-police mural was painted illegally, and has since been removed, along with all of Tampa’s street murals, according to WFLA. The new paint job at the “Black History Matters” murals follows action last weekend which saw activists chalk the crosswalk and sidewalks at the recently-painted-over “Progressive Pride” mural.
Reporter Alisha Duroiser contributed to this story.
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