GREENACRES, Fla. — A local Cuban artist used his talents to create a wall mural in Greenacres. This was a collaboration effort with the city as they've launched an initiative to display art in public places.
The mural is painted on the outside of wall of the racquetball courts, and city leaders tell me they hope it'll improve the visual quality of public spaces.
This colorful mural at Samuel J. Ferreri Community Park off Jog Road was done by local artist Anthony Hernandez.
"I was born in Cuba, raised in Chicago, and living here in West Palm for about 24 to 25 years now," Hernandez said.
It's been a passion of his since he was a kid.
"As long as I can remember, I think my mother said that drawing and painting kept me calm," Hernandez said.
The mural is the first of its kind in the city of Greenacres. Hernandez said he hopes it'll bring out more people to the park.
"You have a couple of people while I was doing the mural, they would always come in the morning and see my progress. So I decided to paint their silhouettes there. There's a lady with a dog over there, and she would come here every morning and see how I was doing, so it's kind of homage to the people in the park," Hernandez said.
The mural is part of the city's new initiative of art in public places.
"We went through a visioning and strategic action plan and found that art in public places really does add to the quality of life of residents," said City Manager Andrea McCue.
“Art in public places was a vision of mine when I took office and I’m thankful we were able to start this program. My hope is that we continue to enrich the lives of our residents," said Mayor Joel Flores.
Mccue said the mural represents the diversity in the community as well as those who love the outdoors, and a girl as it's focal point.
"That represents community, family and children. There's an interaction. The girl who is actually on the wall will be tapping the shoulder of the person sitting there. So, like i said, it is an interactive piece," McCue said.
The brush strokes don't stop here as the city is planning to do more on blank spaces.