DeLand, FL-The city of DeLand celebrates it's history in many ways, including murals across the city. A celebration of the completion of a mural in Painter's Pond Park takes place Friday afternoon.
The mural was first dedicated in 2003 as part of MainStreet DeLand Association’s mural program. Over time, the mural needed to be redone after it developed mold and the paint starting cracking. The retaining wall, all that’s left of a railroad spur that took wealthy visitors to the luxurious College Arm Hotel, is close to 200 feet long according to the original and once-again artist, Courtney Canova.
Canova said he was on the committee to choose an artist for the renovation of Painters Pond and other murals but offered to redo Painter's Pond himself.
Painting outside is a lot harder than you think, according to Canova. Besides weather conditions, a wall is quite a bit different from a canvas. Canova also said the paint itself is different in order to prevent fading from the sun, peeling and cracking and mold.
Canova said that he tried to capture the history from the time period in that part of town. The area around Painter's Pond Park was largely industrial and in the 1930s, it was also the black section of town. Those things are represented in the vignettes that make up the mural.
A ribbon cutting ceremony takes place tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at the park, which is at the corner of Wisconsin and Alabama Avenue.
The Painter’s Pond mural is just one of many that can found in Downtown DeLand as part of the DeLand Historic Mural Walk. For more on the Mural Walk, click here.
(photos courtesy of the artist, Courtney Canova)
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2016.
