Inky by Andrew Roeder, sponsored by SCB&T, located at Freedom Park, between the Downtown Marina and Bay St. in downtown Beaufort.

The design for Inky originated by thinking about what fascinating creatures live in the sea. My idea from the get go was to use the mermaid as a canvas for an image. I have a fascination with squid and octopus. Both of these creatures have a long history of mythology surrounding them, and the first actual filming of a giant squid only recently occurred. Prior to that, many still thought them to be mythical sea monsters. The same may hold true for the giant octopus who some scientists believe may be lurking in the depths. This mythology tied these creatures together with the mermaid for me— the idea of the sea, mythology and bizarre fascinating creatures.

I'm proud to be a part of this project because I feel that public art is more necessary now than ever. The amount of exposure we have to art, and the creative process seems to be dwindling. Funding for art education seems to be last on our society's priority list. So the more projects like the Big Swim the better. This project has given a lot of local people the opportunity to create something wonderful and display it for public viewing and enjoyment. This helps to keep creativity and the arts alive and well in our community. Maybe someone will see one of the Big Swim mermaids and be inspired to go home and create something themselves.

I hope that when people see Inky they will have the chance to break out of their day to day grind and take a moment to live in their imagination. I hope that Inky and all the other mermaids will make someone's day a little less hum-drum, and a little more interesting and fun. I'm not sure what the legacy of the Big Swim will be. Will there still be mermaids somewhere here in Beaufort in 20 years? I hope so. I hope that there will be new interesting works of art displayed throughout Beaufort that the Big Swim helped pave the way for.

check out the Mermaid production slideshow at Flickr