The Public Art of Skip Dyrda
Our First Firehouse
Painted inside Punta Gorda’s main firehouse, this two‑wall mural was my first project in the city. The north wall depicts the original 1928 firehouse, which once stood on the corner of Harvey and Marion and housed a two‑truck garage with a second‑floor apartment for the fire engine driver, later used by the Fire Chief. This panel includes an early fire truck and honors the volunteer firefighters who left their jobs when the alarm sounded. The south wall features a balcony scene showing how firefighting gear and technology evolved over the decades, beginning with the bucket brigade of the 1890s. Across both walls are 49 hidden elements for visitors to discover, including references to 9/11 and Hurricane Charley. The mural was painted with high‑quality acrylics on block walls.
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I painted three dalmatians in the mural. The older one is guarding her seat on the old fire engine while the two puppies liked to hang out at floor level. The fire truck is a real and working truck, owned by the fire chief at the time I was there.
This is a detail of inside the ‘garage area’ that was part of the old firehouse. It was filled with historicallt relelvant elements, such as the Smokey The Bear poster and the two helmets that paid homage to 9/11.
The three characters you see here were all members of the Punta Gorda Fire Department. The two on the right, Alex and Kaitlen, were members while I was painting there and they posed for me.
This note that I painted on a pillar below the South mural was a sort of ‘inside joke’. The story goes…
One day, while painting the north wall, I found a keyway on the floor. After a few days, no one claimed it so I painted it’s portrait on the running board of the old fire truck. And then it moved. I would find it in the oddest places. So I painted another portrait of it on top of one of their actual lockers. And it moved again. So I painted another…and then another somewhere. I forget.
And the quote below is about the red string I add to all my murals and other work.
This is the front side of the rack card that I designed and had printed for the firehouse crew to give to visitors. Kind of my gift to them. I miss working down there.
Your truly posing in front of the crowd that showed up for the mural unveiling. There really was a big crowd but truth be told, there was also free food.
The unveiling before the unveiling. I couldn’t believe that the crew put up all that black plastic! Such nice people there.
The Punta Gorda Historic Mural Society always has a bronze plaque created when their murals are completed.
The Fire Chief Briggs presented me with two custom T-shirts as an honorary member of the PG fire crew.
Some of the crew presented me with my own custom fire axe!