A Mural Comes to Life

Last week on Thursday when I was working at Stanley Switlik Elementary, a big cherry picker truck pulled up to the bare white wall in the outside hallway at the school ( down here, all of the hallways are outside). Next they brought in about 20 gallons of paint, and then the work began. It has an interesting local flavor to the story. The artist, Yoslan O'Farrill, went to Stanley Switlik when he came to Marathon from Cuba in the 6th grade. He graduated from Marathon High School and is now an artist in Daytona Beach. His mom works in the school as a janitor, and his brother is now a 4th grader. They convinced him to come down and paint the mural. He said he painted it as a testament to what Keys students can accomplilsh. It was fun watching him work. By Friday afternoon it was almost complete, and Monday he came back to finish the dolphins' eyes, and sign his work. The dolphins are the school mascot, of course! This young 23 year old artist is married and has 2 kids. He says his next project is a gaming mural at Bellagio in Vegas. .