Mural showcases Florida’s natural history
Through October, Lake County is hosting the Florida Wildlife Corridor mural, “Together, We Are the Corridor,” in the rotunda of the County Administration Building, located at 315 W. Main St. in Tavares.
“As we plan for the future, it’s important to remind ourselves what we value,” said Commissioner Sean Parks. “The mural represents our commitment to a connected, thriving ecosystem of natural resources.”
C. Stanley Creative, featuring the art of Christian Stanley, created the five-panel mural. The artist is a Central Florida-based artist who’s lived in the Orlando area since graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2011. He and his wife, Jessica, formed the company, and Stanley has painted dozens of murals every year since around 2017. His largest project spans more than 8,000 square feet.
On loan from the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, this is the mural’s first public exhibition, according to the Lake County government, which stated, “More than just a work of art, the mural tells the story of Florida’s interconnected landscapes, blending wild habitats, agricultural lands, recreational trails, and the wildlife that depend on them.”
The Florida Wildlife Corridor covers nearly 17.7 million acres of Florida and is intended to serve as a literal corridor for wildlife that needs space to roam. According to its foundation, the corridor’s existence is necessary to support wildlife’s ability to travel (think of the high number of panther fatalities on roadways) and reduce the risk of inbreeding in species that are corralled into smaller and smaller natural spaces as development consumes surrounding wild areas.
While the corridor encompasses nearly 18 million acres, eight million of those acres are unprotected open land, meaning that they link the protected areas but are not actually protected from development themselves. According to the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, the future of 69 imperiled plant species and 131 imperiled animal species is threatened by fragmentation of the corridor. Species range from the small population of Key Deer in the Florida Keys to the endangered Scrub Plum found right here in Lake County.
The Lake County news release says of the mural, “The installation reflects Lake County’s ongoing commitment to environmental conservation and sustainability, key themes as the County develops Comprehensive Plan 2050, a long-term guide for future growth.”
For more information on the corridor, visit https://floridawildlifecorridor.org.
To see more of Stanley’s artwork, visit https://www.cstanleycreative.com.