Wyland Makes Waves in Cuba with Striking Marine Mural #103

Those who have been following the career of the marine conservationist and muralist known as Wyland already know much about his impressive resume, which includes more than 100 marine murals around the world, as well as countless awards. You'll also find him listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. One journalist tagged him as the Mariine Michaelangelo. 

This spring I wrote about the re-painting of one of his first murals, located in New London Connecticut. You can read the story here and learn more about his life and motivations.

When I was notified that Wyland was heading to Cuba to paint his 103rd mural, I knew I'd want to share that story, too. 

This morning I asked him how this particular mural came about.

Wyland replied, "It was organized by my Cuban travel agent Mayra, who lives in South Florida and Cuba. It was a volunteer project, a gift to the people of Cuba. It only took me 2 1/2 days to paint what I believe is my best ocean mural. I also enlisted three young Cuban artist to join me along with Shannon Wiley, a local artist from the Florida Keys."

Wylan with four Cuban assistants.

This process of collaboration brings a community aspect that adds many layers to the story. It isn't just a gift to the community that people can cherish. It is also a treasure that the community helped create. Three decades from now those who were there when it happened will still be talking about it. A few will be telling their children about it, and in the schoolyard those children will tell their friends, "My father helped paint that."

The mural is striking for the colorful reef habitat with its varieties of coral and animalia. "The mural also depicts Ernest Hemingway‘s story of The Old Man and the Sea when he first sees the big fish, a larger than life, blue Marlin," Wyland said. "It also features all the fish and reef life of the waters of Cuba, showcasing the coming together of art and science."

Wyland and the hands of many children.

Wyland's current project is to preserve a mural that he painted on the side of a Kmart in Marathon, Florida. Evidently, when the Kmart closed the building was purchased by a developer who wanted to get rid of the mural. At this point in time the community has taken a stand against this plan, insisting that it not be touched. It's just another day in the life of Wyland.  

Wyland with "America's Photographer" Gary Firstenberg.

Related Links

Wyland Returns to New London

Dylan Mural Makes Monumental Impact

Hemingway, Ken Burns and the Age Old Question

A Leisurely Visit with Photographer Gary Firstenberg

The Story Behind the Armory Mural We Did Last Year

Mark Nicklawski, Michael Shannon, Zane Bale, Mark Poirier
Members of the Duluth Dylan Fest Committee
Photo credit: Michael Anderson -- Click to enlarge

Last summer -- and it feels like a decade ago -- Mark Poirier asked me if I'd be interested in doing a mural on a section of Duluth's Historic Armory. Mark is the Armory director who runs the office and manages the building at this point in time. His motive, in part, was to show the public that there were things happening here. For two decades all the renovations have been taking place inside, so it still looked like an abandoned building to many.

Every mural starts with a blank slate.
This one is 17 ft wide & 13 ft tall.

I expressed interest but wasn't sure I'd have time. When August began to slip past I realized that we'd better get on the ball or it would be winter soon. With the blessing of the Armory Board I proceeded to reach out to a group of local painters to see if they might be interested in contributing to the concept I'd conceived.

For those unaware, the Duluth Armory is where young Bobby Zimmerman saw Buddy Holly a few days before Holly died in an Iowa cornfield in Clear Lake, Iowa -- along with the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and their pilot.

Although many of us were drawn together through the Duluth Dylan Fest and Bob Dylan Way, it was agreed that the theme should be something broader than a tribute to Bob Dylan. 

Because the Armory's history is full of stories, one concept that emerged was to capture and share some of those stories. While I was painting images on the larger wall, a dozen artists worked out different themes to accompany and embellish it. For this reason we see Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Buddy Holly, Sonny & Cher and John Philip Sousa in some of the pictures here. Some of the artists created more abstract impressions.

The wider theme included the manner in which the Armory and its surroundings has been a source of inspiration. One painting, for example, is a tribute to the Anishinaabe peoples who lived on these shores before it became a U.S. territory and later Minnesota.

Each of the artists who contributed was given an 18" x 18" panel which had been precut and primed for painting. One panel (right) lists the artists names in the order that their pieces appear from top to bottom. (Missing from this image are the names of Lulu and Tubbs, who were added when their pieces were delivered later. You can see their paintings to the right of Buddy Holly in the upper left.)

Some of the symbols in the larger mural itself are worth noting. Most of them are related to Bob Dylan, even if he is not a central feature of the painting. Sing Your Song was the title of a documentary on Harry Belafonte that many Duluthians saw at a Duluth Superior Film Festival several years ago. I chose this because when young Bob Dylan arrived in New York City, Wood Guthrie was his idol but his ambition was to be "as big as Harry Belafonte."

