The History/Culture Behind The Artist Named Wyland
The man who has been hailed a "Marine Michelangelo" by national newspaper USA Today is actually known to the world as Robert Wyland (although as an artist, he simply goes by Wyland) and was born in 1956 in Michigan. In 1976 he graduated from the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit Michigan with a scholarship for painting and sculptures. Since then, his contributions to the world have only grown as today he has the distinction of being one of America's most unique creative influences and also a leading advocate for marine resource conservation. The non-profit organization he created in 1991, The Wyland Foundation, has devoted itself to promoting, protecting, and preserving the World's ocean, waterways, and marine life. This foundation has accomplished that since its inception through the encouragement of environmental awareness through educational programs, public art, and community events. In addition to overseeing this non-profit organization, Wyland has also created Wyland Worldwide (a corporation with the same goals), Wyland Galleries (where one may purchase his private work), the Wyland Store (selling sustainable products), Wyland Records (advocating for marine life through music), Wyland Art Studios (where he inspires others to create art), Wyland Grille (a brand of restaurants designed to convey Wyland's love for the ocean through quality food derived from sustainable resources), and Wyland Cellars (an offshoot of Laguna Canyon Winery, which produces a line of quality wines featuring Wyland created labels, in which a portion of all proceeds get donated to the Wyland Foundation).
As you can see he is a busy person, but he still found time (as you saw from the proceeding video) to paint the world's largest world (it's in the Guiness Book Of World Records) while in Long Beach, California retouching a 1992 whale and marine life mural he had done on the sides of the Long Beach Arena. While there, he asked the owners if he could paint a mural on the roof as a tribute on Earth Day in 2009. The owners said yes, not knowing that Wyland's mural would be an enormous Earth measuring 2.8 acres!
The Whaling Walls series of murals (three of which appear above) were a tremendous undertaking for Wyland. His goal (which he set for himself on his 25th birthday in 1981) was to paint 100 life sized marine life murals advocating for marine life conservation, and he accomplished just that when he painted his hundredth Whaling Wall 'Hands Across The Ocean' in Bejing, China on the occasion of the 2008 Olympics. These 100 murals (of which some have unfortunately been removed, vandalized, or simply deteriorated) span twelve countries on four different continents, and are viewed by an estimated one billion people every year.
For a full list of Wyland's Whaling Walls, and to find one near you, visit:
