Changing Gainesville One Wall at a Time: Jenna Horner’s World of Murals

Through murals, nonprofit work and mindfulness, Gainesville-based artist Jenna Horner brings energy into every space she touches

by: Evan Fleischer

Credit: Evan Fleischer

Jenna Horner adds the finishing touches to her mural at the Gator Oasis.

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As the sun sets behind the trees at Gator Oasis—a tropical game day getaway Airbnb in the heart of Gainesville–muralist Jenna Horner, 33, leans in to add the finishing touches on her latest project. Horner has been at it for weeks, balancing this mural with several other projects. 

“This has been a wild stretch,” Horner said. “Normally, I make a mural a month because of the balance of plan-plan-action. That has not been this past month. It’s been nuts.” 

For Horner, murals are more than just painting a wall; murals transform a space and the energy within it.

 “I’ve always been an artist in my heart, for sure,” she said, reflecting on her path to becoming a muralist. 

After earning a degree in painting from the University of Florida in 2014, she immersed herself in Gainesville’s art scene while juggling multiple jobs to fuel her passion. Her break into murals came through Gainesville’s 352 Walls initiative. 

352 Walls is a program designed to bring public art to the city. Horner was one of the first artists to join the initiative, painting a mural at Depot Park. 

“I loved the concept of having to know how it looked from really far away, being up close and running on jungle gyms and scaffolding while doing it,” Horner said. “It was just something I became addicted to right away.”

Horner also enjoys sharing her work on a more personal level. On Dec. 8, she joined the Gainesville Local Arts Market (GLAM) at First Magnitude Brewing Company, which features locally curated art and crafts. Reflecting on her fifth year at GLAM, Horner said, “It just has such high vibes and I feel like I see the whole city in one day.” For Horner, it’s a full-circle moment to step away from her murals and connect with the community.

Credit: Evan Fleischer An intricate piece by Jenna Horner displayed at the Gainesville Local Arts Market

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Beyond her personal projects, Horner wanted her work to have a broader impact. During a yoga retreat in 2018, she began thinking about how she could bring more meaning to her art. That idea shaped Mindful Messages, a nonprofit dedicated to creating murals with middle and high school students. 

The nonprofit has been a labor of love. “It’s absolutely the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said. But seeing the students’ reactions when a mural is finished is worth it. She’s already completed projects at Fort Clarke Middle School, with plans for a mural at Gainesville High School this spring. 

She’s also brought people together through her annual fundraiser, The Party, which raises money for Mindful Messages. 

“It’s a creative, collaborative celebration of art,” she said.

Horner credits much of her ability to balance so many roles to her yoga practice. “For me, having a practice of what it is to be mentally grounded, physically grounded and healthy comes from yoga,” she said. As both a teacher and practitioner, yoga has given Horner a foundation for handling the chaos of running a nonprofit. 

This mindfulness extends to another one of her passions: food. Horner is a self-proclaimed “energy chef” and has often cooked for yoga retreats, bringing her creativity into the kitchen. “Cooking has always been grounding for me. It’s meditative,” she said.

As Horner wraps up her mural at the Gator Oasis, she reflects on the journey that brought her here. “We all like to pretend like we’re in control of things all the time,” she said. Horner has  learned to trust the process and embrace change. “It’s not like painting a canvas and sticking it up on someone’s wall,” she stated. “It’s addressing the physicality of a space, then shifting the energy of an environment through paint.”

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Evan Fleischer is a third-year student at the University of Florida. Originally from Ponte Vedra, Florida, Evan enjoys exploring the dense and vastly unexplored culture that north Florida has to offer.