"Ocean Songs of the Humpback" Witte Museum "Animal Senses Exhibition" mural 10'x35' oil on wall. by dan terry in Austin

This 10 x 35' mural of a near life size Humpback Whale with a pair of playful bottlenose porpoises was created for the "Animal Senses" exhibit at the Witte Museum in circa 1983 where it remained on display for several years. After the exhibit closed and Dan had left the museum staff to pursue his years teaching at Texas State University, the then exhibits chief, Dennis Bartz, had a protective wall erected in front of the mural to preserve the work while other exhibits occupied the space. Time passed and Mr. Bartz retired, the Director of the museum went on to another museum and the work was largely forgotten for years. In the early 2000s, the museum raised several million dollars and the historic building was completely renovated and in the process the wall on which the mural existed was razed and the work was destroyed. Fortunately the artist had documented the original work with photography taken on site with a Hasselblad 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 medium format camera on transparency film. Also shown are several other murals created for the "Dinosaurs Invade the Witte" Exhibition in the early 80s.