Setting the scene at the Mote Science Education Aquarium one mural at a time

The world of Florida marine habitats is often startling in its beauty, but messy as well when wildlife collides.

So when area artist Andrew Viera searches for a word to describe that environment, he would never use the word "perfect."

Viera, who owns Signature Strokes, Paint and Murals, of Bradenton, was chosen by the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company to do a series of seven murals at the $132 million Mote Science Education Aquarium that is expected to open late this year adjacent to Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota.

"I wanted people to see the brush strokes, the imperfection," Viera said while taking a break from working on the final of the seven murals, which he estimates will take about three more weeks to complete. He began the project in April 2024.

Ironically, those who visit Mote SEA when it opens might argue with him about his work not being perfect.

Viera had painted a mural at Mote's City Island facility, now just known as the Mote Marine Laboratory. Samantha Bledstein, the exhibits manager for Mote, was taken by his work and suggested to Whiting-Turner that he would be — excuse the term — perfect for the aquarium.

"You want to see the person behind the work, and Andrew is a part of our local community," Bledstein said. "He knows the area, and he wants that local flavor to come through. His murals set the tone for our exhibits. I am thrilled with his work.

"This was an important decision."

'Makes you feel like home'

Amber Smalley, the marketing and public relations manager for Mote Marine, said it was incredible seeing his murals at the aquarium for the first time.

"I am a native of Sarasota, and the murals make you feel like you are home," Smalley said. "It's the wild Florida that people miss. It's enough to bring a tear to your eye."

Photo by Jay Heater

Six of the seven murals are primarily meant to enhance the exhibits, and to not overwhelm them.

"We didn't want the mural to take over an exhibit," Viera said.

Like the nature it represents, the murals flow into the exhibits.

"It is so immersive, standing in those scenes," said Sabrina Golich, the Mote marketing coordinator. "You feel like you are there. The details are remarkable."

Viera said it took a lot of research on his part before he started painting. Whiting-Turner presented him with some ideas and examples of what the specific exhibits would show. Some of the research was accomplished just by him being a lifetime resident and an avid fisherman. He loves the region's waters, so if an exhibit highlighted wildlife along the Crystal River, he would visit the area and then would proceed to paint the mural so that visitors to the aquarium would feel like they are on the river.

Image courtesy of Mote Marine

"This is insane," he said about his selection to paint the murals at Mote SEA. "This is the center of where I am from."

Those who are unfamiliar with Viera as an artist might be familiar with his work. Besides the Mote Marine Laboratory, he has done murals at Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Ellenton, Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Bradenton, O'Leary's Tiki Bar & Grill in Sarasota, the Cortez Clam Factory and Marina Jack, among others.

Early work

His first area mural was done at Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Ellenton.

"It was outside and it was angel wings made with oysters," he said. "I hated it. I was learning the colors. I use a lot more expressive colors now."

Growing up, Viera said it just took him one little sketch to begin a love affair with art.

"All I did was watch Bob Ross," he said of the artist whose TV show "The Joy of Painting" ran from 1983-1994. 

But when he wasn't watching Bob Ross, he was getting into trouble, he said. He dropped out of Palmetto High School and joined the Army, which he feels turned his life around.

"I was a heathen," he said of his young life. "The thing I loved about the Army was being a leader."

While art was mostly a hobby for him, he had defining moments, even in the military.

"On my first tour of Afghanistan, we took over an installation and we opened this 40-foot container (Conex box) and found this leftover paint."

Although his job as an Army sergeant was to provide security for the Marines, he found the time to take a photo of his 60-man platoon, and then paint them in a mural at Camp Leatherneck, a 1,600-acre U.S. Marine Corps case in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan. 

After finishing his enlistment, he tried various jobs, such as building boats with Marine Concepts of Sarasota from 2018-2022. 

His artwork consisted of doing "little things for my family and friends," until his murals started introducing him as a talent.

While confident in that talent, Viera was asked if he felt pressure upon accepting the aquarium job.

"A lot!" he said without hesitation.

A natural high

So he has spent the last 17 months at the aquarium, often working from scaffolding 230 feet in the air.

"I have absolutely no fear of heights," he said with a laugh.

Image courtesy of Mote Marine

Working in the aquarium has been a challenge due to the natural lighting.

"You get the shadows from the morning sun," he said. "Then the whole wall would change."

He calls his final mural the "crème de la crème."

"It's everything salt water, and everything fresh water," he said. "It's the most intense one. Visitors can walk right up to the wall. I love it."

It's the only mural at the aquarium where the visitors will have full access to the mural. They will be able to see the imperfections, but he said they can also see how he doesn't clean his brush off when he continues painting with that particular color, causing a subtle change in the color shade, and creating a flow.

"I wish I could see everyone's reaction at the time they see it," he said.