Wyland's Whales

 

"Gray Whale Migration", Wyland, 1991

Robert Wyland, better known as simply Wyland, is and American artist and environmentalist whose artwork has brought about awareness of the plight of the the grey whale and marine life. As a youth Wyland became fascinated with wales when he first visited California and the coast with his family while on vacation from his birthplace of Detroit, Michigan. As a 14-year old he was astonished by seeing live whales breaching the ocean. Some years later in 1997 he moved to California to become an artist and paint whale murals. 

Wyland painted his first whale mural in 1981 on a concrete wall adjacent to a Laguna Beach hotel. Like this first mural, all of Wyland's "Whale Walls", as they've come to be known,  are painted on concrete wall structures and depict whales of life-size ranging from 40-50 feet in length. As an environmental artist Wyland has worked to not only bring awareness to the state of marine life, but also to create awareness of the world and its interconnected ecosystem. When he began, Wyland's initial goal was to create 100 whale murals. This goal was reached between 1981- 2008, with Wyland's 100th whale wall being completed in the city of Beijing. Among international cities Wyland's murals are featured in Laguna Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes (Marineland), San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Oahu, Honolulu, Atlanta, Orlando, Nice, and Sydney. 

Wyland in front of mural at Long Beach Convention Center

During the early 1990s after much success Wyland founded the Wyland Foundation, which dually provides education about marine life to children, and raises funding for Wyland's art projects and galleries. While Wyland may not be a household name to some, his licensed merchanse has become a mulitmillion-dollar business which contributes monies to his galleries and environmental causes. 

While studying some contemporary artists I came across and image of Wyland's work that immediately reminded me of a time when I was meandering around downtown Long Beach. I thought that must be 'thee whale mural', But upon further study I learned of Wyland's work and his cause. Although Wyland's mural work on the Long Beach Arena may not be his first or only, it is his largest work and has gotten him into the Guinness Book of World Records for an international record of that time. 

Notably, the artwork of Wyland has been featured on license plate frames for the the states of California and Florida, and on stamps for the United Nations. 

"Whaling Wall no. 31", Wyland, 1991 via  http://www.publicartinla.com