What was your inspiration for this piece?

This piece is the fourth of its type. The mural has been a method of community building and engagement that I developed. I was excited to be asked to do such a large scale project - especially one whose purpose was to revitalize a community space.

What was the biggest challenge/success you encountered when creating this piece?

The biggest challenge was the size of the mural. I needed about 24,000 tiles to cover the wall. In order to complete it, I engaged 11 schools and the residents of the neighborhood to help create it. Since there were so many people involved, many of them needed to be taught about things like spacing, so that the piece has an overall theme.

What was the process of designing and fabrications like?

A design contest was held for the overall design. The piece had to be geometric and limited to five colors. After 275 submitted designs, twenty were chosen, then sent to the City Arts Commission who chose 5 designs that were merged to create one project. Each tile on the wall was created by an individual. The fabrication of the wall took about 9 months and the installation took about 3 weeks. The 1st week was mostly about prepping the wall and the following two weeks were filled with attaching the tiles.

What kind of public art would you like to see more of in Santa Cruz?

I’m in favor of art that invites the community and the public to participate. I believe that community involvement allows people to feel a sense of validation, pride, and ownership, not only in the work itself, but the place they live. It makes people feel that their contributions are important no matter how small they are.