DISCOVER THE ARTSY SIDE
OF HISTORIC BONITA SPRINGS
Old Bonita is undergoing an aesthetic transformation. Sculptures and panoramic murals are popping up seemingly overnight. It’s part of Bonita Springs’ Art in the Sun Along Old 41 public art initiative. But the only way to take it all in is to stroll through Riverside Park and the historic district, which is exactly what city officials hope you will do.
The latest addition to the growing outdoor exhibition is Alejandro Nunez’s 83-foot-long art deco mural on the north wall of Benson’s Grocery. Comprised of four interconnected panels, Mi Pueblo
Bonito (My Beautiful Town) tells a tale in bright tropical colors about the town’s unique history dating back to the Calusa Indians, who reigned supreme in South Florida from 1000 A.D. to roughly 1700 A.D.
“I did research to find images of the tools they used for fishing and hunting, the masks they wore during ceremonies and the houses they lived in,” says Nunez, who has become something of a pop celebrity since completing the artwork. People drop into his West Coast Art and Design framing shop regularly and ask him to autograph the articles that have been written about the mural.
Other panels depict native fauna—an alligator, a sea turtle, a manatee, jumping porpoises, a pelican and a spoonbill— historic architecture, such as the 25-room Shangri-La Springs hotel that Harvie Heitman’s family built in 1921 in the heart of Old Bonita and the 1940s-Isadorah Hermann Water Tank, and modern-era bandshell, golf courses and high rises.
DOWNTOWN BONITA IS MEANT TO BE A WALKING COMMUNITY WHERE YOU PARK YOUR CAR IN ONE PLACE AND WALK TO THE CAFÉ FOR A CUP OF COFFEE, TO LILES HOTEL FOR SOME HISTORY AND TO THE PARK TO SEE THE ART.” —BEN L. NELSON JR., MAYOR, BONITA SPRINGS
“The i dea behind the mural i s to induce people to stop, park and have a closer look,” says Nigel Fullick, chairman of the Bonita Springs Art in Public Places Board (APPB). Fullick and his wife have watched dozens of drivers and kids on bikes double back for a closer inspection of the mural.
“Downtown Bonita is meant to be a walking community where you park your car in one place and walk to the café for a cup of coffee, to Liles Hotel for some history and to the park to see the art,” says Bonita Springs Mayor Ben L. Nelson Jr.
When Bonita Springs Councilwoman Janet Martin introduced it in 2009, Art in the Sun Along Old 41 focused on installing sculpture in the historic district. “We had to embrace unconventional ways to parlay the few dollars the city could spare for public art in the post-subprime recessionary economy,” says Martin, who has served as the liaison between the city council and APPB since 2008. “The APPB poured five concrete pads and then
offered select artists the opportunity to display their work for one year in exchange for the exposure and publicity.”
A success by all accounts, the city added a wood sculpture titled Firefighter, a soaring, stainless steel sculpture called
Away and an 8-by-10-foot Corten steel dog that was affectionately named Rusty by residents of nearby Depot Park.
The program has since evolved to encompass murals, too. Proposals for four more, which would be installed over the next two years, are under consideration. After three years, the host property owner has the right to remove the mural, replace it with another or ask the artist to maintain it awhile longer.
“Their brief lifespan recognizes that many Old Bonita property owners will probably want to renovate, add on to or completely rebuild,” says Arleen Hunter, the city’s director of development services. That’s because Bonita Springs is about to embark upon a $16 million revitalization program that will increase square footage densities by creating a centralized stormwater facility and on-street parking. Façade enhancement and landscaping incentives will also be available.
“It’s a holistic plan where public art works in tandem with revitalization to make downtown Bonita a desirable place to go,” Nelson says.
The art piqued the interest of Hertz executives, for one, in town to check out the area “They wanted to see our ‘big dog’ [Rusty] sculpture exhibition,” Fullick says.
Nunez’s mural is having a similar effect. “People drive out all the time just to see the mural,” says Harshil Patel, who owns Benson’s Grocery, on which the mural is painted.
“Take a blank wall and turn it into something beautiful. That’s good for business,” Martin says. “That’s economic development 101.” Tom Hall is a freelance journalist who covers the arts and entertainment from Marco Island to Matlacha Island. Inspired by his love of local history, he also leads public art and historic walking tours of downtown Fort Myers and Matlacha Island for True Tours.