Video created by Lani Day
Bob Jenny, was a self-taught artist whose work adorns the walls of hospitals, hotels, houses and military installations all over the world, as well as countless businesses, schools and private homes throughout South Florida. He spent more than 40 years as Fort Lauderdale's leading muralist and painter. He was featured in the October 9, 1970 issue of Life Magazine, a prolific artist whose works often included scenes of South Florida wildlife and nature. A favorite subject for Jenny was the American Bald Eagle. Bob presented the "Birds of Peace" painting in the White House to President George H.W. Bush as well as a painting of a TBM/TBF Avenger, the same kind of airplane 19 year old Ensign Bush learned to fly at the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale in 1943.
Jenny also specialized in large-scale paintings of military subjects, particularly the classic airplanes of World War II. In 1989, Bob Jenny donated his time to paint a 25 x 7 foot mural inside the Naval Surface Warfare Center (JOBQ Building #15) at the behest of a small group of aviation enthusiasts from the Naval Air Station Historical Association who at the time, wanted to see some of the Naval buildings at the Airport preserved. In 1998, it was dismantled from the Naval Warfare Center and relocated to the Link Trainer Building #8 (this building was then moved in 1999 with the mural inside) home of the NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum. The artist used canvas from the inside of an airplane, and the work was completed in one week. The Museum also exhibits several other original aviation paintings by Jenny. He also painted the cruise-themed mural in Port Everglades at Cruise Terminal #2. Artist Bob Jenny, always as humble as he was talented, passed away in 2004 at the age of 64.
Bob Jenny's mural "On Final Approach" features the airplane flown by President George H.W. Bush and other squadron members in airborne training. The mural shows nine Avenger aircraft flying through a late afternoon sky of pastel oranges and blues, as well as warships navigating the shore. They are making their final approach over Port Everglades on a desolate beach. Though Bush's face cannot be seen, his plane is in the center of the painting. In 1992, the former President signed and dated Jenny's mural. On first glance of the mural, the soft hued landscape and the gentle shores in the distance seem harmless. Upon reflection, one begins to sense the massive and tragic battlefields that overtook the whole world at that time. There is a sense of a void in space, as if something is missing: an urgency to find what was lost at sea and in the clouds. Also one can feel the excitement of former young idealistic boys, hardened by war, finally returning safely home— the lucky ones.
Jenny also specialized in large-scale paintings of military subjects, particularly the classic airplanes of World War II. In 1989, Bob Jenny donated his time to paint a 25 x 7 foot mural inside the Naval Surface Warfare Center (JOBQ Building #15) at the behest of a small group of aviation enthusiasts from the Naval Air Station Historical Association who at the time, wanted to see some of the Naval buildings at the Airport preserved. In 1998, it was dismantled from the Naval Warfare Center and relocated to the Link Trainer Building #8 (this building was then moved in 1999 with the mural inside) home of the NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum. The artist used canvas from the inside of an airplane, and the work was completed in one week. The Museum also exhibits several other original aviation paintings by Jenny. He also painted the cruise-themed mural in Port Everglades at Cruise Terminal #2. Artist Bob Jenny, always as humble as he was talented, passed away in 2004 at the age of 64.
Bob Jenny's mural "On Final Approach" features the airplane flown by President George H.W. Bush and other squadron members in airborne training. The mural shows nine Avenger aircraft flying through a late afternoon sky of pastel oranges and blues, as well as warships navigating the shore. They are making their final approach over Port Everglades on a desolate beach. Though Bush's face cannot be seen, his plane is in the center of the painting. In 1992, the former President signed and dated Jenny's mural. On first glance of the mural, the soft hued landscape and the gentle shores in the distance seem harmless. Upon reflection, one begins to sense the massive and tragic battlefields that overtook the whole world at that time. There is a sense of a void in space, as if something is missing: an urgency to find what was lost at sea and in the clouds. Also one can feel the excitement of former young idealistic boys, hardened by war, finally returning safely home— the lucky ones.
