March is for murals in Marathon.
On the heels of Wyland’s restoration of Whaling Wall #87 on March 2, another of Marathon’s most famous paintings received a complete makeover throughout the month.
The newly completed scene on the east wall of the Marathon Veterinary Hospital building is a collaborative masterpiece between 2002 MHS graduate Yoslan O’Farrill and Stanley Switlik’s art teacher Shannon Paul Wiley.
O’Farrill is the artist behind the original mural painted more than 20 years ago, and he has returned to replace and retouch the work twice in the decades since. But when necessary spalling repairs dug massive gouges through his latest version of the mural, he was more than happy to start fresh.
“(The old mural) was a collage … just a bunch of stuff thrown everywhere,” said O’Farrill. “Color matching is far more difficult to do, and I know what I went through with that when I repaired the mural after Irma. So the idea for this was to show some skills on this wall. I thought, let’s do it as a community project and make it more of a painting on a wall.”
When Wiley expressed interest in helping with the mural’s repairs, O’Farrill was more than happy to collaborate. While O’Farrill handled the main Christ of the Abyss scene and larger animals like the mural’s hammerhead shark and barracuda, Wiley populated the aquascape with highly detailed renderings of Keys reef species.
“Once I learned he was a teacher here, I thought, ‘Man, how fitting. You’re gonna be the coolest guy in town for the next however many years,’” said O’Farrill. “All the kids come by here and see him paint, and everybody’s always screaming, ‘Wiley!’ Once I saw him start working, I just stood back and said, ‘Do your thing. Make it as much your own as it is mine.’
“This is inspirational to me right now. These kids that he’s teaching are going to believe that they can become artists because their teacher is out here doing it.”
“We immediately connected as artists and painting together; we developed a wonderful friendship,” said Wiley. “I was thrilled at the opportunity to ‘sling paint’ with someone so skilled, experienced and enthusiastic.”
As an artist in high demand with more than 200 murals in his portfolio, including about half a dozen in Marathon, O’Farrill can easily pick and choose his projects, but a love for where he grew up drove him to donate his skills – and take vacation time from his new home base in Naples – to complete the wall. “I work with a publisher, and they wanted to charge more than $80,000 for the project,” he said. “I told them, ‘This is my hometown. That’s not gonna happen.’”
O’Farrill’s efforts were made possible by paint donations from Sherwin Williams and Home Depot, equipment donated by Sunbelt Rentals, locals willing to provide free lodging in support of the project’s four-man team, and most importantly, a commitment from the building’s owner, Dr. Doug Mader. After purchasing the building in 2011, Mader performed “some detective work” to find O’Farrill when the original artwork needed repairs, and has honored the artist’s commitment to the mural ever since.
“When we bought the building and redesigned it, I made a promise to the city when they gave us the permit that we’d always have a mural here,” said Mader. “I own the building, but I don’t own the business any more, and the new people didn’t want to replace the wall. But this wall was a historic landmark. (O’Farrill) said, ‘you pay for my supplies, and I’ll come out and redo the mural.’”
“Dr. Mader is the man making this possible,” said O’Farrill. “Without him, I never would have been able to pull this off.”
Though Marathon residents might wonder why Christ of the Abyss, a famous Key Largo dive site, is the subject of a mural more than 50 miles south, the scene’s message, rather than its content, was O’Farrill’s main concern as he looks to leave his mark on the town once again.
“His gesture means that all are welcome, and he protects us as well,” he said. “To me, it’s a sign of hope. When they see it, they’ll know that these guys care about the reefs. There are places around the world that I went to 10 years ago that don’t even exist any more because of people abusing them.”
Marathon-based production company Innastate Studios will be tasked with furthering the artists’ message as it looks to produce a documentary around the mural’s process and purpose.
While O’Farrill and Wiley’s collaboration is a beautiful depiction of authentic reef life, they did throw in one small twist for fun.
“Find Spongebob and his house, take a picture and tag me @artist_ofarrill on Instagram.”
