Easter Weekend Accident

Leah Hall March 24, 2012 at 06:37 pm

Such a lovely idea, and seemingly very doable. Gary's done a great job showing how this investment in public art might look in some of the highest impact locations in our city.
The downtown San Leandro BART Station rendering of a mural on a school gym across SL Blvd. and the mural on Mikes PET and Feed on E. 14th are great examples.

Jamie March 24, 2012 at 08:04 pm

I think this is a great idea.

Tony Guzman March 25, 2012 at 04:17 am

I see it going on in neighboring cities and enjoy watching the areas taking their Identity.

kirsten saxton March 25, 2012 at 11:41 am

I think this is a wonderful idea and appreciate the details provided!

Carol Parker March 25, 2012 at 01:50 pm

I think these are lovely additions to communities. There is a terrific and elaborate mural behind the MacDonald's Restaurant painted on an apartment/condo complex on E. 12th St. in Oakland. Be sure to look for it if you are near there. I remember when murals were painted under I580 Freeway through Oakland (Harrison, Broadway etc). Sadly, I noticed the other day that the mural at Broadway under 580 has really faded over time and shown its wear. That would be my only question about these - how will they be maintained over time so they do not become eyesores or attract graffiti etc.

Mitch Huitema March 25, 2012 at 02:02 pm

When I visit cities that have a lot of murals or other artistic flair it makes me feel good about the place and the people and the businesses there before I've even gone anywhere.
Oakland seems to have beautiful murals popping up everywhere and I LOVE them. It makes the city beautiful and welcoming.

Leah Hall March 25, 2012 at 02:22 pm

Mitch and others,
I hope you have had the opportunity to check out Stepping Stones new tile mural on MacArthur. It is really, really nice. I only wish it was in a more central city location. Maybe Zocallo's landlord might be up for partnering with Stepping Stones and getting a mural done somewhere prominant on that building. Be careful what you wish for ;-)

Mitch Huitema March 25, 2012 at 06:35 pm

Leah, we would love to do a mural on the side of the Zocalo building, and Tim even has ideas in mind, but the property management company for our building is incredibly difficult to deal with on even minor things. Too bad we don't own the building. For that matter, if we owned the building we would have had solar a long, long time ago.
And I agree that the Stepping Stones tile mural is wonderful. When I go to Purple Pepper Pizza I often go the route that will take me by their building just so I can enjoy it on that short drive.

Leah Hall March 25, 2012 at 07:17 pm

Let's keep in touch, then. Stars will align one of these days, in no small measure to the wonderful journalists of Patch!

Tom Abate (Editor) March 26, 2012 at 03:34 pm

I appreciate all the work Gary has put into this and the comments above. I will add one from a Facebook discussion, in which a person wondered about taggers. I have not known taggers to go after murals. That is my observation and hardly definitive. In addition I wondered whether a mural project could enlist tagger energy -- say create one wall that would be segmented into puzzle or quilt-like pieces, and invite graffiti artists to propose designs for one block. Too crazy to consider? In any event, as I promised Gary when he did the work to post this, I plan to circulate this idea and see if there is enough momentum to get something done.

Leah Hall March 26, 2012 at 03:48 pm

I'd always heard murals receive protective coatings, like varnish for fade, stain and graffiti protection. I take your point, though. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that as a general rule, taggers might be less interested in going after an embelished surface, and more attracted to plain ones.
I have some cool photos of a tunnel that has become tag heaven in London, UK. While I was passing through with my daugher and her buddy last summer, we actually saw a bride and groom getting a professional wedding shoot done. I'll try to find a couple of pics and post them above. ;-)

Fred Reicker March 26, 2012 at 07:32 pm

In short, a glorious idea. One caveat, though. Murals should not be created where they would impose themselves on nearby residences.
Having recently become a "quasi expert" on the Best/Caterpillar businesses in San Leandro, the Library has some wonderful photos of gargantuan, steam-powered traction machines, any one of which would make a magnificent mural.

