Wilmington, Deleware Wyland Whaling Wall 44

History of the Wilmington, Delaware Wyland Whaling Wall 44

-Delaware Marine Mammals

The front of Architect’s Studio on Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware, presented a special challenge for Wyland because the two walls were bisected by a wide external stairwell.

“It was essentially a diptych with two fairly vertical surfaces,”he explained. “To achieve more continuity on either side of the stairwell, I thought the mural would work better if both sides were above-the-surface paintings. So I painted a humpback in full breach out of the water on the left side and a school of bottlenose dolphins skipping on the ocean’s surface on the right side.”

Situated near Wilmington’s Christina Waterfront, which, in the 1860s to 1880s, was the launch for whaling ships going up the river and through a bay to reach the Atlantic, the mural is seen daily by people passing by on Amtrak. According to members of the Wilmington Arts Commission, the Whaling Wall was an early
element in the effort to revive the troubled waterfront district by giving it a fresh new look and a message of hope.

“Painting a Whaling Wall in a non-coastal city shows people that we are all connected to the ocean, no matter how far upstream we are," Wyland said. “In order for our ocean and its inhabitants to survive, people need to understand that everything they do has an impact, from the food we eat to the pesticides
and plastics that find their way into local waterways. If it’s not intercepted, it all goes in one direction to the ocean.

Whaling wall 44

The Architects Studio, Inc., 117 Market St., Wilmington, Delaware
90 Feet Long x 60 Feet High
Dedicated August 2, 1993
By Governor Tom Carper, Mayor Jim Sills & Senator Bill Roth

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