As it turns out, young Dylan's first paid recording gig was to play harmonica on a Harry Belafonte album. Though he was lined up to play on three songs, he only recorded one. You can see a photo of the harmonica he played and read the details of that story in Peter McKenzie's Bob Dylan: On a Couch & Fifty Cents a Day.

In the center of the mural is Robert Johnson, who famously made a pact with the devil "down at the crossroads" in Clarksdale, Mississippi at the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 61, the Blues Highway... which runs North all the way up past the Historic Duluth Armory. To Johnson's right you can see the Highway 61 road sign. (The Clarksdale location is disputed by some who say it took place in Rosedale.) 

In the lower right is a funkified Bob Dylan profile that I created. 

Funkified young Bob Dylan in profile.

Here are a few of the other images displayed.

Johnny Cash by Kris Nelson

Contribution by Twin Cities graphic designer Lulu

Virginia Alexander's Duluth Symphony

Mark Poirier, masked but not anonymous, affixes Tubbs' piece next to Lulu's

Along the left side you can see (top to bottom) Buddy Holly by Ed Newman, Sue Rauschenfels' Anishinaabe-themed piece, Linda Glisson's expression depicting the energy of a concert atmosphere, and Edna Stromquist's John Philip Sousa. Molly Overden's Lighthouse and Seed is just below that .

On the right side of the mural one can see Christie Eliason's Louis Armstrong at the top followed by Virginia Alexander's Duluth Symphony,  Kris Nelson's Johnny Cash, Margie Helstrom's Blues Inspiration and Rosemary Guttormsson's Sonny & Cher.

Here's the current status of the mural. 

If you look close, on the right side it says:

TO BE CONTINUED.

Trivia: When I was in college I did an 8' x 12' painting which I 

continuously worked on and reconfigured or 3 to 5 hours a day. 

It had a life of its own, or so I theorized. I enjoy working large,

as many painters do. This is the objective I have in mind here,

to keep it alive until the time that it must depart. Which means

I need to continue working on it sometime and breathe more 

life into it. In the meantime...

THANK YOU TO ALL THE ARTISTS WHO HELPED

BRING THIS PROJECT TO LIFE. 

And to the Armory folks who gave us this space to decorate.

Local Art Seen: Scott Murphy's Delightful Duluth Story Mural Inside the Depot

Don't you just love all the new murals that have been popping up around Duluth. The Lincoln Park Craft District has especially come alive with public art the past few years.

One of our more visible murals that nearly everyone sees who goes downtown is that pillar support which Scott Murphy painted to look like the spines of books in that public area beneath a portion of the library. A few of the selected books there are by local authors, which is especially cool.

Today I wanted to highlight another favorite Scott Murphy mural, this one on the interior of the Depot in the vicinity of the theater there. It's in a circular space so that the wide, horizontal painting curls around you. The photos here are in order from left to right, with many familiar Duluth landmarks. How many do you recognize? Take time to enjoy it next time you are in the Depot. In addition to people and places, you will see a few a few amusing Murphy trademarks...

The Duluth Art Institute Member Show is in the Great Hall and three exhibitions upstairs in the galleries. If you go, be sure to also take a few minutes to take in Scott Murphy's wonderful gift to the community.

Related Links

Broken Threads, Lost Causes

Scott Murphy Studio Tour

Murphy and Murphy at Lizzard's

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.

Now You Know Where The AICHO Building Downtown Is Located

Giclee reproductions of work by Rabbet Strickland can be found here.

For the past five years I have been writing and telling people about events at the AICHO, former YWCA that houses the newly named Dr. Robert Powless Community Center. All too often I'm met with blank expressions. "Where's that?"

Well, now we know. As you drive East on Second Street from Mesabi and past the courthouse, we've got a landmark. Here's the backstory from yesterday's DNT regarding the new mural on the West-facing side of the AICHO property.

Now that you know how to find it, I'll mention again the Indigenous Arts shop inside where you can find gifts and various items created by local

Detail from Leah Yellowbird piece.

artists and craftspersons.

KBJR also produced this account of the new mural.

But art is not the only thing happening here. Housing for homeless families has been created, along with a deepened sense of community.

When I met with director Michelle LeBeau last week I learned that AICHO now owns five properties, including a battered women's shelter and a new facility in the developing West End that includes a larger gift shop and laundromat, along with more housing. Low income housing is a critical need here in the Twin Ports.

Moira, on staff here, is a superfine artist in her own right.

"Creation Story" by Karen Savage.

Here's my original story on the mural, and what follows are some additional photos from the roof and inside the gift shop.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it.