Past Mural Proposals

The last time I talked to Kelly from the Punta Gorda Historical Mural Society I asked her where the mural proposals from previous murals were and if they can be seen. She told me they can be seen, and most of them are displayed at the convention center in Punta Gorda. So last week with camera in hand I went to see how other artists approached making a mural proposal.
   When I arrived at the convention center I walked down the main hall and peeked in the main events room, but I didn't see any drawings. So I backed tracked to the office I passed at the front. There in the office I noticed two framed paintings which I recognized were paintings of murals I have seen in the streets of Punta Gorda.
    The first thing I noticed is most of them were on paper with water based paint in contrast to my origional proposal of a  black and white pencil drawing. It makes sense to use color in the proposal. I guess I went with what I was most comfortable with. I haven't had a lot of experience painting on paper so I drew the best black and white drawing that I could. In the end the Mural society wanted to see it in color, and again instead of painting it on paper I went with what I know, and painted the proposals on canvas.

    One of my favorite murals is the one about the history of the Movie theater with Charlie Chaplin on the screen at the left, and a poster of Roy rogers on the right. It must have been a big favorite of the mural society because it was painted twice, once by John Gurcher before the hurricane of 2004 and again after the hurricane by Michael Vires at a different location just outside the convention center. I like the whimsical quality and how it bursts out of the movie film  frame. The quality of the design and draftsmanship are excellent.
    The movie theater painting wasn't the only mural lost in the 2004 hurricane. Several others were lost and painted again, usually by the same artist. In this case John Gucher was no longer alive to repaint it.
   There were many more proposals on display at the convention center, but not all of them. Kelly told me that there are a few of them located in the Court House but I didn't get over to see them.