Students at Bayshore Elementary School in North Fort Myers are being stalked by an eagle, an otter, a panther and a wolf.
But, don't fear for the youngsters. These animals are only images in eye-popping, brightly-colored spray-paint in a mural done over the holiday break by two extraordinary Southwest Florida artists.
Cesar Aguilera and Brian Weaver, the force behind Artsemble Underground, are also the force behind the new mural. The two local muralists gathered Tuesday with several classes of Bayshore students, around 100 in all, as they were treated to an "unveiling" of the mural. Gauging by the reactions, it was an amazing success.
“I think it's honestly great. I think it's amazing representation of our houses ….. and it's perfect," said Daniel Opoku, 10, one of the students. "Yeah, it's beautiful. I think they did an amazing job on each house and capturing what it was all about.”
The “houses” Daniel referenced are the four Harry Potter-like groups the school has been using as an educational tool for the past three years.
Aguilera and Weaver's mural stayed true to that theme with a coat-of-arms for each named house — Otter, Eagle, Panther and Wolf, also named Partum, Imperium, Invictus and Virtus.
Bayshore principal Ben Ausman explained that students get assigned at the beginning of the year. A special section of the school houses a device that spins and then directs the individual student to the "house" they will be represented by.
"The concept came from a school up in Georgia called the Ron Clark Academy," Ausman said. "And so they use the house system as kind of a method to really build a sense of community and bond between kids and so we kind of took it from there, went out with a team of teachers and toured their school and it's one of the things brought back to our school. It's been really great for our kids."
Ausman lead the unveil, giving the students a huge buildup and described the work Aguilera and Weaver put into the mural: "They were working here long and hard trying to put together something really nice for all of you."
Aguilera and Weaver are old pros at the mural game. They did one in 2022 in the cafeteria at Oak Hammock Elementary School as well as the LaBelle memorial wall honoring fallen Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation officer Julian Keen, and the exterior of the Cape Coral Art Center.
All-in-all they have created nearly two dozen public art murals across Southwest Florida.
They began their mural and art collaboration in 2015 and firmed it with the Artsemble Underground LLC in 2018.
"We did popup shows and the Mystery Walk in downtown Fort Myers," Weaver said.
The Bayshore school mural came when school officials contacted Artsemble Underground after hearing about the Oak Hammock mural.
Artsemble Underground was formed to help Southwest Florida businesses attract traffic with outdoor murals, sculptures, or public art events. Aguilera credits his desire to break out of the confines of a traditional gallery space as their launching point.
"We always try to get local artists to be seen," Aguilera explained. "To be discovered."
Aguilera has been involved in arts in Southwest Florida for years and has been recognized as a leader.
When he's not creating murals with Weaver, Aguilera, a native of Quito, Ecuador, is a curator at The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center.
The two men were heartened by the students' responses to their work.
"That was very exciting," Aguilera said. "It’s nice to see the expression on the kids."
Weaver loved the reactions: "I thought it was beautiful. I just thought it was beautiful, the energy, the kids, like, you can see, feel the love in the air. You know, it's amazing what art can bring to everyone’s life, especially the little ones."
See the videos below for more on the local works crteated by Cesar Aguilera and Brian Weaver.
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