Why are there whales painted on that Cleveland building on Lake Erie's coast?

cleveland19.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For years Clevelanders have driven past the Cleveland Public Power building on Interstate 90 and seen the huge whale mural. It's just been accepted as part of the coastline by natives, but every once and awhile people in Northeast Ohio and visitors shrug and think, "What was that all about again?"

Well, here's your reminder.

The mural at 5251 North Marginal Road was No. 75 out of 100 done by artist and marine resource conservation advocate Robert Wyland. It was completed in 1997. All 100 murals in the Wyland Walls project were finished in 2008. They are on five continents, in 17 countries and 79 cities around the world.

Cleveland's is called "Song of Whales." It's 300 feet long and 108 feet high.

A dedication was done by former Cleveland Mayor Michael White on Oct. 9, 1997.

The mural project was done to bring attention to The Wyland Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world's ocean, waterways, and marine life. The foundation encourages environmental awareness through education programs, public arts projects and community events.

Wyland's 100th and final Monumental Marine Life Mural, Hands Across the Oceans, a 24,000-square-foot, half-mile-long series of canvas murals with student artists from 110 countries, was displayed in October 2008 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and honored by the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.