- April 27, 2025
Artists Thays França and Teri Althouse work on their mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artists Teri Althouse and Thays França continue to collaborate to bring their gallery's mural to life. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artists Thays França and Teri Althouse work on their mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artist Thays França works on the mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artists Teri Althouse and Thays França work on their mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artist Teri Althouse works on the mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artist Thays França works on the mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artist Teri Althouse works on the mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artists Teri Althouse and Thays França work on their mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artists Teri Althouse and Thays França work on their mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Artists Teri Althouse and Thays França work on their mural at Art Spotlight. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Ormond Beach artists Thays França and Teri Althouse do everything with a lot of passion, and a lot of love.
That includes their latest collaboration: a mural on the exterior of their gallery in the downtown.
"The way you paint and the way you run a business and the way that you treat your friends — they are all very similar for both of us," França said. "... It is more a progress of love together than it just a job."
França and Althouse founded Art Spotlight at 67 W. Granada Blvd. in 2022. Though their painting styles are different, their personalities are similar, Althouse said. The pair share an an art studio, so they're no strangers to working together.
"It's just like, automatic," Althouse said. "You just have this kind of blending where you're thinking about the other person, as well as what you're doing, and somehow you just make it blend. ... It's a very natural process for us."
In December, the Ormond Beach City Commission approved a request for França and Althouse to paint flower murals on the outside of their gallery building, which is owned by developer Bill Jones. All three of them collaborated on the design, which will be painted on all four façades of the building.
França and Althouse began working on the east facing mural the week of March 10. Their aim? Put a smile on people's faces as they drive or walk through the downtown.
Althouse said she's been excited about the mural since the idea was born.
"Driving down the street this morning and seeing it from a distance — man, my heart just exploded," Althouse said. "It was really a great feeling to see something happening."
This is the first time, França said, that she's painting something for herself. As the proverb goes, the cobbler's children have no shoes.
"Usually, my home doesn't end up having as much art as I create," França said. "So I think that it gives you extra pride, to say, 'I'm going to be the person that hears all the time about the mural, so I better do my very best.'"
A new lighted sculpture — a marquee-like sign — will be added to the roofline soon too, via a special exception approved by the commission last month.
França said she and Althouse are proud of what they have been able to create inside the gallery. Now, it's time for that beauty to spread to its exterior.
"It's not just for the art to tell what is happening in the building, but that our art gallery is now an art piece for our town," she said.
"It's like an invitation for the whole community to see something beautiful," Althouse added.
