Paintings perk up pet adoption center

A Pinellas Park artist adds cheer to the Friends of Strays building at Gandy and U.S. 19.

By GREG WILLIAMS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 18, 2000

PINELLAS PARK -- The plain white walls inside the Friends of Strays adoption center were just too sterile, so the group hired a Pinellas Park artist to paint a mural with a touch of whimsy.

Artist Boo Ersham and the center's directors decided to make the walls mimic a park. Ersham painted a wrought-iron fence around the room, small homes in the distance and tall trees.

In the cat area of the adoption center, she painted a cat sitting in a window, staring out at a bird's nest.

"We wanted it to be someplace that was pleasant, colorful and clean, which sparked some whimsy and some musing so people would be in a good frame of mind to adopt some critters that are there," said Drue Raylean, Friends of Strays' executive director.

The non-profit group, which last year found homes for more than 1,400 unwanted cats and dogs, moved into a former restaurant at Gandy Boulevard and U.S. 19 five years ago. Most of the building is dedicated to the group's thrift shop. The barroom was gutted and originally painted white for the adoption center. But the executive director didn't like the plain vanilla look. Hence, the idea for the mural.

Ersham has been working on it one day a week for the past several months. The last leg of the project is a large house she's painting inside the puppy room. She hopes to finish in another month.

The artist had to improvise a little. A pair of old light fixtures became knots in the trunks of a couple of trees. Her signature is "carved" into the trunk of a tree.

The center's western wall has a brick facade hard to paint over. So Ersham suggested treating its windows with awnings and flower boxes to make it look like the exterior of a house. A few real benches round out the park feel.

This is Ersham's third and most ambitious mural. For the Pinellas Park Art Center, at 5795 Park Blvd. N, she painted a fishing boat against a setting sun. At St. Giles Episcopal Church, 8271 52nd St. N, she painted a scene of Jesus with children in a classroom courtyard.

Raylean, the executive director, said the adoption center, now open Tuesday through Saturday, will be open Sundays by fall. The center plans a special event in October to celebrate its expanded hours and new mural.

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