Frame 31”x31”
Art 27” at largest point
Diurnal Matted
Great Frame ready to hang.
A native of Madison Heights, Michigan, Wyland began painting as a child and attended Detroit's Center for Creative Studies in the 1970s.[1] His connection with whales began when he was 14 on a visit with his family to Laguna Beach, California where he saw the ocean for the first time and witnessed several gray whales migrating down the California coast towards Mexico.[2] In 1977 he moved to Laguna Beach and in 1981 painted his first The Whaling Wall mural on the large wall of a Laguna Beach hotel parking lot. This original 1981 mural was obliterated in 1996 when it was painted over in a property ownership dispute. Wyland re-created the mural at nearly the same location with painted ceramic tile in 1996, followed by a wall-mounted canvas addition in 2019 when he included the additional title Gray Whale and Calf.[3][4]
In 1993, he founded the non-profit Wyland Foundation "to help children rediscover the wonder of the ocean through art" (according to Steve Creech, the foundation's President) and to finance his Whaling Wall murals.[5][6] Wyland's largest ocean mural sets an international record of over three acres in area, on the exterior of the Long Beach Convention Center.[7][8] Wyland's 100th Whaling Wall was painted in Beijing in 2008.[9] His foundation has since expanded its work to include other environmental initiatives such as sponsorship of the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation.[10][11]
By 1997, his commercial work (sold through Wyland Galleries LLC) and licensed merchandise sold at zoos and other outlets had become a multimillion-dollar business supporting both his galleries and his non-profit endeavors for the conservation of coasts and waterways.[12][13][14] His artwork has been featured on California and Florida specialty license plates as well as on a series of four United Nations stamps issued in 2010 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.[15][16]
In 2018, Norwegian Cruise Line launched their newest cruise ship, Norwegian Bliss. Wyland designed and painted a massive mural on the hull of the over 1,000-foot-long ship, featuring his trademark images of life-sized whales.[17][non-primary source needed]
Wyland lives in the Florida Keys, California, and Hawaii.[18]
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