Hallandale Beach Mural Painting to Begin

  Hallandale Beach "Beneath the Surface" Mural Painting to Begin by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell After months of waiting, renowned West Palm Beach mural artist Eduardo Mendieta will begin painting his mural “Beneath the Surface” on the…

manatee-mural

 

Hallandale Beach “Beneath the Surface” Mural Painting to Begin

by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell

After months of waiting, renowned West Palm Beach mural artist Eduardo Mendieta will begin painting his mural “Beneath the Surface” on the Hallandale Beach Bridge this week. In June, the Hallandale Beach City Commission approved his design of a manatee and calf to appear on the salmon-colored structure crossing Highway AIA. However, because the site is state property, approval from the Florida State Department of Transportation was also required. Peter Dobens from the City of Hallandale Beach said, “they wanted to make it happen as soon as they were given the ok.”

The Hallandale mural is one of ten projects sponsored by Broward 100 Visual Eyes, a yearlong celebration commemorating Broward County’s Centennial that culminated in early October. The VisualEYES component is however still ongoing. Community involvement is a central component for these projects and usually includes a mass “paint-by-number” activity. However, because the Hallandale Beach site is a busy highway, public painting was replaced with meetings for citizens to provide input about the mural design.

For the painting portion of the project, Mendieta will be joined by collaborative artists Jay Bellicchi and Paul Hughes. Weather permitting, manatees will begin swimming on the bridge in three to four weeks.