Artist Wyland Honored on National Mall With 7-Block Installation of 'Hands Across The Ocean,' the 100th and Final Marine Life Mural in His 27-Year-Long 'Whaling Wall Series'

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Marine life artist and conservationist Wyland will be honored in the nation's capital today with an 11AM press conference in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History that will be hosted by multiple agencies and partners. The event celebrates the installation of Wyland's monumental mural "Hands Across The Ocean," which spans a half-mile, seven-block length on the National Mall. The display of Wyland's work is timed to coincide with the opening of the new Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian.

"Hands Across The Ocean" was created in Beijing during the 2008 summer Olympic Games with the participation of over 3,000 children from 110 countries. The massive work is the final piece in Wyland's epic "Whaling Wall" series, which he began 27 years ago with the goal of eventually donating his time to paint and install 100 life-sized marine life murals worldwide.

The biggest environmentally themed public art project in history, Wyland's "Whaling Walls" are now seen by an estimated one billion people on four continents every year. Through the murals, and through the Wyland Foundation, Wyland seeks to inspire greater awareness about preserving the planet's oceans, waterways, ecosystems and the life within them. Information on the Whaling Wall Series can be found at: http://www.wylandfoundation.org/pdf/WallFacts.pdf.

Mark Victor Hansen, creator of Chicken Soup For The Soul, will introduce Wyland at the press conference; Hansen generously underwrote expenses related to installing "Hands Across The Ocean" on the mall. Also on hand to honor Wyland are: James Connaughton, Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality; Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior; Conrad C. Lautenbacher, NOAA Administrator; Cristian Samper, Director, National Museum of Natural History; and Tracy Bowen, Executive Director, Alice Ferguson Foundation.

Following the press conference, there will be a day of programs and activities celebrating children, art and the environment. In association with the Alice Ferguson Foundation, Wyland will lead children in painting sessions to create murals depicting the Potomac River watershed.

Hailed as a "Marine Michelangelo" by USA Today, Wyland is an accomplished painter, sculptor, photographer writer and Scuba Diver. The Southern California-based artist has galleries throughout the United States, and his artworks are in museums, educational institutions and corporate and private collections in over 100 countries. He is equally renowned for the Wyland Foundation, which was established in 1993. In partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the foundation is actively engaged in teaching millions of students worldwide to become caring, informed stewards of our oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands.