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Epilogue: Muralist Matt Callahan 'lived 100 percent, 100 percent all the time'

 
The late Matthew Callahan, Tampa area muralist, in a portrait by Ryan Stanyard. To see more of Callahan's portfolio, visit mmmurals.com.  [Courtesy of Ryan Stanyard]
The late Matthew Callahan, Tampa area muralist, in a portrait by Ryan Stanyard. To see more of Callahan's portfolio, visit mmmurals.com. [Courtesy of Ryan Stanyard]
Published April 18, 2018

With sprawling murals painted on businesses throughout the Tampa Bay area and as far away as Anaheim, Matthew Callahan was known locally as one of the best of his trade.

But friends such as Sean Moore cling to smaller pieces with personal significance.

There was the onesie designed seven years ago for Moore's then-new baby daughter, emblazoned with a sunset and the words, "conceived in Cedar Key."

"I was thinking of getting a tattoo," Moore said. "As soon as I told Matt, he designed one for me. He'd drop anything for anyone."

Mr. Callahan, a Tampa resident and owner of Man Made Murals in St. Petersburg, died of head trauma on Friday at the age of 40. Police are investigating the circumstances.

He had a wife, Erika Callahan, of nine years and a 5-year-old son, Logan.

It was a tragic end for man who personified joy, say his friends and family.

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"Matt was a big guy, physically," said friend John Cullen, 47. "But his attitude toward life was huge too. He was the type of guy who would work for 12 hours and still have the energy to meet up all night and be fun to be around."

Local muralist Derek Donnelly, 35, said Mr. Callahan was his mentor and the glue for the St. Petersburg muralist community.

"His love, his passion that brought us all together will live on for decades," Donnelly said.

Mr. Callahan's work includes the "St. Tampasburg'' covering the alley wall of The Lure restaurant, 661 Central Ave., and depicts scenes from the two cities' histories. And in March, he painted the mural on Morgan Street in downtown Tampa officially announcing the NCAA 2019 Women's Final Four Tampa Bay.

But his handiwork existed at times in the periphery of nightlife, living on the walls of bars and restaurants and serving as the canvas for everyone else's good times.

"He was one of the most skilled painters out there, not just in the area, but on a global measure," said Ales "Bask" Hostomsky, also a local muralist. "His skill level and artistic ability were razor sharp and the area is less beautiful and less talented with his passing."

As early as preschool age, the Tallahassee native would make greeting cards for family and friends, complete with a caricature of the recipient.

"He'd sign it CCC for Callahan Card Company," said his father, Michael Callahan. "He always just wanted to make people happy. And everybody he ever encountered wanted him to be their best friend."

By high school, he was already creating murals for class projects, his father said, and then won a scholarship from Tallahassee's LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts as "artist of the year" to help pay for tuition at the Atlanta College of Art.

The LeMoyne gallery will now present scholarships in the artist's name to five high school students in 2019.

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Friends said Mr. Callahan the artist paled in comparison to the person.

"His good ol' raspy laugh was genuine and heartfelt," said friend Gwen Hooper, who volunteered with him at a YMCA camp in Indian Springs where she said he was known as "Screaming Chipmunk." "He had a great capacity for love, life, art, business and fun."

For St. Petersburg-based muralist John Vitale, Mr. Callahan was like Ernest Hemingway, a creative soul wrapped in a burly body.

"He was this big ol' Florida boy who had this unique balance," Vitale said. "He could hang out there on the edge with the artists but also hang with the fishermen and do everything a Florida boy could do."

Family and friends will gather for a private memorial service Saturday in Cedar Key.

"He lived 100 percent, 100 percent all the time," said friend Moore. "I'd give anything for just one more night with him."

Contact Paul Guzzo at pguzzo@tampabay.com. Follow @PGuzzoTimes.