St. Lucie Cultural Alliance | Member Spotlight – Manatee Observation and Education Center
Contributed by Rachel Tennant
Member Spotlight – Manatee Observation and Education Center
The Manatee Observation and Education Center has been combining arts with the environment for over 25 years, starting in the nineties with “manatees on parade,” a special competition led by Main Street Fort Pierce where artists designed life-sized manatee statues for exhibit throughout Fort Pierce.
More recently, in 2011, David Dunleavy, an eco-artist from Cape May, NJ, airbrushed a manatee mural onto the north wall of the Center that is still vibrant along Indian River Drive and welcoming visitors today.
Adorning the eastern wall of the Center, the Fred Brock Memorial Wall features over 100 silver- and gold-colored butterfly plaques, handmade and engraved by the local Shadetree Studios. Gold-colored butterflies each represent a ManaTeam volunteer who reached 1,000 hours of volunteer service at the Manatee Center, sharing their love for the environment and our mission.
Further east, a living garden exhibit celebrates not only wild floral beauty but also at least 11 butterfly species, thanks to dedicated volunteers who curate the garden for the butterflies’ full life cycles.
Together, these art installations have kept us going through COVID-19, as visitors have been able to admire them even at times when the interior of the museum has been closed. And new this year, a life-like manatee mural is coming to the seawall on Moore’s Creek, directly across from the Manatee Center. The mural will represent not only a dedicated effort to beautify our surroundings, but also a promise to continue as stewards of our most precious Indian River Lagoon and manatees.