Uniquely Destin: Mural adorns post office wall

The city of Destin is unique in many ways, but one aspect that is often overlooked is the painted beachscape mural at the Destin Post Office.

 “It was done by Bill Sudbery, he was the art teacher for Fort Walton Beach High school at the time,” said post office employee Bobby Cline. “They would come in evenings after we closed the lobby and they worked on it probably for a week to get it finished.”

The mural depicts the distinct emerald waters and white sands of Destin with a wooden rendition of a beachside Destin post office and whimsical pelicans, sea gulls and blue herons. Painted in 2004, the mural has been adding character and charm to the Destin post office for 10 years now.

“I’ve never seen a mural in any other post office I’ve worked in,” said Cline, who has been working for the U.S. Postal Service for 40 years now. “It’s always been a real positive thing, particularly with our visitors; they comment that they’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Cline told The Log that after the mural was painted the post office was much brighter, and even customers were happier because of it.

“They walk in and their attitude towards the post office changes,” said Cline. “They especially like the part that looks like a pier.”

The mural was done pro-bono by Sudbery, with a simple request that if customers asked, his card be handed out to them.

“The mural that we did there was one of my favorites,” said Sudbery. “It’s the only post office mural I’ve ever done.”

Sudbery told The Log that the mural took him and his daughter just over two months to complete because of post office safety rules.

“It was really interesting because we couldn’t go in until the post office was closed,” said Sudbery. “It was kind of a strange existence just being in there working on the mural.”

Sudbery, a retired art teacher from Fort Walton Beach High School, recently moved to Naples Florida to live near his family and focus on his art.

To see more of his work CLICK HERE