Muralists make their mark: David Nau works on the "underwater Mermaid Delight," a mural he and Judy Demmpsey are painting on the Beachcomber Art shop on South Federal Highway in Boynton Beach. The shop sells accessories and jewelry.

Photo by Mark Randall, Sun Sentinel


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of the Beachcomber Mermaid Mural.

In 2009 the Friends of the Boynton Beach City Library contributed to the commission of this mural to bring life and imagination to the Children's Reading Area. "A Sea of Reading and Imagination", By Judy Dempsey and David Nau, Boynton Beach, Florida It depicts an underwater sea of imaginary marine life promoting literacy to help build the success of the children's future in our community.

To view more images of Judy's work at the Boynton Library, click here.

This is project is devoted to bringing to light public art outside of museaum walls through podcasts, mobile apps, and digital media. Two of Judy's pieces are featured in this space as a part of the City of Boynton Beach's Art in Public Places program.


Owner, Kelly Wyman, commissioned artist Judy Dempsey to paint two marine murals on the diner walls. Each mural was custom created and painted by Judy. As restaurant customers dined they watched the images emerge. Come visit the diner to see the murals called "School of Bull Dolphin" and "White Marlin with School of Tuna."

To view more images of Judy's work at the Boynton Diner, click here. To visit CultureNow - click here.




In 2009 the Friends of the Boynton Beach City Library contributed to the commission of this mural to bring life and imagination to the Children's Reading Area. It depicts an underwater sea of imaginary marine life promoting literacy to help build the success of the children's future in our community.

To view more images of Judy's work at the Boynton Library, click here. To visit CultureNow - click here.

photos © City of Boynton Beach Art in Public Places Program
 

Slideshow features images of the Boynton Beach Library Mural. To view more images of Judy's work at the Boynton Library, click here.

Mural artists David Nau and Judy Dempsey created the work in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Click here for more images of the Marlin Mural.

Click here to visit Marlin Magazine Online.

Artist Judy Dempsey works with Krisroy Lloyd, 13, of Boynton Beach who is helping paint a mural at Saturday's Green Market. Lloyd is part of the Youth Violence Prevention Program and the mural painting demonstration is provided by the Art in Public Places program.

Eydi Lampasona leans out of her SUV to paw through trash for frugal finds.

It's a recent "drive-by Dumpster dive" for the artist who calls herself an "urban archaeologist." She squeals upon making a golden find - satin cloths - perfect for projects in her Boca Raton Museum of Art classes. Other trash treasures that day: rusty screws, a torn tennis ball, a car part from an accident scene near railroad tracks in Boca Raton.

Dumpster divers rummage for practical reasons usually. Others, like Lampasona, dive for their art.

The underground subculture of trash diggers is tough to quantify because it's a job most like to do solo and incognito. But one thing is clear: Dumpster divers are now getting more than they bargained for - competition.

"I've got to be ahead of them," Lampasona said, "because it really is a race."

Palm Beach County residents generated 1.2 million tons of trash in fiscal year 2007-08, a slight dip from the previous year. This comes at a time when more are likely to take the dive, given the economic downturn.

"There are indicators that more people are lifting that lid and nosing around," said Jeff Ferrell, a Texas Christian University sociology professor who wrote Empire of Scrounge: Inside the Urban Underground of Dumpster Diving, Trash Picking, and Street Scavenging.

David Nau recently lost a mad dash for trash as he waited for backup help to pick up an armoire left on a curb in Boca Raton. Three other women carried the coveted find away before any of Nau's friends arrived.

He and business partner Judy Dempsey have made a business out of trash. They started Art Explosion of South Florida and buff, varnish and embellish furniture with painted nautical scenes or beach-theme mosaics.

"I would go out literally every night trying to find furniture that had personality," said Nau, of Lake Worth. "I just love looking for stuff; I've always been an explorer. I certainly love the hunt."

The duo circles Palm Beach County neighborhoods at night with flashlights, spacious trucks and bulk trash schedules in hand. They say the recession has not kept people hanging on to old furniture longer, so there are still good finds curbside.

Ferrell, who has been Dumpster diving for 30 years, has recently come across more trash bags that have been torn - he insists the tears have come from human hands, not rodents - and people "diving" in their work uniforms.

There are others who supplement their income by selling scrap metals they find or list other freebies they nab on eBay or at yard sales, Ferrell said.

Besides the recession, other factors are pushing people to wade through waste: "green" fads and the rise of the freegan movement, a group that protests consumerism and includes Dumpster diving as part of its commitment to minimizing waste.

Still, there are others who search trash bins for more practical reasons.

The eldest of 11, DeeDee McKenzie grew up in a cash-strapped family in Montana. The 57-year-old still leads a modest life in West Palm Beach. Her most recent finds in trash bins: a new coffee pot still in the box, a digital camera and new shoes, size 6 1/2 .

