A pictorial history of Indian River County is now on full display, lining the walls on the second floor of the County Administration Building, thanks to talented members of the Vero Beach Art Club who have gifted them to the community.
The two sets of impressive murals, “The History of the Treasure Coast” and “The Habitats of Vero Beach,” were completed in 1998 and 2012, respectively. They had previously been displayed in the Vero Beach Community Center and have now found a more suitable home.
The story of the murals dates back even further, to 1969. However, although a smaller depiction of that initial mural still exists, the original is nowhere to be found. The hope is that someone who reads this or visits the Admin Building will know its location.
“It’s probably lost someplace in storage. It’s beautiful, but nobody knows where it is,” said Judy Burgarella, who, with Dawn Mill and Christine Thomas, each painted two panels of the last group of murals.
“The panels weren’t as visible at the Community Center. You really have to stand in front of it for a while, and most people that saw it there were in the middle of exercise or were going someplace, and nobody really looked at it,” Burgarella explained.
“And this is beautiful lighting. You’ve got natural lighting on both ends with huge windows. This is the best home for it; it really is. It’s a much better space than the Community Center.”
They expect the new location to be safer for the murals as well. At the other, one panel incurred a slight tear when it was hit by a piano being moved (it will be repaired at a later date), and another panel was completely destroyed.
“When (Hurricane) Irma came, a tree fell through the window and raked the back of it,” said Burgarella, adding that an art restorer said it was too far gone to repair. “It was awful. The branches went and raked the whole thing like a tiger.”
Thomas, who had painted that panel originally, is now painting a recreation at the Raw Space gallery. Once completed, it will be hung with the others.
The missing 1969 mural was also painted and funded by members of the Vero Beach Art Club. It was hung in the Florida Room of the then newly completed Community Center in 1969, and included a visual history from 6,000 B.C. to 1969, including Ais Indians, Spanish troops coming ashore, and early cattle and citrus settlers.
However, by the late 1990s, that mural had deteriorated so much that the decision was made to paint a new one and the Art Club once again came to the rescue.
The extensively researched 1998 History panels were painted by Trish Bridwell, Dawn Mill and Merana Cadorette. They took the theme of the 1969 mural and enhanced it, painting a six-panel mural depicting an enriched timeline of Vero Beach, from its first inhabitants and settlers up to what was then present day.
The six newest Habitat panels, each 8 feet by 6 feet, were also thoroughly researched. It begins with an illustration of Downtown Vero Beach to complement the last of the prior murals if they were to hang together. A preponderance of the native flora and fauna is contained in the center panels, from the Sexton ranch and untamed lands west of town, to the Indian River Lagoon, before ending at the beach in front of the Driftwood Hotel, and the ocean beyond (the panel under repair).
“When people see it and I explain to them all the different aspects of it, because we really did a lot of studying, a lot of research, they are blown away,” said Burgarella, noting that each panel has the name of the habitat it represents.
“I like to paint people, so I put a lot of people in there,” she added, pointing out the three artists’ friends and family members. There are also such notables as the late Alma Lee Loy and the late Judge Graham Stikelether Jr., wearing the magnificent multi-colored judicial robe hand-woven by Leona Smith, a Seminole Indian.
“That robe there is currently on display in a glass case in the courthouse; it’s a beautiful piece of work,” said Burgarella.
The murals were carefully hung at the administration building by John Evans, manager of the county’s facilities management department, and his team, who treated the works with kid gloves as they painstakingly lined up each one so that there was a seamless transition from one to the next.
As they did so, county employees began to wander over, entranced as they viewed all the details of their hometown.
“I’m so excited about this, but I think eventually, it’s going to have to be adhered to the wall, because it’s very vulnerable. It’s not as vulnerable here as it was in the Community Center, but there’s still air space, and it’s only paint on cloth,” Burgarella explained. “Most murals are glued to the wall or painted directly on the wall.”
She ultimately aims to compile a book featuring comprehensive legends for each element depicted in the murals, drawing on their research into the various plants and animals represented.
“The more you walk by, the more you see. There’s always something to look at,” said Burgarella.
Burgarella wrote a blog chronicling their work which can be viewed on
VeroBeachMural.blogspot.com.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
