Mural refurbishment just the beginning for Save Our Seabirds updates

By Dana Kampa
| 5:00 a.m. June 4, 2025

Brian Walton, executive director of Save Our Seabirds, points out some improvements made to a mural centrally located at the facility as part of a wider revitalization effort.

Longboat Key
Neighbors

Save Our Seabirds is getting a facelift, and staff members are excited to share the latest installment with visitors.

This mural holds many layers of community involvement. Artist Mirald Cake, who studied at Ringling College of Art and Design, crafted the original mural at least 15 years ago.

"We felt like it was too good to leave covered up," Save Our Seabirds Executive Director Brian Walton said.

Lisa Wood, Save Our Seabirds' marketing and outreach manager, said though the piece faded over time, weathering under harsh rays of sun and many hurricane seasons, it remained beloved by guests and staff.

Walton said the staff are proud to display the work of art restored to its former glory.

Save Our Seabirds is also in the midst of constructing a new set of enclosures, which executive director Brian Walton said will house songbirds and some nonnative birds.

"This area was fully grown over," he said, gesturing to a bit of greenery in the middle of the grounds. "The pond was filled in with dirt, the border rocks weren't there, and you couldn't even see the wall with the mural. There was no clue there was something there. But I was looking one day, and I saw the very top corner and asked what was hiding in there."

Walton said his best guess as to why facility managers filled in the pond is that Save Our Seabirds had to prioritize resources in lean years, focusing on animal welfare. Now, with the support of organizations like the Longboat Key Garden Club and Grant's Gardens, they are glad to move forward with making this community resource soar to new heights.

Artist Annie Joy works to restore a mural at Save Our Seabirds originally created by Mirald Cake.

He said maintenance staff slashed their way through the jungle of foliage to find a beautiful mural underneath. In early 2024, volunteers and staff pitched in to clear away the remaining debris, making way for the repainting.

Cake, who is now based in Atlanta, drew his inspiration from images by well-known nature photographer Mary Lou Johnson of Longboat Key. The central figures include a heron, an egret, a spoonbill and a white pelican.

Artist Annie Joy refurbished the piece, bringing back the blush of the roseate spoonbill and sapphire spark of the great blue heron pictured in the mural.

Joy is a fellow Ringling art student, and she repainted the entire mural during Memorial Day weekend. She made sure to preserve Cake's signature in the lower right corner.

Walton said Joy aimed to brighten the painting and fill in the cracks without changing the piece.

The mural repainting is part of a larger renovation, as Walton explained.

Save Our Seabirds is home to several roseate spoonbills, one of the bird species featured in its newly repainted mural.

Facility updates include the construction of a new set of enclosures. Walton said the five new aviaries will house songbirds and some non-native birds, and they hope to finish work on them before the end of the summer.

Walton said the avian rescue also plans to rework the water display near the mural, adding twin disappearing waterfalls later this year.

"These kinds of improvements aren't massively expensive, but they do show that you care," he added.

He said Save Our Seabirds soon hope to bring in some additional art, inviting Joy to create an entirely new mural.

Christina Patterson doles out fish to the pelicans at Save our Seabirds for the daily noon feeding.

Walton said the facility is grateful to the group of Ringling students who volunteered to replant the area around the mural, along with the rest of the community that has supported the recent updates.

"I like to say we're continuously improving ourselves, 10 square feet at a time," he said.

author

Dana Kampa

Dana Kampa is the Longboat Key neighbors reporter for the Observer. She first ventured into journalism in her home state of Wisconsin, going on to report community stories everywhere from the snowy mountains of Washington State to the sunny shores of the Caribbean. She has been a writer and photographer for more than a decade, covering what matters most to readers.