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Couple hopes paint-by-number mural reminds community of brighter days

Muralists Braden Everly and his wife, Alyssa, are inviting the community to help them paint a giant color-by-number mural to show unity in their neighborhood.

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — The Happy Mural Project has taken off even faster than its creators would have imagined.

“We came up with the idea of spreading joy through murals,” Braden Everly said. “We’re connecting community members.”

The Happy Mural Project is the brainchild of a St. Pete couple, Everly and his wife, Alyssa Marie. The newlyweds have been painting sunflowers on St. Pete buildings since the start of the pandemic hoping to remind us all of brighter days. To date, they’ve completed five. 

Now, they’re inviting you to paint with them with a color-by-number mural. They’ll sketch the outline for their color-by-number mural on Oct. 28 and invite the community help paint it that weekend, unveiling the finished wall on Nov. 7.

“Essentially what we’re doing here is we’re trying to show we’re all connected,” Marie said.

The mural will be a sunflower display with each flower held by a different hand. It will be called Hands Of Change. Each hand will represent a different person from the community to symbolize unity in the pursuit of happiness.

“We are going to have all these hands on the wall holding the sunflowers and I’m designing the mural in a way that’s going to be a massive color-by-number,” Marie said. “We’re inviting everybody and anybody to come and paint, whether you are – when do you start painting? Two years old? – or 90, we want you to come and paint. It’s just going to be this big happy party with paint.”

Everly agrees.

“If you surround yourself with other happy people then happiness is all you are taking in,” he said. “So this is a perfect opportunity to bring some more people in.”

“Our differences make us beautiful. We believe that life is about growth, connection and love,” reads the Happy Mural Project website. “The Hands of Change mural is a continuation of our hearts and our mission to spread happiness. We invite you to come paint with us and be part of the movement.”

To sign up to paint, visit www.thehappymuralproject.com

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