Shepard Fairey Unveils Mural at Jupiter Community High School

JUPITER, FL – December 4, 2017 – Shepard Fairey, acclaimed contemporary street artist, today unveiled a mural at Jupiter Community High School (JCHS) to honor Perry J. Cohen.

Shepard Fairey at Jupiter Community High School today

Shepard Fairey has made quite a name for himself around the country, and even the world, as a 28-year veteran of street art, public murals, and graphic design, and this week he will impact the town Jupiter. Fairey, who graciously donated the Perry J. Cohen Foundation with their logo and gifted his talents to the Cohen family for future foundation use, is most famous for his 2008 portrait of Obama with the word “Hope” emblazoned across the bottom. This portrait can now be found at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, and other works by Fairey can be found in the Modern Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and more. 

Shepard Fairey and the Perry J. Cohen Foundation have a long-standing friendship, and Fairey has continuously provided his talents to the foundation in Perry’s memory. Fairey visited JCHS to paint a mural in honor of Perry and his life passions. The mural focuses on a theme of nature and wildlife and will include a portrait of Perry. The mural is being donated to the Perry J. Cohen Wetlands Laboratory and the Jupiter Environmental Research Field Study Academy (JERFSA), the same program Perry was accepted to and set to attend at JCHS just a few weeks after he went missing at sea in 2015. 

JERFSA provides students with special training in everything from ecology and earth sciences to marine biology and water resources. These were all things that Perry had a special interest in, and the PJCF could not have found a better fit for a partnership in honoring his memory.

The Foundation has also partnered with the Palm Beach County School District to remodel an already existing water retention pond on the JCHS campus and transform it into the PJCF Wetlands Laboratory and habitat. The area will be planted with many new plants and specimens, as well as building new developments such as stairs into the pond for easy access (as students will be collecting samples in the program), as well as a boardwalk over the pond and a nature trail around the area. 

All of this will be looked upon by the mural of Perry J. Cohen created by Shepard Fairey and made possible by those who have donated and contributed in Perry’s name.