Art at Sea: Guy Harvey's Living Campus

When Norwegian Escape first set sail from Miami, Florida, the ship carried not only passengers eager for an adventure but also featured one of the largest marine installations ever created. Stretching more than 1,000 feet from bow to stern, the ship’s signature hull artwork, created by world-renowned marine wildlife artist, scientist, diver, angler, conservationist and explorer Dr. Guy Harvey, transformed the vessel into a moving tribute to marine life, making it his largest canvas yet.

With strong ties to South Florida’s eco-tourism and ocean conservation sectors, designing the artwork for this ship was a great and inspiring project for Dr. Harvey. This ship takes passengers through the Caribbean, where he focuses much of his research and conservation efforts.

Dr. Harvey first saw his custom designed artwork take shape while Norwegian Escape was under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, where the vessel, Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest and largest ship at the time, was being built. 

For Dr. Harvey, the opportunity to paint the hull of the Norwegian Escape was both an honor and an extraordinary challenge. Working on a canvas of such monumental scale required a different way of thinking, one that balanced artistic ambition and restraint. 

“Given the large format, it was a challenge to restrain myself and not pepper the hull with beautiful sea creatures that are endemic to the waters through which the Escape will be sailing,” said Dr. Harvey. “Because the Escape is based in Miami, I chose the sailfish to be the figurehead art. The sailfish is synonymous with South Florida, which is the boating and sport fishing capital of the world.”

The custom-designed artwork brings to life Dr. Harvey’s perspective of the spectacular Caribbean marine life on the expansive canvas of Norwegian Escape’s hull. The largest piece of art on the ship's bow features a sailfish, and along the hull are a number of turtles, stingrays, frigate birds in flight and the largest of all fish, the whale shark.

The process was a lengthy one. Dr. Harvey worked closely with artisans at the Meyer Werft shipyard, where lasers were used to project the design onto the curved hull before the team hand-outlined, taped and painted the artwork in stages. Dr. Harvey visited the shipyard during the time the ship was being built to offer guidance. “I’m so proud to showcase the incredible marine life of the Caribbean on the largest canvas a human could possibly paint,” Dr. Harvey said at the time.