Richard Wahl March 26, 2012 at 10:33 pm

I always thought the backside of Safeway should have a mural, depicting a parisian street scene with cafes and small stores as concept. :)

Leah Hall March 26, 2012 at 10:38 pm

Richard, don't you think your suggested imagery might be a bit too redundant, considering what goes on at the flip side of that particular Safeway wall? ;-)

Anna W. Edwards March 27, 2012 at 12:20 am

i agree that murals would be a great addition to many of the buildings around town.

Tom Abate (Editor) March 27, 2012 at 01:39 am

Has anyone taken a look at Gary's action plan on the attached PDF? The enthusiasm here is encouraging but there are many steps in getting from good idea to paint on walls.

Leah Hall March 27, 2012 at 03:17 pm

"To Kvetch is Human, to Act is Divine"
I have looked at Gary's action plan and appreciate the thought he gave the visioning and planning stages. It occurs to me that there are several paths that groups might take. Since Gary's theme is historic San Leandro, a task force might consider putting a presentation together and taking it to already formed organizations who are potential allies. The Chamber? The Historic Society? The Rotary Club? Local Arts groups? Friends of the Library? Kaiser and other vested community business interests? Local mural artists? Fingers crossed!

Tom Abate (Editor) March 27, 2012 at 03:49 pm

Great suggestions. I sent out an email to some groups & entities to spread the idea but there are new ones on this list. Generally speaking, a project like this would require some entity with the means to "adopt" it and it is still early to either expect that or quit hoping this gets an institutional sponsor.

Leah Hall March 27, 2012 at 04:27 pm

Thanks, Tom.
I hope everyone is familiar with Mario Chiodo, the nationally Oakland sculptor who created the living memorial in Uptown Oakland, "Remember Them." This is an amazing story. The project started as merely an idea the sculptor had over a decade ago. In "stone soup" fashion, Chiodo won public support and sponsorship for his extraordinary work of art. He donated all his time to the project. Funds eventually raised (Kaiser and Clorox were substantial donors) went to other aspects which brought the work to fruition. http://www.remember-them.org/donors.htm

Lindsey March 27, 2012 at 10:09 pm

I am the current Event Chair for San Leandro's Relay for Life, a 24-hour cancer walk, and I have been thinking of different fundraisers for our event, something new and different. I thought about murals as well. Similar to the one on San Leandro Blvd. My idea was to find a big enough space and divide it into 2x2 foot (or even bigger) sections and sell them for people to paint their own Relay for Life mini mural. At the end it would look like a painted quilt. I would split the profits with whatever business would allow us to use their wall but I really have no idea where to start in getting this put together. I was born and raised in San Leandro and I now live in Manteca. We have several murals downtown that reflect the city. It is a great touch to our downtown and looks great as well! It'd be nice to get some in San Leandro!

Phyllis Udovch Lavoy April 8, 2012 at 12:08 pm

I don't like the idea of murals on buildings. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think it downgrades the areas. Keep it simple. Do flags and install them on the light polls with the art work but I do not like something permanent on buildings.

Angela Marrujo April 23, 2012 at 12:09 am

In regards to the picture of that accident that happened Easter Weekend, I watched it happen right in front of me. The white car was making a right onto San Leandro Blvd. from Marina but made it WAY too wide, going too fast, and ran right over the median and up onto the car underneath it. The woman driving the white car had a dog, which flew out of her car as she was making her right turn. She had to run across the lanes of traffic to pick it up. The damndest thing was that the accident made almost no sound, at least not in the car I was in, and I was right in front of it. Glad to hear there were no serious injuries, because from what we were looking at it seemed like there would have been.

Llea Humphries April 25, 2012 at 12:53 am

As a fellow muralist. I am currently working on a master proposal that uses marginalized youth to create a public mural that creates social change, while cleaning up the community. This is an asset-based program that all youth interested should learn from. There are many cities with sucessful mural arts programs. I would love for this to happen in San Leandro, Ca. I am a resident of San Leandro for the last 8 years and love this great community. I have a strong passion to work with youth and spread the experience of a mural arts curriculum. Are there any local business that would like to take part in this project. The parameters are open and I would love to make this a series of works. Why are there not more murals in San Leandro. As an artist and designer contact me at fishbowlmuralist@gmail.com. I can design murals on all scales and more. Contact me and tell me your ideas. Thanks and keep supporting the arts.