Fourteen months ago, city crews sandblasted the painted sidewalks of Bradenton's Village of the Arts. Seven months ago, the neighborhood answered with murals on buildings, fences and private walls. This fall's run of events ends with the 22nd Annual Festival of the Skeletons on November 6 and 7. It is the first stretch of crowd weekends since that new art went up, and the murals are the landmarks visitors will use to find their way around the Village.
The Old Map Was Painted on the Ground
The sidewalk art was decoration, and it was also how people found their way. When the paintings came off, Dawn Collins of The Village Mystic told the Bradenton Herald that "a lot of the time, these sidewalks were kind of like landmarks." Artists used them to send visitors toward a gallery or a place to eat. "Turn at the Alice in Wonderland painting" was a standard set of directions.
The order came from the Florida Department of Transportation. The agency sent the city a letter on August 21, 2025, listing specific artwork on sidewalks and streets, with a removal deadline of September 4. The Herald reported that the city could have lost the more than $8 million in state appropriations it received in the 2025 legislative session if it did not comply. Around 5 a.m. on August 27, crews began sandblasting murals and paintings off Village sidewalks, including the Alice in Wonderland piece and a portrait of Frida Kahlo. Some faint traces were left behind, and about two weeks later crews came back and painted over some of those sidewalks.
At a City Council meeting at the time, Mayor Gene Brown said he hoped the Community Redevelopment Agency could work with the Village to restore some pieces on private property, such as driveways, during an art festival the following year. That festival happened.
The New Map Went Vertical
The first WonderWall Mural Fest took over the Village on Saturday, March 7, 2026. The host was the Artists Guild of Manatee Inc., with support from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County and the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Guild president David Shiplett told the Bradenton Herald that Mayor Brown visited soon after the removal and started "pointing out things you can paint" under the new restrictions. "Taking away that art is what lit the fuse to get all this done," Shiplett said.
The plan called for five permanent murals plus four temporary ones on reinforced plywood. Artists were given no required theme. Guild vice president Bryan Moore told the Herald the festival is expected to become an annual tradition.
The city's Public Art Advisory Committee then reviewed the new walls one at a time. At its March 10, 2026 meeting, according to the committee minutes, members unanimously approved small matching grants for several Village murals. They also called the corner at 1102 12th Street West the "center" of the Village of the Arts.
The Walls, Address by Address
This loop links the mural sites named in the Herald's festival coverage and the committee minutes. Most are a few blocks apart on 12th Street West, 13th Street West and 13th Avenue West.
- Federal Market, 908 13th Avenue West. A mural 100 feet long and 20 feet tall now covers the south wall, painted with volunteer help from the Boys & Girls Club. A committee member who painted the original Village logo on that wall years ago noted that the project repaired the stucco and refreshed the logo. The mural also keeps a Tropicana logo, which the board allowed as 76 years of local history.
- Bits & Pieces, 13th Street West at 13th Avenue West. One of the WonderWall festival sites.
- 1303 13th Avenue West. A colorful frog mural runs along a 100-foot wooden fence. The Artists Guild committed to a UV-resistant clear coat to protect it from the sun.
- 1506 13th Street West. "Saw Blossom," Mary Fragapane's tropical mural, is on the east side of the building. The committee said the finished wall turned out better than the original rendering and singled out its colors for the corridor.
- Embodied Health, 1102 12th Street West. This is the corner the committee called the Village's center. Muralist Matt McAllister's south-facing wall mirrors his earlier work on the north side of the same property.
- Jerk Dog Records, 1119 12th Street West. Two murals were painted here at the same time during WonderWall.
The festival also planned a two-story mural on a home at 11th Street West and 13th Avenue West. Because it is a residence, it is best viewed from the street.
Three Weekends That Run Past the New Walls
The Village's fall events all take place on these same blocks. Each one is a different way to see the new murals, from a quiet midday swap to an evening crowd. All dates below come from the Village of the Arts Merchants events listing.
| Date | Event | Hours | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Oct. 24 | Village Community Plant Swap | Noon to 2 p.m. | Free. Swap spots are set up around the Village, with Master Gardener advice and a kids' planting activity |
| Saturday, Oct. 31 | 12th Annual Trick-or-Treat in the Village | 6 to 8 p.m. | Galleries, businesses and neighbors open their doors, and Alcover Massage is bringing back its 1,000 pieces of candy |
| Friday, Nov. 6 | 22nd Annual Festival of the Skeletons | 6 to 9 p.m. | Live music and food vendors after dark |
| Saturday, Nov. 7 | 22nd Annual Festival of the Skeletons | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free, with festival goodies for the first 300 guests |
The Village's own listing gives October 31 in the event text but different dates in the calendar data, so check with the organizers before Halloween night.
The Festival of the Skeletons is the Village's Día de los Muertos celebration, and the organizers call it the neighborhood's biggest community event of the year. It brings food trucks and strolling music, pop-up vendors and one-of-a-kind art, and shrines and altars inside the galleries. A Community Shrine and Memory Wall is open to anyone who wants to honor a loved one. This year the main Community Village Shrine pays tribute to Frida Kahlo. Her portrait was one of the sidewalk paintings removed in August 2025.
The festival falls on the first Friday and Saturday of November. That is the same slot as the monthly Art Walk, which the Bradenton Times describes as running the first Friday and Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The same preview mentioned "new galleries this season," without naming them, so the November weekend may include doors that were not open last year.
Where to Stop Between Walls
The food and drink spots sit along the same route, which makes a mural walk easy to split around lunch or an evening coffee.
- Arte Caffe, 930 12th Street West. An Italian café, restaurant and pizza place serving house-made baked goods, salads, pasta, salumi and focaccia. It has been open since October 2015.
- Adobe Kava. Kava, botanical teas and coffee. Its new hours since August 2026 run from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends, a late-night option after the Friday festival.
- The Village Patio. Pizza, barbecue, tacos and subs. Check hours before a festival day.
- Cottonmouth Southern Soul Food, 1114 12th Street West. Open since 2020, according to its owner in the Bradenton Herald, and steps from the Jerk Dog Records murals.
- Ortygia. Sicilian-inspired dining that opens only for special events and cooking classes, with advance reservations.
For Halloween and the Festival of the Skeletons, the Village lists free street parking plus extra space in the empty lot at 13th Avenue West and 12th Street West. For WonderWall, organizers also pointed visitors to free weekend parking at the Judicial Center Parking Garage, 615 12th Street West. Starting at the Federal Market and finishing on 12th Street West puts the largest wall first and the cafés near the end.
The walls on 12th and 13th have changed over the past year, and that change shapes how the Village looks from the street. If you are thinking about how a creative, walkable pocket of Bradenton fits into your next move, Melissa Gissinger is glad to walk the Village with you and talk it through. Book an Appointment whenever the timing feels right.
