SAN DIEGO, Sept. 30, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The story of environmental artist Wyland's attempt to paint a three-acre interpretation of the planet earth in a 24-hour span for Earth Day has won Best Film in the San Diego Filmmaker Series at the 2009 San Diego Film Festival, festival organizers announced on Saturday.
Produced by Chris Morrow, a freelance journalist and iReporter for CNN, the 30-minute documentary, "Wyland: Earth Day," chronicles the creative process of painting ultra-large scale art atop the Long Beach Convention Center and Sports Arena. Wyland is best known for his Whaling Wall murals, a series of 100 monumental paintings on the sides of sports arenas, skyscrapers, and public buildings in cities throughout the world. The non-profit Earth project was part of the artist's restoration work on the iconic "Planet Ocean" mural on the walls of the sports arena. Morrow came across the artist's effort while covering the behind-the-scenes activity of the 2009 Long Beach Grand Prix for CNN iReport.
"I asked him what he was going to do for Earth Day and he thought about it and said, 'I want to paint the world's largest earth on top of the arena. A few minutes later, the mayor of Long Beach showed up and the deal was done."
Named the world's largest painting by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1992, the addition of the rooftop mural doubled the total painted surface, bringing the project to six acres. The project was made possible by SMG, Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, the city of Long Beach, and the Wyland Foundation. Dunn Edwards provided over 1,250 gallons of eco-friendly, low VOC water-based acrylic paints for the project. Like all of the artist's Whaling Wall murals, Wyland donated his time and effort as a gift to the city of Long Beach. Public art projects are one of the community outreach programs of his non-profit Wyland Foundation, which teaches people throughout the world to become informed stewards of oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands.
"I've always tried to do something special to call attention to Earth Day over the last thirty years," Wyland says. ""With more people and more demands on a limited supply of resources, this was a way of celebrating what we have and a reminder that we all have to work together to protect it."
About Wyland:
Marine life Artist Wyland is a leading advocate for marine resource conservation. He has hosted television programs for PBS and Discovery Channel's Animal Planet Network and is founder of the nonprofit Wyland Foundation. He is best known for the Whaling Walls, a series of 100 monumental marine-life murals in cities throughout the world.
Print ready photos at FTP Server: Fileaccess.wylandworldwide.com User ID: media Password: manatee OPEN: OUTGOING FOLDER: SD FILM FESTIVAL