WALL+A

Walls for Art, Learning, and Local Activation

About the Project

Wall-A

WALL+A — Walls for Art, Learning, and Local Activation — is KCCI’s creative placemaking initiative powered by its 2026 Catalyst Class, using bold public art to transform everyday spaces into vibrant community landmarks across Tallahassee. By activating corridors and campuses alike, WALL+A strengthens neighborhoods, celebrates local creativity, and invests in the places where people live, learn, and gather.

In partnership with SoMo Walls, we are transforming South Monroe Street into a dynamic outdoor arts destination. Featuring eight large-scale murals across stacked shipping containers, the installation creates a striking visual gateway for the Southside — driving tourism, fostering pride, and encouraging continued community investment.

Complementing this corridor activation, WALL+A is returning meaningful, lasting art to eight local school campuses. Building on strong community partnerships, the initiative turns campus walls into creative spaces that inspire students, strengthen neighborhood identity, and deepen connections between schools and their communities.

Together, these projects reflect the heart of WALL+A — leveraging art as a catalyst for economic vitality, educational enrichment, and long-term community transformation.

Investing in the Southside

SoMo Walls is a bold public art initiative transforming South Monroe Street into a vibrant outdoor gallery and arts destination that celebrates Tallahassee’s creativity while driving tourism, opportunity, and community investment in the Southside.

Eight large-scale murals painted across stacked shipping containers will form a cohesive, photogenic landmark and strong visual identity for South Monroe Street. Offering a welcoming atmosphere, the space features accessible sidewalks, 24/7 lighting, and a striking metal sculpture — creating a destination residents and visitors recognize, share, and return to.

As Leon County’s largest public art installation, SoMo Walls will serve as a year-round attraction advancing Southside revitalization goals. Public art doesn’t just transform spaces — it multiplies impact, with every $1 invested generating up to $4 in economic benefit through increased visitation, rising property values, and stronger local businesses.

The Call for Artists closed February 27. 

The Opportunity

Bringing Back Art to Schools

Recognizing the powerful impact of art on students, KCCI is excited to return meaningful public art to eight school campuses — inspiring creativity, motivation, and pride for generations to come. Partner schools include DeSoto Trail Elementary, Hartsfield Elementary, Kate Sullivan Elementary, Sabal Palm Elementary, W.T. Moore Elementary, Cobb Middle, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Developmental Research School (FAMU DRS), and Florida State University (FSU).

These locations build on relationships formed through KCCI’s 2023 Crosswalks to Classrooms initiative, which used public art to promote school pride, strengthen neighborhood identity, and improve pedestrian safety. While the original crosswalk artwork is no longer in place, Walls for Art brings meaningful, lasting art directly into school spaces — activating campus walls as tools for learning, creativity, and community connection.

Research on school-based mural projects shows that vibrant, student-centered art increases pride and motivation to care for campus spaces, strengthens students’ sense of belonging, and helps reduce anxiety by creating more welcoming and inspiring environments. Through collaboration with school leaders, parent-teacher organizations, students, and community members, each campus will feature placemaking elements that reflect its unique identity — fostering connection, ownership, and positive school culture across Tallahassee.

 

Art Locations

Invest in Art. Invest in Community.

Supporting WALL+A means investing in more than public art; it means strengthening neighborhoods, inspiring students, and helping Tallahassee thrive. From transforming South Monroe Street into a vibrant arts destination that drives tourism and economic growth, to returning meaningful art to school campuses that fosters pride, belonging, and creativity, WALL+A creates lasting community impact. By partnering with KCCI, sponsors become part of a citywide movement that uplifts local artists, activates shared spaces, and gives back to the places that shape our future.

Ready to join the WALL+A movement? Become a sponsor today. 

Click here to view our sponsorship letter.

Meet Our Team

This year’s team is working to reclaim the spirit of Tallahassee through creativity and collaboration using placemaking tools. KCCI team members include:

Meet the 2026 Catalyst Team

Thanks to our generous sponsors

Hartsfield Elementary

Hartsfield was one of several schools forced to remove its student-painted crosswalk last year at the direction of the Florida Department of Transportation.

Now, that art is back. It is now featured on a colorful wind screen that runs the length of the playground fence right near Hartsfield’s front entrance.

