ARTours Clearwater

Journey Through Downtown Clearwater’s Murals with Augmented Reality

A Journey Inside Downtown Clearwater’s Murals with Augmented Reality

ARTours Clearwater is a self-guided augmented reality (AR) walking tour that takes you to four vibrant murals along a 0.7-mile route through downtown Clearwater. When you reach a mural, open the ARTours Clearwater app and point your device’s camera at the artwork. Then watch as animations, graphics, videos, and audio make the mural come to life. Each mural contains several interactive visual experiences – you will see flowers blooming, alligators walking, spaceships landing, and paint buckets spilling while experiencing the downtown arts district as never before.

Download the FREE ARTours Clearwater App Now!

Rediscover Clearwater’s Public Art with Augmented Reality 

ARTours Clearwater is the result of a multi-year collaboration between the Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the University of South Florida’s (USF) Access 3D Lab and Advanced Visualization Center. At the heart of this collaboration is a shared desire to beautify public spaces with innovative arts and culture projects. Since 2018, the CRA has been commissioning memorable placemaking art in key locales with their #muralsofclearwater program. USF joined forces with the CRA in 2019, bringing expertise in digital innovation and app design. They created detailed 3D scans of each mural with powerful Faro Focus lidar scanners, then adding multimedia imagery and animations in Unity – a video game design engine. Along the way, the project won a Best Paper award at the international Web3D conference in Pisa, Italy. It’s also the first augmented reality walking tour in the Tampa Bay region!

How it works

You should plan around 45 minutes for the tour, but if you have less time available, you can visit individual works of art. The app contains interactive map that shows the location of each mural. Once you arrive at a mural, open the app, tap the yellow hotspots, and watch the mural come to life before your eyes.

The AR Murals

decorative image of blue paint
decorative image of pink paint decorative image of orange paint

Comunidad

Comunidad is a celebration of cultural diversity, and shows empowered, united women who form a network and community. Uruguayan artists Florencia Duran and Camilo Nunez used sketches of real women to inform their murals and portraits. The animations are designed to surprise and delight audiences, while the longer montages, videos and animated sequences add depth to the narratives of portraiture, female empowerment, and dancing. See the making of the mural here.

View the making of the mural HERE.

Artist: Camilo Nuñez and Florencia Durán
colectivolicuado.com | Colectivo Licuado Facebook | Camilo Nuñez Instagram | Florencia Durán Instagram

Completed: December 2018

Location: 28 North Garden Avenue, Clearwater, FL, USA

100 Years Before J. Cole

Back in 1885, the construction of the Orange Belt Railway changed Florida’s citrus groves forever. The same year, modern bicycles were put into production. 100 Years Before J. Cole is located alongside the Pinellas Trail, which follows the original railway route and is today a popular bike trail. Artists Michelle Sawyer and Tony Krol celebrate this juxtaposition of history in their mural, which is also inspired by J. Cole’s song “1985,” about how things evolve and change over time.

View the making of the mural HERE.

Artist: Tony Krol and Michelle Sawyer
illsol.com | Illsol Facebook | Illsol Instagram

Completed: December 2018

Location: 620 Drew Street, Clearwater, FL, USA

After a While

After a While is a whimsical painting of a woman and her pet alligator out for a walk. Santa Rosa, California-based artist MJ Lindo-Lawyer is a nationally recognized muralist known for her depictions of multi-cultural women alongside animal companions, evoking fantastical worlds.

Artists: MJ Lindo-Lawyer and Joshua Lawyer
mjlindoart.com  |  MJ Lindo Art Facebook  |   MJ Lindo Instagram
joshualawyer.com  |  Joshua Llawyer Artist Facebook  |  Joshua Lawyer Instagram

Completed: August 2021

Location: 315 South East Avenue, Clearwater, FL, USA

Ikebana

Ikebana depicts an ikebana flower arrangement. Unites States based artist, DAAS, is a contemporary artist, internationally recognized for his vibrant, engaging paintings and murals. DAAS’ artwork utilizes a combination of abstract and representational imagery, driven by a distinct color palette and design aesthetic which incorporates bold shapes and organic forms saturated in vivid colors, to create larger-than-life artworks focused on bringing a sense of beauty and inspiration into the surrounding space.

Artist: DAAS’
artist-daas.com | DAAS Facebook | DAAS Instagram

Completed: June 2021

Location: 703 Franklin Street, Clearwater, FL, USA

FAQs

What is mixed reality?

Mixed reality is the result of blending the physical world with the digital world using digital tools. This includes virtual reality and augmented reality, among others.

What is the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality?

Virtual reality is an immersive 3D simulation of an environment viewed with a headset, while augmented reality uses a smartphone or tablet to project digital images on top of whatever you are looking at.

What will I experience on my tour of Clearwater’s murals?

The murals will come to life! As you interact with the 3D virtual environment, you will navigate through pictures audio recordings and videos that tell the story of the murals.