As the quaint little village that was Delray Beach continues to expand into a booming city by the sea, it’s refreshing to find reminders of “The Old Delray”—those tiny bits of nostalgia that, when stumbled upon, feel like we’re discovering our home all over again. Fortunately, we don’t have to go very far to find them. Along every street and around every corner, the rich, artistic culture that is the soul of our town can be seen on full display.
Walk beneath the glowing lights of Pineapple Grove and you can hear bluesy rhythms booming out of Arts Garage. Stop in the Arts Warehouse and marvel at the vibrant canvases that line the walls, all painted by members of the local arts community. Take a moment and study a sculpted oddity on your next stroll through Old School Square.
Art is everywhere in Delray. The most imposing example can be found on many of the city’s buildings, where wall-to-wall creations leap colorfully from brick-and-mortar canvases. Delray’s murals are a patchwork of unique imagery that, when viewed altogether, help weave the artistic fabric of the community.
In recent years, mural art has become an integral part of beautifying cities and attracting visitors and businesses. Take, for instance the South Palm Beach County Courthouse, which serves as the unofficial artistic gateway to downtown Delray Beach. Spanning two of the courthouse’s walls is a mural entitled “Delray Progress,” a 3,300-square-foot work of art that captures the past and present of Delray’s unique cultural landscape, from local agriculture to bustling beaches. There are dozens of these types of murals around Delray, each illustrating a distinct aspect of the city. We caught up with five artists who lent their hands (and paintbrushes) to these works of art to discover some of the stories behind the murals, and what each unique piece adds to Delray.
Delray Tennis Center—“Child Holding Seedlings” and “Tennis Ball in Motion”
PAINTED IN 2016 BY EDUARDO “EMO” MENDIETA
Eduardo Mendieta has been painting murals around South Florida for 15 years, signing each with his distinct “EM©” signature. Thanks to a few untrained eyes, Mendieta earned the nickname “EMO” after the copyright symbol was mistaken for an “O”. “Everybody just saw it as emo, so I just went with it,” says Mendieta, whose mural work can be seen from Hollywood to West Palm. Like many of his projects, Mendieta wanted to focus on emotionally grounded community subjects for his murals at the Delray Tennis Center.
For the tennis center’s “Tennis Ball in Motion” mural, Mendieta says his idea was simple—“Emotion.” The tennis player in this piece isn’t visible by design; all that can be seen is their arm holding a racket, moving through an intense, all-consuming wave to reach the ball. The power of the wave is matched only by the will of the subject fighting through the current. Mendieta says this piece adds “more color and more vibrancy in the city.”
The “Child Holding Seedlings” mural represents consistency in the face of change. “A lot of [the mural] was about having the local people be part of the new Delray and not just getting pushed out,” says Mendieta. “The idea was seedlings to help grow the community.” For Mendieta, this mural is just part of the art that breathes life into Delray. “The more murals and public art, I think, really benefits the community.”
IG: @emo_561; Website: eduardomendieta.com
Pour & Famous—Red & White Mural
PAINTED IN 2019 BY DAVID PAUL KAY
The red-and-white geometric display decorating Delray’s former Pour & Famous was a departure from artist David Paul Kay’s usual black-and-white medium. For Kay, colors are like instruments. Black and white represent the piano, and it’s an instrument he’s grown comfortable with over the years. For this mural, however, he wanted to try a new instrument. “The red for me was the sound of a violin; it sounds very sort of romantic and strange, but that’s how I saw it,” says Kay.
“It’s soft, it’s smooth, but at the same time it stands out.” But what’s up with the frog? Well, there’s history there.
Pour & Famous was near what used to be called “Frog Alley,” so named after the frogs that swarmed the area after a heavy rain. Word is that the rain would pour so much that residents would have to dig moats around their houses to stop the flooding. When the storm had passed, the croaking of frogs echoed throughout the alley. For Kay, including this frog was a way of paying homage to Delray’s history. But as one of the first murals created in that area of West Atlantic Avenue, Kay says this piece signified “Bringing that new energy, that new life, that then translates to diversity and vibrance and happiness. … I wanted to ignite that fire with that spark that would actually bring a lot of awesome, cool energy to the rest of [the area].”
IG: @davidpaulkay; Website: davidpaulkay.com
Silverball Retro Arcade
RESTORED AND REPAINTED BY ALEJANDRO ROMAN IN 2022
Any lover of Delray nightlife can tell you about the eclectic mix of imagery on the walls of the Silverball Retro Arcade. On one wall, bursting fireworks and carnival clowns dance across a vibrant background; on another wall, the jacks, kings and queens of a royal flush poker hand laugh as a tiger stands ominously behind them. In late 2021, local art teacher Alejandro Roman was commissioned to touch up the fading and torn facade of the building, whose artwork was originally created in 2016.
“It’s a mix of a restoration and my own work,” says Roman. Roman had never taken on a project of this magnitude, and decided the project would be a great challenge. “When they came to me for the offer, I just kind of decided to tackle it head-on and figured it out day by day.”
Roman says he went over almost the entire pre-existing mural, meticulously restoring the faded areas while adding his own creative spin. The result was a multi-themed display that adds a distinctive flair to downtown Delray’s cityscape. While most of Delray’s murals are more “clean-cut” and cohesive, Silverball’s are a motley blend of fantastic imagery. “I haven’t really seen that type of artwork around there too much,” says Roman.
IG: @romanthestoic
Delray Camera & Studio—“Observations”
PAINTED IN 2007 BY DANA DONATY
When Dana Donaty was commissioned to create a wildlife scene on the walls of Delray Camera & Studio, she knew just where to start: The Everglades. “I had just moved to Florida, and here is this place where everything I was looking for was consolidated,” says Donaty. To truly capture the essence of what makes the Everglades so unique, Donaty went out to Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and took photos of the area’s flora and fauna. The results can be seen on each vibrant panel of the “Observations” mural. Every blade of grass, every soaring bird and every plant is native to Florida, each showcasing the rich diversity of the state’s most beautiful ecosystem.
“[The mural] was just about putting together this really full and robust scene of our wildlife,” says Donaty.
The mural is currently in the midst of a transition following the sale of the Delray Camera & Studio building, but next year it can be seen at the new Delray Camera Shop on Northeast Third Avenue.
IG: @danadonaty; Website: danadonatyart.com
Catherine Strong Park—“It Takes a Village”
PAINTED IN 2021 BY ANTHONY HERNANDEZ
On the I-95 sound walls at Catherine Strong Park, two benevolent faces can be seen surveying the playground, keeping vigil and protecting the children who play. When Anthony Hernandez was commissioned for the project, he knew that it should be the community that decided what would beautify the park. “The ultimate inheritance of that wall will be the residents of that area,” says Hernandez.
He talked to residents, and heard the story from a young mother about the Tysons, an elderly couple that would sit on their porch and watch over the children as they played. This resident told Hernandez that the Tysons gave her a sense of security, knowing they would make sure no harm would come to her kids.
“I wanted to recognize these people for being the unsung heroes for the community and the parents,” says Hernandez. And so the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Tyson are immortalized in paint, forever keeping watch over the community’s children.
IG: @anthonyhernandezart; Website: anthonyhernandezart.com
This article is from the March/April 2023 issue of Delray magazine. For more like this, click here to subscribe to the magazine.
