Wyland on bUneke UnScripted

Internationally renowned marine life artist Wyland is one of the most celebrated and recognized artists of our time.  An innovative painter, sculpture, writer, photographer, philanthropist, and filmmaker, he captured the imagination of people everywhere by completing over one hundred monumental marine life murals around the world from 1981-2008. The project, known as the Whaling Walls, remains one of the largest public arts projects in history and continues to be seen by an estimated one billion people each year.

An avid SCUBA diver and world traveler, the Detroit-born artist has been hailed a “Marine Michaelangelo” by USA Today and recognized for his art and conservation efforts by the United Nations and on the floor of Congress.  His giant ocean mural on the convention center in Long Beach, Calif., covering over 3 acres, landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest mural ever painted. Several years later in recognition of Earth Day, he doubled the size of that mural by completing the largest portrait of the earth on earth on the building’s three-acre roof — in only 24 hours.

His newest public art project, 100 Monumental Sculptures in 100 Great Cities around the world, includes plans to sculpt all the great whale species, as well as endangered and threatened animals from the IUCN Red List. Ten of these monumental sculptures will be underwater. “My art has always been about art and conservation,” Wyland says. “I was inspired in the early 70s by Green Peace, the first Earth Day, and from watching my hero Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea World television series. I was simply an artist in the right place at the right time in history, and I felt strongly that art could play an important role in bringing attention to environmental issues.” 

Learn more! buneke.org or Wyland.com