Painting will be revealed sometime in April
Published in the March 4 – 17, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
A conceptual drawing of a mural that will go up along Third Street as part of the city’s downtown arts program. Photo by Marty Cheek
“Kissed by the sun, enchanted by the land.”
Those words will boldly tell viewers of the downtown art mural what the spirit of Morgan Hill is like. They’ll stretch across the mural under a landscape of heritage elements including poppy jasper, El Toro mountain and locally grown fruit. The public got a glimpse of what the completed mural will look like when artist Debbie Arambula showed a concept drawing of it at a reception at Villa Mira Monte Feb. 22.
The 8-foot-by-16-foot mural will make its downtown debut on the Third Street side of the former liquor store building on Monterey Road. As part of its mini-grant downtown arts program, the city is paying $10,000 for the work of art. No date has been set for the mural to be presented to the public, but Arambula plans to finish the work by March 31 and its unveiling is expected to take place in April.
The mural was inspired by the illustrations found on crates of fruit once grown by farmers of Santa Clara Valley when the region was known nationally as The Valley of Heart’s Delight. It’s a gentle reminder that the town got its start from farming, Arambula said.
“My whole message is that I really want the community and the people of our town to embrace the essence of Morgan Hill — where we came from and what we are all about,” she said.
Morgan Hill resident John McKay talks with mural artist Debbie Arambula about elements of her downtown mural. Photo by Marty Cheek
In October, Arambula submitted an application for the city’s Downtown Art and Placemaking Mini-grant Program that offers funding between $500 and $10,000 for local artists and community groups who want to make the downtown a more interesting and fun place to be through art and culture. Other art projects include a large ceramic bowl of fruit that will be located close to the mural, and a family of bronze deer sculpture located on the meridian along Monterey Road.
Arambula said she wanted to showcase the local region’s love for the land, and highlighted her mural with poppy jasper gems, California golden poppies, a barrel of wine, cherry blossoms, French plums, a farm crate with various selections of locally-grown fruit in it, and a hot-air balloon with a heart on it to suggest the romance of the region.
The mural at this point is considered to be a temporary installation, but members of the public who viewed the concept drawing hoped that if it proves popular with families and visitors, it might become a permanent work of art in downtown. It will need to be removed from the liquor store wall when that building is torn down.
As a way to get the community to be a part of the fun in its creation, Arambula is inviting members of the public to help with painting various sections of the mural. She already has at least one Sobrato student who wants to help.
“My project is the only one (of the mini-grant projects) involving the community,” she said. “I actually grid it all out for you and tell you that you need to paint a little section. And I give you a paint tray and a brush and I tell you how to do it. Of course, I come back in if I need to correct something. That’s what creative place-making with a community mural actually is.”
Judy Cowan, who served on the mini-grant project selection committee, agreed that the mural will add much to Morgan Hill’s downtown ambiance.
“It’s a great presentation of Morgan Hill, and it’s a celebration of our community,” she said. “It’s colorful and lively and I think the fact they’re asking people to come and be a part of making this is a great thing. That’s what place-making is all about.”
