13 January 2023
I'll be giving a Zoom talk for the Ocean Liner Society, on Tuesday, April 18. Sign up for the link here.
26 April 2020
I've been playing around with the slideshow images, experimenting with layouts, etc. (Because let's face it, templates are NOT one size fits all.) Starting in May, just about every image will get tweaked in some fashion, mainly, the watermark will be less obnoxious. And you think you're clicking to see just one image, but wait! What? TWO IMAGES? Get outta here! Check out the first two slides in the 1940s to see what I mean.
25 January 2020
Holy crap, there's a lot of housekeeping to do! And I'm working on it. First off, Murals on the High Seas now has a YouTube channel. I was fortunate enough to present at the 2019 Annual Conference of the Council of American Maritime Museums in April 2019, and I've finally turned the slideshow into something that passes as a video, and you can watch it here.
Thirty Mural Mondays have been posted on Facebook, and those will pick up again on February 10. These shed light on the artists that have created the works that you see on this site. Now, whether those will be turned into videos is another question; maybe organize them by ship ...
Finally, slowly, but surely, more images will be added. I'm in the process of a ton of editing and re-editing. Look for new pics in the near future.
Thanks for popping in!
19 November 18
Towards the end of July, I took a two week trip to several archives, including the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Merging what was gathered with what I already have has been quite the task, but it is getting done, just not as fast as I'd like.
Murals on the High Seas now has a Facebook page! Click on the link in the footer to see it. Today also marks the first Mural Monday. This will be a bi-weekly feature on Facebook, revealing a little more background on an individual piece.
The goal is to add new images next month, so watch this space ...
1 July 18
What's new? This entire website.
Murals on the High Seas is the result of years of scattershot collecting, and, as I write this, about eight years of on and off research. About a month or two into the latter, I had yet to come across any books or websites dedicated to this topic: artworks created for American passenger ships. To be honest, I wondered if there was a reason for that, but, obviously not knowing any better ...
PHASE ONE
Launch the site with the best images currently available and the briefest of observations/histories on these ships, which will be fleshed out further as time permits; and a list of artists.
(Is it all-inclusive, and 100% perfect right off the bat? NO. There is plenty of room for growth.)
ONGOING
Minor tweaks, including new images, or a better arrangement thereof, general housekeeping, and expect rewrites.
PHASE TWO
In six to nine months, after the dust settles, we'll see the inclusion of a few more ships; Alcoa had quite the stylish trio on the Caribbean. According to the rules outlined in the Welcome! page, they're technically too small to be included, but they were very modern, and referred to as "superliners in miniature."
Since they were ignored in the initial rollout, France, Paris, Ile de France, Normandie, and Liberte will finally be added to the mix. (No, I'm not a Francophobe, but French Line ships are such an easy default reference.) Also, watch for a more in-depth look at the President Jackson competition entries. Oh, and maybe that necessary evil: a blog, which may be the best way to do artist bios, and in-depth essays.
PHASE THREE
I'm not sure what will happen here, but after a year or so, some type of evolution is bound to be due. Perhaps analyses of subject matter (maps, sea life, maritime history, etc.); "what if" scenarios, what if Jackson Pollock was commissioned to do a mural on the United States, that sort of thing.
I hope you enjoy this site and find it informative. If you have any suggestions, do not hesitate to reach out.
Thank you for visiting!
Wayne Yanda
Murals on the High Seas