STOCK ISLAND, FL – Are you curious about the significance of the “Dazzle” mural that was painted on Monroe County’s Stock Island Fire Station in 2014 as part of Monroe County’s Art in Public Places program? Now there is sign that explains artist David Harrison Wright’s painting.

Monroe County maintenance workers Tony Gartenmayer and Ben Sanchez recently installed the 26- by 31-inch sign upon a keystone coral pedestal. It says:

“In honor of Stock Island’s maritime history, artist David Harrison Wright chose the dazzle style for the mural. By creating the illusion of movement with abstract, bold surface design, the art of dazzle painting was used to camouflage World War I and II naval warships. As a tribute to our brave firefighters, the bright, dynamic colors represent red for rescue, yellow for the sun, blue and green for the sea and sky, and black and gray for the storms.”

Wright, of Key West, also painted two works of art that permanently hang in the Key West International Airport.

The mural and paintings all are part of Monroe County’s Art in Public Places program. In 2001, the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners passed an ordinance that requires 1 percent of all County construction projects costing at least $500,000 and renovations exceeding $100,000 (with the exception of sewage treatment plants) “to be set aside for the acquisition, commission, installation and maintenance of works of art in said buildings.”

The County’s Art in Public Places committee now is in the preliminary stages of putting together a request for proposals for public art to be placed at Stock Island’s Bernstein Park, which is now undergoing a major renovation that is expected to be completed this summer.

Artists who want to become qualified for the program need to complete the “Request for Qualifications” application, which is available on the Council’s website: www.keysarts.com. The next deadline for applications is April 18.