OKEECHOBEE – The Wooden Jungle playground in Okeechobee’s Darrell Enfinger Sports Park is getting a new, more vibrant look thanks to a Florida Land and Water Conservation Grant.

Assistant County Administrator for Community Services Denise Whitehead said the part of the grant funds renovations at the playground, which was built in 2015. The original playground was built of wood in 1993. In 2015, the old wooden structure was replaced with a new playground built with a recycled plastic product that looks like wood.

Nine years of Florida weather had caused the paint to fade, Whitehead explained. “The staff decided it really needed a new paint job.”

She said county staff wanted the murals to be something special. Whitehead said she loves the new colorful, vibrant artwork which is filled with images of animals native to Florida. The blue heron is her favorite, she added.

Artist Fanny C., who is painting the murals, said while she has experience with all types of art, she most enjoys creating public art.

Fanny C. said she played at a playground like the Wooden Jungle as a child. Sadly, that one no longer exists. That makes this project close to her heart.

She said she has always loved art, but “was actually terrified of painting until high school.” She credits a “really good teacher” with helping her find and hone her talent.

“I was also lucky to go to the Dreyfoos School of the Arts, a magnet school in West Palm Beach,” she added. She had to audition to get in. “They offered so many things I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.”

Her career has included painting murals and scenery at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando. She has also done mural work in Japan.

She said that while she’s “done the gallery thing,” she prefers “this kind of work where I have the ability to use my style and just run with it.”

Some other murals she has painted in Florida didn’t last very long, she said. While weather can be a factor, most have been lost to development or another artist painting over them.

For the Wooden Jungle murals, she is using industrial quick-drying paint. Each mural will also have two coats of clear sealant, the same product used at Disney World. The artwork should last 15 to 20 years.

The mural work is taking longer than originally anticipated, she explained. The work was delayed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton

A special challenge to the mural project has been working while children are using the playground. The playground has remained open most of the days she has worked on the murals.

She said county staff gave her cones to block off areas where she is working but “toddlers don’t understand cones” and some of the older children have run off with the cones.

For work in the area designed for children ages 2 to 5, she was allowed to block the entrance and that helped the work go quickly, she explained.

Other days she has dealt with children trying to grab a brush or following her up a ladder.

“Most people are respectful,” she added.

Fanny C. is taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, but will resume work in December to complete murals on the Swamp Buggy feature, one of the towers and a wall on the building next to the playground. The wall mural design is a secret, but she hinted that it will include some interactive features.