COURTESY WYLAND
Wyland restored Whaling Wall No. 29, “Humpbacks off the Pali Coast” at Kauai Village Shopping Center in Kapaa in mid-January.
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Marine life artist and conservationist Wyland will be restoring two major murals on Kauai and one on Oahu this year.
In mid-January, Wyland restored Whaling Wall No. 29, “Humpbacks off the Pali Coast,” pictured above, at Kauai Village Shopping Center in Kapaa. The 3,600-square-foot mural, painted in 1991, featured a mother humpback whale and calf, and was removed last year during center renovations. The new mural is also of a mother humpback whale and calf, but swimming in the opposite direction from the original. Keeping them company are an octopus, a sea turtle and reef fish.
Wyland, who splits his time between homes in Kahuku and the Florida Keys, will work on Whaling Wall No. 28 on the shopping center’s clock tower this summer.
“It was an honor to … completely repaint the ocean mural for the community,” said Wyland in an email. “I’m very proud to have the mural back in Kapaa so that it may continue to inspire art and conservation for many years to come.”
He’s also planning to restore his 30,000-square-foot mural at the Airport Center office building on Ualena Street this summer. The building was purchased by Hawaiian Airlines.
The murals were part of a larger project in which the Wyland Foundation completed 100 life-size marine life murals around the world. The total collection, completed over 30 years, spans 17 countries.