“The students were extremely surprised,” Hartsfield Elementary School Principal John Olson said. “We didn’t tell them about the surprise so they came back to school today and some of the students remember painting the crosswalk. They were thrilled to see the same artwork on the school fence.”

Student reactions were priceless and some of the excitement and energy was captured by local media outlets WCTV and WTXL. Watch WTXL’s story here, WCTV’s here, take a moment to watch KCCI’s video on Instagram or read the My View by KCCI Community Catalyst volunteer Tangela Lofton.

This couldn’t have been done without the generous support of Awards4U!

Southside Public Arts Initiative | SOMO Walls Murals

The KCCI team is leading the creation of Leon County’s largest public art installation — a year‑round, fully accessible destination in the Southside that advances the goals of the Southside CRA as well as the South Monroe/South Adams and South City neighborhoods. This mural project will transform the South Monroe corridor into a vibrant outdoor arts destination.

Featuring eight large‑scale murals across a series of eight stacked shipping containers, the installation will form a striking visual gateway for the Southside, driving tourism, fostering community pride, and encouraging continued investment. This project is a collaboration between nonprofit, public, and private partners. It is made possible through the Knight Creative Communities Institutes leadership, led by KCCI’s 2026 Community Catalyst team and supported by KCCI’s partners, and in collaboration with the City of Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and SOMO Walls.

For more details, click here.

Cobb Middle

W.T. Moore Elementary

Sabal Palm Elementary

The new art installation will include a 100‑foot celebration of hope, creativity, and community pride—created by the children who need it most. Sabal Palm Elementary, Leon County’s only Community Partnership School, serves students from the poorest ZIP code in Florida. Yet despite the challenges they face, these students radiate resilience, talent, and a deep sense of community, and this KCCI project is giving them a powerful way to express it. KCCI is bringing their voices to life through a 100‑foot outdoor mural, professionally produced from 175 individual student artworks, each centered on the theme “Community Is Family.” Every child will create a 12×12 piece—drawn, colored, or painted—that becomes part of a massive, unified artwork installed on a durable windscreen material along the school’s front fence. Built to withstand Florida’s sun and weather, this mural will brighten the campus for years.

The installation will culminate in a community unveiling event in May with students, families, local partners, and supporters—an uplifting moment of pride for a neighborhood that deserves to be seen and celebrated. It’s more than a mural. It’s a message of unity, hope, and possibility—created by kids, with their community, for their community.

Kate Sullivan Elementary

The Kate Sullivan Elementary ground mural will transform the school’s main entrance into a vibrant, walk‑through ecosystem that immerses students and visitors in the habitat of the American crocodile, the school’s mascot. Designed as a colorful, place‑based learning experience, the mural highlights the interconnected freshwater, estuarine, and coastal environments found throughout Florida—featuring sawgrass marshes, cypress domes, mangrove shorelines, wading birds, and underwater species essential to Florida’s food webs. Visible day and night along the high‑traffic Miccosukee Road corridor, this installation will enhance STEAM learning, strengthen school pride, and create a photogenic community landmark. More than public art, it is a daily invitation for students, families, and neighbors to explore Florida’s ecosystems, celebrate native wildlife, and support environmental stewardship. It is a creative, fun, and and educational way to walk in and out of school each day!

DeSoto Trail Elementary

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Developmental Research School (FAMU DRS)

The original artistic crosswalks at FAMU DRS became an instant source of pride—students beamed knowing their ideas shaped something permanent and visible on campus. Unfortunately, they were removed due to a new state mandate in 2025. However, the community is coming together to bring the art back bigger and better.  That sense of ownership and community spirit is exactly why school leadership and KCCI are now working closely with students to determine the best way to revive that beloved artwork. The goal is to honor the original spirit of the crosswalks while creating something even more lasting and visible. While details are still being shaped through community conversations, one exciting idea is to reimagine the artwork as a large‑scale welcome mural—either on a school wall or along the campus fence. This new installation would echo the same creative energy that made the crosswalks so meaningful. More updates are coming soon, but the vision is clear: bring back the art that made students proud, strengthen school identity, and create a vibrant, welcoming landmark that reflects the heart of the FAMU DRS and neighboring community.

Florida State University (FSU)