New mural in Thornton Park
‘Night Owl’, by artist Sabrina Shumaker, can be found facing Hill Avenue
A new mural in Thornton Park is meant for all the “night owls” who enjoy going out for dinner and drinks in the district.
Painted by Central Florida visual artist Sabrina Shumaker, the 15-foot-tall mural titled “Night Owl” can be found on the side of Burton’s Thornton Park facing toward Hill Avenue.
Shumaker, a Panamanian-American artist born in Texas, creates sculptures, oil paintings and illustrations but said that murals are her favorite format to work with.
“Part of the fun of mural painting is to have people involved and seeing it come together,” she said. “Otherwise, I would just be painting in my studio.”
Her latest mural, commissioned by the Thornton Park District, pays homage to one of her favorite animals and ties in other elements of the night.
“The piece includes Queen of the Night flowers as well as a super moon,” Shumaker said. “The owl is also a symbol of wisdom, so it was fitting that it be placed alongside Andrew Spear’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg mural.”
On the Burton’s wall closest to East Washington Street is also a tribute to the late Orlando writer and activist Billy Manes, who can be seen in a portrait painted by Michael Pilato and Yuriy Karabash.
Shumaker has murals that can be seen just up the road in The Falcon Bar, one on the outside of Sam Flax Art Store and another at Prairie House Coffee Co. in Oakland. She also traveled to Atlanta in August to participate in the Stacks Squares Mural Project and left her mark in the city’s Cabbagetown neighborhood.
The subject of that particular mural was none other than Thornton Park resident Lulu the cat, who now has his likeness displayed proudly many miles from home.