“Be All You Can Be” by Michelle Sawyer
On East Hillsborough Avenue, a new mural celebrating pioneering women in East Tampa graces the façade of Tampa’s Chloe Coney Urban Enterprise Center. Commissioned by the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, artist Michelle Sawyer painted portraits of six Black women who transformed the neighborhood through their dedication to education and public service. Entitled “Be All You Can Be,” the mural features Dr. Frankye A. Berry, an influential teacher; Patricia Pierce-Colman, the first Black female officer in the Tampa Police Department; and Theresa A. Manuel, Tampa’s inaugural Olympic athlete and the first Black woman in Florida to participate in the Olympic Games.
To create the mural, Sawyer worked with 10 high school students from the PACE Center for Girls. A symbolic collaboration uniting East Tampa’s past leaders and future trailblazers, the mural includes 10 butterflies, each representing one of the PACE students who contributed to “Be All You Can Be.”
Joanna Robotham is the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art.
Check out last month’s piece at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts. Looking to advertise with us? Find out how.
