Marine artist Wyland’s stated mission is simple – inspire through art and give people information so they can come up with creative ways to protect the environment.
“It’s a beautiful thing when you see your message connect with people, especially the children, because they are going to inherit all these challenges. But I’m optimistic,” said the renowned marine artist, who launched his art career in Laguna Beach.
The Wyland Foundation recently announced $250,000 raised at a recent gala held in San Clemente will support clean water initiatives, from inland to the ocean, across the country.
The event, held at Gray Matter Museum, brought together supporters, community members and art enthusiasts to help expand the foundation’s ocean conservation and youth environmental outreach through programs such as the Wyland Clean Water Mobile Learning Center, a traveling 1,000-square-foot science exhibit that brings hands-on watershed education to Title I schools and community events nationwide.
Other initiatives include public art partnerships, climate and water-resilience workshops, the National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation, and the Streams of Hope watershed program, which launched in 2022 and empowers middle-school students to adopt and study their local waterways.
The Wyland Foundation nonprofit launched in 1993, and in the past three decades has worked to protect oceans, lakes, rivers and streams through education, public art, community engagement and national awareness campaigns.
Wyland, a Detroit native who says he was first inspired after seeing a gray whale off Laguna Beach during a summer vacation as a youngster, came back to the beach town to create his first-ever Whaling Wall in 1981, the start of a 103 mural series. He has made his mark around the world and across Southern California
A few months ago, Wyland Foundation helped create a first-of-its-kind “3D Visual Experience” in Laguna Beach, transforming his Gray Whale and Calf mural, which spans 140 feet, into a 3D illumination.
Also, Dana Wharf Sportsfishing and Whale Watching a few weeks ago unveiled its latest collaboration with the artist, wrapping the hull of its Ocean Adventures catamaran with his artwork.
Dana Wharf has long partnered with the artist, launching together the Wyland Whale Watching Art Contest 15 years ago, which runs from the end of January through April. Young artists get to create marine art aboard a boat, with the Wyland Foundation picking winners at the end of the series.
The artwork on the catamaran’s hull depicts a pod of humpback whales swimming alongside bottlenose dolphins, marine mammals regularly seen off Orange County’s coast.
“These whale images are deeply personal – each one a reminder that when art lives on the water, it can move hearts the same way the ocean moves the tide,” Wyland said.
He’s also been focusing his attention inland with the Streams of Hope initiative.
“I’ve known for a long time, if we’re going to protect the sea, we have to protect the water habitats,” Wyland said. “I’m trying to think big and share what I know. And, at the end of the day, it’s going to require all 8.5 billion people to ensure we have clean water and healthy oceans now and in the future.”
What happens on lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands impacts the ocean, he said. “If you love the ocean and love marine life, you have to take care of our freshwater.”
Clean water is the most important issue of our time, Wyland emphasized.
“The reality is,” he said, “we have plenty of water, but we’re not taking care of it.”