On Saturday, Oct. 11, the San Anselmo Arts Commission celebrated the completion of a new mural at Memorial Park in San Anselmo. The event featured speeches by the artist, Luis Barajas Ochoa, and members of the board who spearheaded the installation’s production. The new mural aims to increase climate awareness and to inspire younger generations to appreciate the environment.
The mural project began earlier this year when Julia Wise, an Archie Williams senior and junior commissioner with the Arts Commission, proposed the idea to the San Anselmo Climate Commission. Both commissions approved the idea and began searching for an artist after receiving grants from the Marin County Community Service Fund.
“I’ve been on the Arts Commission for three years now, and I was like ‘We should do a climate mural,’ because I really care about nature and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Julia said. “[The funding] got us enough to pay for an artist and get the whole building painted, which was really exciting.”
Organizers found Ochoa, an artist from Santa Ana, California, through CaFÉ, an online service that connects artists with potential projects. In designing this project, Ochoa highlighted elements of Marin’s environment and culture to represent the region’s natural history.
“A lot of research [went into this]… I wanted to make sure [the mural was important] for the community through choosing landmarks and certain things. I put the Coho salmon in the stream because I know that’s an iconic thing, and I made a Miwok hut because [they’re an Indigenous group that’s] part of this area’s history,” Ochoa said.
Ochoa painted the new mural on the bathrooms outside of the Memorial Park Millennium Playground, where the community can observe and learn from its message. With the mural, Ochoa and the Arts and Climate Commission members hope to recognize the fact that every action against climate change helps protect the environment.
“The support for projects like these [helps] artists like us really feel like we’re making a change,” Ochoa said.
Sue Saunders, a member of the San Anselmo Climate Action Commission, spoke at the event to detail the town’s intentions with the mural. Following the completion of this project, the Arts Commission plans to undertake a new project in which they are searching for highschoolers to design art for a local utility box.
“Reaching youth and letting them know that every action counts is one of the most inspirational things I think we can do. I hope that [the youth] will inspire the adults in their lives to do something because it makes a difference,” Saunders said.
