Fust Library “Secret Garden” mural completed

Artist Larry Anderson has just finished the last part of a mural for the children’s section in the Johann Fust Library loggia area.

In 2022, Anderson was hired by the Johann Fust Library Foundation to paint a mural in what they call Alice’s Secret Garden, inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s novel: “The Secret Garden.” The style chosen for the mural was “trompe l’oeil,” a French phrase meaning to “deceive the eye.” Anderson portrays this theme perfectly by making the illusion of a three-dimensional scene, on a two-dimensional wall.

The foundation was awarded a grant from the Boca Grande Woman’s Club in order to hire Anderson to create the mural.

Anderson, grew up in Randolph, New York, before moving to Englewood in 1985. Anderson’s first experience with art on the island came in 1991, when he was asked to hand-paint furniture and other commissions for a design studio. Since then, Anderson has been able to perfect his craft on the island, with art styles ranging from impressionistic to realistic, in commissions that include his watercolor fish painting, acid-stained floors and custom tropical themed bathroom sinks.