"I've never had money to buy things, 'cause all my money goes to pay my doctor's bill, and with this recession, I've got little or no money added on to that," she said. "It's even harder.

Eydi Lampasona leans out of her SUV to paw through trash for frugal finds.

It's a recent "drive-by Dumpster dive" for the artist who calls herself an "urban archaeologist." She squeals upon making a golden find - satin cloths - perfect for projects in her Boca Raton Museum of Art classes. Other trash treasures that day: rusty screws, a torn tennis ball, a car part from an accident scene near railroad tracks in Boca Raton.

Dumpster divers rummage for practical reasons usually. Others, like Lampasona, dive for their art.

The underground subculture of trash diggers is tough to quantify because it's a job most like to do solo and incognito. But one thing is clear: Dumpster divers are now getting more than they bargained for - competition.

"I've got to be ahead of them," Lampasona said, "because it really is a race." Palm Beach County residents generated 1.2 million tons of trash in fiscal year 2007-08, a slight dip from the previous year. This comes at a time when more are likely to take the dive, given the economic downturn.

"There are indicators that more people are lifting that lid and nosing around," said Jeff Ferrell, a Texas Christian University sociology professor who wrote Empire of Scrounge: Inside the Urban Underground of Dumpster Diving, Trash Picking, and Street Scavenging.

David Nau recently lost a mad dash for trash as he waited for backup help to pick up an armoire left on a curb in Boca Raton. Three other women carried the coveted find away before any of Nau's friends arrived. He and business partner Judy Dempsey have made a business out of trash. They started Art Explosion of South Florida and buff, varnish and embellish furniture with painted nautical scenes or beach-theme mosaics.

"I would go out literally every night trying to find furniture that had personality," said Nau, of Lake Worth. "I just love looking for stuff; I've always been an explorer. I certainly love the hunt."

The duo circles Palm Beach County neighborhoods at night with flashlights, spacious trucks and bulk trash schedules in hand. They say the recession has not kept people hanging on to old furniture longer, so there are still good finds curbside. Ferrell, who has been Dumpster diving for 30 years, has recently come across more trash bags that have been torn - he insists the tears have come from human hands, not rodents - and people "diving" in their work uniforms.

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Judy began her painting career in the Florida Keys. There she embraced her love of the ocean and all it's wonderful creatures. As a Florida native, Ms. Demspey has experienced the many treasures of Florida and captures the jewels that are in the life of the sea and the tropics. Judy has produced mural commissions for private and public projects. She has expanded her talents to include tile, glass and artistically enhanced repurposed furniture. Judy Dempsey's company called Art Explosion of South Florida is the perfect expression of her artwork.

Muralists Judy Dempsey and David Nau helped teens from the Youth Violence Prevention Program paint a Kwanzaa mural that was recently on display at the Boynton Beach Green Market.

Program service provider Sandra Watson, who had a group participate in last year's Heritage Highwaymen Mural Program that the Art in Public Places program facilitated, approached the two muralists to teach a similar program this year.

"Last year went so well that they asked me to do it again," Dempsey said. "I like working with kids. They are on my level, I guess. I like to play."

Debby Coles-Dobay, the city's public art administrator, said that during a four-week period, the artists taught classes in which the teens learned about the seven principles of Kwanzaa, how to express the colors and textures of the Kwanzaa celebration, and created a banner depicting the celebration.

Dempsey said the mural was adorned with all the Kwanzaa fruit and symbols. Kwanzaa, an African-inspired holiday celebration, was founded in 1966 and features seven principles, each celebrated on a different day that week.

The principles are unity (Umoja), self-determination (Kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (Ujima), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), purpose (Nia), creativity (Kuumba) and faith (Imani).

"The kids really learned and were a part of the respect, unity and togetherness through the program," Dempsey said.

Mike Rothman can be reached at mkrothman@tribune.com.

Muralists Judy Dempsey and David Nau recently helped teens from the Youth Violence Prevention Program paint a Kwanzaa mural at the Boynton Beach Green Market, 129 E. Ocean Ave.

Sandra Watson, a Youth Violence Prevention Program service provider who had a group participate in last year's Heritage Highwaymen Mural Program that the Art in Public Places program facilitated, approached the two muralists to teach a similar program this year.

"Last year went so well, that they asked me to do it again," Dempsey said. "I like working with kids; they are on my level, I guess. I like to play."

Debby Coles-Dobay, the city's public art administrator, said during a four-week period, the artists taught classes in which the teens learned about the seven principles of Kwanzaa, how to individually express the colors and textures of the Kwanzaa celebration, and created a banner depicting the Kwanzaa celebration.

Dempsey said the mural was adorned with all the Kwanzaa fruit and symbols, including unity, respect and togetherness.

