Anthony Bourdain mural on Pensacola business promotes suicide prevention

Jake Newby | Pensacola News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Anthony Bourdain served us the world Anthony Bourdain's passion for food and travel inspired us to taste and see the world. The iconic chef, author and TV host was found dead of an apparent suicide in Strasbourg, France, where he’d been filming segments for his CNN show ‘Parts Unknown.'

Local graffiti artists and the owner of a new juice bar opening in downtown Pensacola paid tribute to Anthony Bourdain with a mural of the late celebrity chef and TV personality meant to bring awareness to suicide.

The artists started on the mural Sunday on the side of the 532 W. Garden Street building, the site of the former Garden Street Car Wash building. That building will soon be home to a juice bar and music venue owned by Pensacola's Ric Kindle, who said he collaborated with local artists Nate Lyle and Brandon Barnhart on the mural idea.

But when Lyle called Kindle pitching the idea of a Bourdain mural, Kindle said he didn't just want art, he wanted art with a message behind it.

"I gave it a day after he called and proposed it and then I called him back and said, 'Let's make it not just a cool piece of art, let's make it an awareness theme.'"

Bourdain committed suicide on June 8 at the age of 61. He was the host of the popular CNN food and travel show "Parts Unknown."

Lyle and Barnhart, who also did graffiti art for Graffiti Pizza, another downtown business opening this summer, will finish the mural on Tuesday afternoon by adding phone numbers of suicide prevention support lines that people can call or text.

"Suicide crosses all socioeconomic boundaries, from the guy that's homeless that doesn't have a place to sleep at night to a multi-millionaire like Bourdain," Kindle said. "We're going to have the hotline and the text line, because younger people are more apt to text."

Callers who dial the national hotline numbers displayed on the mural will be redirected to local representatives, Kindle said.

Kindle also said that while future art on the side of the building he leased will feature ever-changing graffiti art, the Bourdain tribute is likely to stay.

"Like maybe we'll add art about children's homes society or different organizations in our community that need some awareness," Kindle said.

Jake Newby can be reached at jnewby@pnj.com or 850-435-8538.