The Muralist

ARTIST BILL SAVARESES RIVERWALK MURAL

CELEBRATES FORT LAUDERDALES RICH HISTORY
AND LUSH LANDSCAPE

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BILL SAVARESE

WRITER WILLIAM COHN

tropical setting with blue and green hues made passersby stop to take a look while strolling on the Riverwalk.
I had so many people coming up to me saying how
great the piece looked while I was out painting,
Savarese says.
Although Savarese says he does not fall into the
starving artist category, the one issue he does have with
his profession has to do with the funding of art projects
in our local communities not just in South Florida,
but across the nation. Artists in general dont have the
funding and opportunities that they should have in such
a blossoming movement, he says. People didnt want

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SEPTEMBER 2016

GORIVERWALK.COM

PHOTOS BY JASON LEIDY

veryone always says that you should do what

you love and love what you do. For local artist
Bill Savarese, this statement could not be more
accurate. Through both residential and also commercial
murals, he has created a name for himself in South
Florida, and one of his latest designs is now featured on
a pump house along the Riverwalk.
Before getting his BFA from the University of Denver,
Savarese was encouraged to only minor in art, but
decided to forgo the advice of his superiors and make
it his major. His career began in 1989, when he won a
national competition to paint his first large mural.
Savarese moved to South Florida in 1997 and
currently does different types of faux finishing and
design work as well, but his murals are the main
attraction. The biggest influence for him when painting
those murals is the impressionist period, but he
clarifies that each individual site determines what
mural will go there.
The New Jersey-born artist was commissioned to
paint the pump house by the Fort Lauderdale Public
Works Department and after a debate about what
mural should dress the structure, all parties agreed on
a tropical theme. I worked from a photo I had of the
Bonnet House property in Fort Lauderdale, which ended
up being my inspiration for the tiki portion, Savarese
says. This evocation of the citys history amidst a lush

temporary installations when I first started out, but murals

have become more prevalent. Although Im becoming very
successful, I know the struggle is still there for many artists.
The solution to the lack of funding and available
opportunities for artists? Encourage more spending in the
arts, Savarese says. People on the street really do appreciate
the murals and the art, and I really enjoy when I get so much
positive feedback from the community when Im working at a
site. His satisfaction comes from people appreciating how he
changes their communities. He cares just as much about his
art as he cares about the people who experience it.
So whats next? Its fairly classified, but he did say that he
prefers painting larger murals. I love big projects. I now want to
focus on larger exterior and interior designs.
The pump house mural on the Riverwalk is located on
the north side just east of the Andrews Avenue Bridge and
perfectly melds Fort Lauderdales history with an eye-catching
tropical backdrop, while simultaneously blending in with the
foliage along the New River. If you would like to learn more
about Bill Savarese and his previous projects, visit www.
muralsbybill.com or email him at billsavarese@yahoo.com.
Author William Cohn is a rising junior at Elon University and a 2016
summer intern with Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale.

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