"I think the kids really learned and were a part of the respect, unity and togetherness through the program," Dempsey said.

The banner will be on display at Saturday's Green Market and the group did a 4-foot-by-6-foot mural demonstration. The Art in Public Places program will support the effort by assisting to publicly display the mural when it is completed.

Mike Rothman can be reached at mkrothman@tribune.com.

Nine girls who are part of a Youth Violence Prevention Program group, which painted a public art Kwanzaa mural at the Boynton Beach Green Market Saturday, December 27, 2008. The program's goal is to give youth the confidence, through art, to be able to do a live on site mural demonstration. The live mural was part of a four-week public art program facilitated by the City's Art in Public Places Program. It taught teens how to empower their lives through art.

Muralists Judy Dempsey and David Nau taught the teens how to individually express the colors and textures of Kwanzaa, the African-American and Pan-African holiday that celebrates family, community and culture.

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Alexis Phinazee stood back for a moment to look at her creation: a cup, corn on the cob and a candle holder.

Phinazee, 13, and eight other girls were part of a Youth Violence Prevention Program group, which painted a Kwanzaa mural at the Boynton Beach Green Market on Saturday. "The goal is to give them the confidence, through art, to be able to do a live demonstration," said Debby Coles-Dobay, the city's public art administrator.

The live mural was part of a four-week program where muralists Judy Dempsey and David Nau taught the teens how to individually express the colors and textures of Kwanzaa, the African-American and Pan-African holiday that celebrates family, community and culture.

"I learned that the different colors represent different things," said Jakya Woods, 16, who already knew how to draw when she joined the program. "Painting expresses something. It can have a meaning."

At the foot of the Christmas tree outside City Hall, Dempsey and Nau helped the girls with paint and cleaning brushes and offered suggestions to their work. The mural depicted a traditional Kwanzaa table. "The girls were so excited about Kwanzaa I thought it would be a beautiful theme for this year's program," said Sandra Watson, a service provider for the Youth Violence Prevention Program.

But the mural also gave the children a sense of accomplishment. They worked together dipping their long brushes in bright colors and gently dabbing the canvas. They worked in silence, each absorbed by the objects they were painting. "That's what art does for kids," Watson said.

Art in Public Places program assisted to create, facilitate and implement a dumpster mural program as directed by the Boynton Beach City Commission and funded by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), in coordination with the Public Works department.

The project was designed to improve unsightly trash receptacles in the CRA district. The program produced 18 hand painted dumpsters. Artists responded to a call to artists and submitted an application and color concepts that depicted "Postcards from Boynton". This program provided an opportunity for all artists to participate, add public art experience to their resume and work in the public realm. The results are unexpected displays of art on otherwise unsightly dumpsters contributing to the beautification of the CRA district.

In Boynton Beach, strange things get painted.

And I'm not just talking about those exotic dancers at the Platinum Gold strip club who got Jackson Pollocked last weekend by masked paintball marauders shooting pink.

The unauthorized painting of the strippers covered up an even stranger painting project in Boynton - and this one is authorized.

The city is turning its downtown Dumpsters into works of art.

For the first time, we'll have art projects that can stink and be good at the same time.

The Boynton Beach community redevelopment agency is teaming up with the city's Art in Public Places program to commission "Postcards from Boynton."

The program pays local artists to paint downtown Dumpsters on all four sides, decorating them with mural-style designs aimed at turning clunky eyesores into eye-catching pieces of public art.

"Wouldn't you rather see a pretty Dumpster than an ugly green one?" said Judy Dempsey, a Boynton Beach muralist who was selected to paint the Dumpster that will be outside the Senior Center on Federal Highway.

"It cheers you up, rather than looking at garbage as garbage."

Dempsey completed her hibiscus flower design last week.

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The teens began painting cautiously, perplexed about how the pristine white canvas would be transformed into a vivid masterpiece. But with the help of artists Judy Dempsey and David Nau, they blended, stroked, and swished their colors just so - and in the end re-created a colorful Highwaymen-style original work of art. One of the Art in Public Places murals is on display at the entrance of the Intracoastal Park. The work, painted in the Highwayman style, was created by the Art Smart group, which is composed of children from Boynton Beach schools.

They're large, bulky, smelly and tough to ignore. And now the city could draw even more attention to them. Officials are proposing transforming the steel-green Dumpsters into pieces of art by splashing color and creating murals on them.

The idea springs from an unlikely partnership - Boynton Beach's arts commission and the public works department.

On Tuesday, the arts commission will discuss the possibility of launching a public art program that converts 20 city-owned Dumpsters into artwork by engaging local artists and youths. The project would ultimately need commissioners' blessing.

Barbara Ready, the arts commission chairwoman, brushes off what others might think about the zany idea: "Those crazy folks out in Boynton Beach," she said. "Nobody's done it. Who cares? It's public art."

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