"...One person can indeed make a difference..." "Whales and Wyland, Wyland and whales. They fit together in a wonderful relationship. Wyland has dedicated his life and his art to the whales, and the whales in turn have received great benefit from Wyland's life and talent" (Bateman). "It is estimated that over one billion people a year encounter Wyland's art. Not since Jacques Cousteaua has one person created so much public awareness of our endangered oceans. 'I call what I do the art of saving whales'" (web page). Robert Wyland is a 38-year-old (McHugh) "environmental artist". He is most known for his murals (painted on public walls) of realistic looking whales in their natural underwater habitat. The artist decided to paint 100 walls by 2011 (web page), he has completed over 67 landmark murals to date (Payne). "I first started painting whales and dolphins because I wanted to show their grace and beauty and maybe do something to help save them, but I've personally grown to see a much larger picture-to save the whales is great...but if we can't save the oceans, we're not going to be able to save the whales, and we're not going to be able to save ourselves." He compares his efforts to save the whales to Greenpeace methods: "my method was and still is, to draw attention to the delicate beauty of these creatures by painting them and sharing my art with others. I remember thinking about dinosaurs being extinct, and I was afraid the same thing was going to happen to the whales" (Bateman). Wyland is a Marine Michaelangelo, says USA Today. He studied painting and sculpture at the Center for creative studies in Detroit, Michigan and is listed in Who's Who in Art in America (web page). His first mural was in 1978 in Laguna Beach. It measures 140 feet long and 26 feet tall (Bateman). His largest mural is covering The Long Beach Convention Center in California. This mural required 7,000 gallons of paint and is over 11 stories high and 1280 feet in circumference. It is the largest mural in the world, as acknowledged by the Guiness Book of World Records (Payne). "His whales demand realism. And the more realistic he created his subjects, the more he realized that he needed to paint them in their true size." Wyland explains why he paints such large murals: "I felt that if I could paint these huge walls, they would have a tremendous impact, and maybe I could do something that could help the whales" (Bateman). Today, he lives in both Laguna Beach, California and Oahu, Hawaii (web page). "The Wyland Foundation's vision is to promote, respect and protect our precious ocean resources through life-size public art, education and awareness. [The foundation] continues to inspire, support and offer [scholarships] to gifted and needy child artists and naturalists." (Wyland) "Today he employs 200 people [including his mother, 2 brothers and girlfriend] in the production and sale at 20 galleries in 13 US cities of Wyland oil paintings, prints, watercolors, sculptures, sweatshirts and mugs" (McHugh).
"I believe if people see the beauty in nature they will work to preserve it before it's too late. I call what I do the art of saving whales." "...Whaling walls are life-size tributes to living whales..." This is a disclaimer. This page is in no way related to the Wyland Foundation. It was made purely for fun by a fan. Please send corrections or comments to cgklm@pen.eiu.edu
