By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

The art of Robert Wyland — who is simply known as Wyland to art collectors — has been transformed into a larger-than-life tile mural by workers at Images in Tile, a Joplin business that specializes in transferring art onto ceramic tile.

“We are the official tile vendor for marine-life artist Wyland,” said Paul Whitehill, spokesman for the company. “We made contact with them three years ago. They had tried a variety of tile vendors. Nobody could really supply the quantity, size and quality that they needed.

“That’s when they contacted us. They quickly realized that we had the caliber and the clientele to be a big player in tile images,” he said.

The company has produced a mural of one Wyland’s newest works, “Water Planet.” It was commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the agency’s 200th anniversary last year.

The mural, which features a humpback whale and her calf gliding through moonlit waters, is 10 times the size of the original print, Whitehill said. It will be displayed during an art exposition next week in Las Vegas, Nev.

Wyland, who has painted 99 Whaling Walls across the United States and around the world, realized his 30-year goal of painting 100 Whaling Walls by staging the 100th mural in Beijing in advance of this summer’s Olympic Games.

The mural at the Beijing Olympic International Sculpture Park spans nearly two miles. It is eight times longer than the current world record holder, which is Wyland’s Whaling Wall No. 33, “Planet Ocean.” It covers the entire surface of California’s Long Beach Convention Center. The mural depicts migratory gray whales and other aquatic life found in the waters off Long Beach.

About his mural for the Olympics, Wyland, in a prepared statement, said, “Teaching children on both sides of the ocean to become good stewards of our environment is one of the most important lessons we can provide — and doing that through art is a powerful first step.”

Wyland’s murals of whales can be seen in more than 70 cities in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Japan. His work can be viewed at www.wylandgalleries.com.

Contest finalist

A sectional mural, created by A.J. Wood, senior art director with Images in Tile, is one of three finalists in connection with a mural project at the Welcome Center on Interstate 44. The winner of the competition will be named on Sept. 24. To view the entries, visit www.modot.com.