Mural artist has left his mark on nearly every valley school

You've probably seen Dino Derouineau's artwork around town and never wondered who did it. His paints grace most of the middle and high schools and some elementary schools in the Las Vegas Valley.

The 38-foot-wide mural of a bear at Brinley Middle School, 2480 Maverick St.? He did that. He also painted the 40-foot-wide leopard at Burkholder Middle School, 355 W. Van Wagenen St.; the Bengal tiger on the basketball court at Bonanza High School, 6665 Del Rey Ave.; the knight at White Middle School, 1661 Galleria Drive, and the 28-foot-wide cougar at Knudson Middle School, 2400 Atlantic St., to name a few.

Of course, who could miss the 68-foot-tall American flag mural wrapped around Liberty High School, 3700 Liberty Heights Ave.?

"I lost seven pounds doing the Liberty job," he said.

That flag took about a week to paint due to bad weather, he said. He can paint and airbrush most of his jobs in a day or two.

August is Derouineau's busy season. This month he scheduled jobs at Canyon Springs, Mojave and Western high schools and Jydstrup, Bailey and Treem elementary schools, among others.

On this day, Derouineau was at Treem Elementary School, 1698 Patrick Lane, adding large block letters that read "HOME OF DA BEARS," and a bear in a red sweater leaning on the "S."

It's 106 degrees. "There's no wind at all," he commented, disappointed.

Blotches of paint decorate his uniform ---- blue jeans, a green shirt, a blue flannel long-sleeved shirt, sneakers and a baseball cap with his company's logo, Dino's Custom Art. There's paint under his fingernails and on his hands.

He usually spends about three weeks every August in Las Vegas since he moved away in 2005 after spending three decades in the valley.

Derouineau, 52, lives with his wife, Shelly, and their 14-year-old daughter Kayla on a ranch in Stephenville, Texas, about 100 miles southwest of Dallas, where they raise livestock.

Derouineau's name is pronounced "dare-uh-no." He was born in France, and his family moved to North Carolina when he was 6. He was interested in art from a young age and taught himself to draw.

"I'm not schooled," he said. "I'm what you call old school. It's just practice, practice, practice."

He moved to Las Vegas in the 1970s and joined the Marine Corps as an aircraft technician after high school. He used to paint logos on the armor plates of helicopters for extra money.

He'll occasionally come back to Las Vegas for work throughout the year and also does artwork for schools in the Dallas area.

He's making fewer trips these days, though.

Business has dropped by about 40 percent since the recession, Derouineau said.

Derouineau's first work for the Clark County School District was in 1984 at Guinn Middle School, 4150 S. Torrey Pines Drive, followed by Bonanza and Chaparral high schools.

His business grew slowly over the years, almost entirely through referrals from principals.

Centennial High School principal Trent Day has been a fan of Derouineau's work for the past 15 years since he first did some murals and block lettering at Von Tobel Middle School, 2436 N. Pecos Road.

"He uses quality material, and his artwork is something the kids enjoy," Day said. "He's really cognizant of the students when he puts them together."

Derouineau painted Centennial's bulldog in the quad and did the lettering around the school.

Day said he plans to hire him again to do some touch-up work and add some art to the hallways when the school can afford it again.

For more information and to see photos of his work, visit dinoscustomart.com.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.