The unique personality of local artist and arts advocate Mark Wygonik can be easily described as confident, charismatic and colorful. A respected member of the Vero Beach arts community, Wygonik was raised here and has been a permanent resident since 1985.
“I love it here. It’s peaceful and quiet, and the local art scene is fabulous,” he says.
Wygonik fondly remembers that his best Christmas present ever was an art set given to him by ‘Santa’ when he was just 4 years old. It contained a sketch pad, chalk, crayons and colored pencils and was simply “amazing.”
He credits that early entrée into art, along with the support of his parents and teachers during his formative years, for helping to foster and develop an artistic talent that has only continued to grow.
During the summer between his junior and senior high school years, Wygonik studied at the former Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and, after graduation, returned there and completed an intensive two-year program.
Reveling in the institute’s small class sizes and the personal instruction he received from teachers, he studied various disciplines, including commercial art, graphic arts, photography and advanced design.
After a stint as a graphic designer, Wygonik moved to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the 1980s where he says he decided to adopt the “pirate lifestyle.” He resided there for four years, during which he had his own design studio and gallery, dabbling in local art.
Upon his return to Vero Beach in early 1985, he and some friends founded a group they called L’Esprit des Amis to promote local arts.
In 1991 he and the late abstract artist Virginia Knapp opened the Eye of the Lizard, an art studio in the Pelican Plaza building, where he began mentoring emergent, untrained artists, helping them to hone their craft. When the gallery closed in 2000, Wygonik became Knapp’s personal assistant and the curator of her art collection.
In addition to fine art, Wygonik developed a flair for the dramatic, and has been active in theatrical works, show production, choreography and set design at various Treasure Coast theaters. He served on the board of the Vero Beach Theatre Guild, including as president, directed and acted in numerous shows, and received 15 Genie Awards for Best Set Design, four Best Show Genies and the VBTG Jacobus-Seibert-Hazen Award for Excellence.
Throughout his decades-long career, Wygonik has experimented with an assortment of artistic mediums, including silk screening, collage and gouache, which he says is a popular choice for illustration and fine art, as it is very versatile.
Relying on his fertile imagination, he says he enjoys using mixed media, studying the ways they play off each other, and he occasionally uses typeface and three-dimensional objects to showcase his art.
“From an artistic standpoint, I like trying a variety of mediums. I do a lot of things that are very out there for Vero Beach. I’ve always enjoyed toying with new things and throwing curve balls at the art scene here, which is fine, which is fun,” says Wygonik.
Wygonik has continually worked to promote the arts in the community, including serving on the board of the Cultural Council of Indian River County. As a result of his efforts, he was the proud recipient of the prestigious Richard A. Stark Award for Cultural Leadership in 2014, commenting that he felt “honored to receive the award.”
“My biggest thing is encouraging other artists. And that’s how I got to be involved with the Art in Public Places program here with the Cultural Council. That program is wonderful.”
The program showcases the works of local artists, either in solo or group shows, at public venues around Vero Beach including the Intergenerational Center, the Indian River County Courthouse, the Indian River County Administration Complex, Vero Beach City Hall, Indian River Distillery and the Vero Beach Outlets.
“You’re kind of taking the art where the people are,” he explains. He adds that when the average person attends a city council meeting or visits the courthouse, seeing artwork displayed on the walls can enrich the experience.
“I love the concept that we’re now doing downtown in Vero Beach with the murals,” Wygonik says, likening it to the Wynwood project in Miami.
“To be able to see things like that happening here, and other small towns and big towns, helps people recognize the importance of art and develops their appreciation for art. Take away the art, take away the music, take away the theater, take it all away; our lives would be pretty boring.”
Reflecting on his choice of art as a career, Wygonik says his motivation comes from self-expression through his art, as well as being able to share his perspective with the world.
He regards his artistic talents as a calling and professes that he will continue to express himself through art until his dying day. With no plans to retire anytime soon, he says he hopes to continue sharing his perspective by coloring outside the lines.
Currently, Wygonik’s work can be seen at Gallery Veritas and Art Library in Vero’s Downtown Arts District. The exhibit, Pigments of My Imagination: Paintings and Mixed Media, is on view through November. For more information, visit theGalleryVeritas.com.
Additionally, Wygonik is directing the musical “Dancing on the Dingle,” an Irish Christmas tale written and composed by Vero Beach residents Larry Strauss and Jacob Craig. The show tells the story of Professor Winslow Welk, a North Dakota anthropologist, and his discoveries on Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula, Reykjavik, Iceland, and the North Pole. Performances are at 2 p.m. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the First Presbyterian Church McAfee Hall. For more information, visit Dancing-Dingle.com.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
