Pinellas Renaissance Man Paints Mural On Dunedin Water Tower 150 Feet Above Ground

DUNEDIN, FL — It certainly wasn't muralist Tom Stovall's easiest commission.

In fact, there were moments when it was downright harrowing.

On May 27, Stovall was working on a large-scale mural on the Curlew Water Tower in Dunedin when the motor on the lift he uses to elevate him failed, leaving Stovall suspended 150 feet in the air.

Fortunately, he wasn't stuck for long.

The Pinellas County Technical Rescue Team made up of members of St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, Largo Fire Rescue, Pinellas Park Fire Rescue and the Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department, who are specially trained for sky-high rescues, made their way up to the top of the water tower from the interior, climbed out on top of the water tower and secured Stovall in a harness, lowering him to the ground.

"It was really impressive. It happened very quickly, extremely efficiently," said Stovall.

Unfazed by the close call, Stovall returned to work painting the mural on the 1 million-gallon water tower as soon as his lift was repaired.

Fortunately, there were no further close calls as Stovall completed his mural of Henry the gopher tortoise on one side of the water tower and then began work on a mural of a sea turtle named Sylvia on the other side.

With concessions for rainy days, altogether the project took about six months to complete. It was a monumental effort the city of Dunedin acknowledged Monday when it honored Stovall at the public art dedication for the mural titled “Henry and Sylvia."

Henry the gopher tortoise pays homage to Swiss immigrant and naturalist Henry Scharrer, who settled Caladesi Island in 1888.

Sylvia is in honor of Dunedin native, legendary marine biologist, National Geographic explorer-in-residence, Time magazine Hero for the Planet and author Sylvia Earle.

The 1960s water tower, a can't-miss feature next to the Dunedin Golf Club, was overdue for a facelift, according to Dunedin Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski.

The tower was in need of maintenance and repairs, so the city decided to turn it into a public art project. The city used water/wastewater funds to repair the tower inside and out and give the exterior a base coat.

Now all the tower needed was an artistic touch. Luckily for Dunedin, the perfect artist for the job lives in Pinellas County.

The archetypal Renaissance man, Stovall, who graduated from the UCLA Film School, is an actor, director and producer for television, film and stage productions.

He began his career performing in the Broadway production of the musical "Hair" and has appeared in television series including "MASH" and "The Rockford Files," as well as the feature film "Silkwood," starring Meryl Streep and Cher.

And that's just the tip of Stovall's talent. He is a classically trained pianist.

He studied dance with the St. Petersburg Concert Ballet, Miami Ballet Company and the National Ballet of Washington, D.C., and danced for three years with the Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Stovall also wrote, produced, directed and performed "Abbey Road," a dance interpretation of the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album and created the dance production, "A Wicked Tale of Joy," featuring the music of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Doors and The Rolling Stones.

But he's best-known in Pinellas County as the high-flying talent who paints murals on historic water towers.

Stovall has added his artistic flair to the Crescent Lake Water Tower, the Seminole Water Tower and on two city of St. Petersburg water treatment tanks. He was also commissioned to add classical decorate murals to the interior walls of the 1926 decorative murals on the walls of the 1925 Vinoy Renaissance Resort in St. Petersburg.

Stovall said he's always up for a challenge and, at the age of 73, he doesn't plan on slowing down.

"I just always want to pursue something different," he said.