New mural pays tribute to Pine Island’s resilient beauty

Reporter: Gail Levy Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published: Updated:
Pine Island mural dedication. CREDIT: WINK News

On Thursday afternoon, the Fort Myers Mural Society dedicated a new mural created by two artists who spoke to WINK News about their mission to honor Pine Island’s recovery from Hurricane Ian.

It doesn’t take an artist’s eye to see the beauty around Pine Island, but it takes an artist—or two—to capture it.

Roland Ruocca and Doug Steward put paint to a 10-foot-by-72-foot wall to let people know, seven months after Ian’s destruction, Pine Island is coming back to its picture-perfect self… and you should come back, too.

“It really feels good to kind of show the resilience and the beauty of the island that’s really coming back quickly,” Ruocca said. “The trees are coming back.”

And so are the island’s many Instagramable stops. But you have to see the recovery to believe it.

Ruocca and Steward paid homage to the island’s many water activities with a pair of athletic kayakers rowing through their mural.

“I think people have all kinds of names for him… yeah, I’ve heard, like, ‘Ken,'” Ruocca said of his painted kayakers. “I think her name is ‘Lily.'”

If you want to see the mural for yourself, it’s painted on the Eagle’s Nest Restaurant at 10880 Stringfellow Road. The next two commissioned murals will be at the North Fort Myers Recreation Center and in the Lakes Park children’s garden.

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