New murals and mosaics, added to the local public art scene in recent years, enrich culture, foster community and inspire change.
By Tanya A. Yacina
Public art installations can have a profound impact on a community, uplifting the spirits of passersby and sometimes serving as catalysts for communication and positive change, enhancing the quality of life and fostering a vibrant, dynamic society. Laguna Beach displays numerous murals throughout the city including several that have been installed in recent years, adding bursts of color to the walls around town.
“Ripple Effect”
Created by Timothy Robert Smith, a faculty member at Laguna College of Art & Design, along with LCAD students, this 113- by 13-foot mural can be found at the intersection of Glenneyre and Mermaid streets. Installed in early 2022, the location was secured by local nonprofit Community Art Project, which also provided funds and additional support for the project. “This mural focuses on a perspective shift for the viewer, where the floor literally twists beneath their feet,” Smith explains. “It is about how our perception of reality changes our experience of it. It’s an invitation to consider everything that exists outside of our limited points of view.”
“The Good of the Hive”
Gracing a wall of the Laguna Beach County Water District on Third Street downtown, artist Matt Willey’s mural installation was created in February as part of a global art project of the same name. The piece, commissioned by the Laguna Beach Garden Club, features bees flying around and drinking from a pool of water as well as a blue butterfly, bright yellow daffodil and green plants. “I am painting 50,000 individual bees—the number in a healthy hive—in murals around the world,” Willey says. “The project began in order to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators, but has evolved into a symbol of the connection needed between people and communities in order to heal pollinators, people and the planet.”
“Coalescence”
New York-based multidisciplinary artist Beau Stanton, a graduate of LCAD, installed this 14- by 20-foot inlaid ceramic and porcelain mosaic in fall 2023. Commissioned by the city of Laguna Beach, the work is composed of 3,659 hand-drawn pieces as well as thousands more square tesserae—all hand cut—and covers the entire surface of a pedestrian bridge connecting Laguna Canyon Road with a nearby frontage road, just past Sawdust Art Festival. “This work celebrates the unique natural character of Laguna: the meeting of the ocean and canyon environments represented by the threatened local Dudleya succulent blossoming from a nautilus shell cornucopia,” explains Stanton, whose other work has been installed in a variety of unique places including on the Berlin Wall, a 13th century crypt and electronic billboards in New York’s Times Square.
“Bear Named Pa’u”
Several murals add creative touches to The Hive shopping center in Laguna Canyon. Among them is “Bear Name Pa’u” by artist Chad Hasegawa, who is based in San Francisco, but was born and raised in Hawaii. Hasegawa unveiled his black-and-gray-toned bear mural back in May 2018. This was among several murals curated by Artists Republic 4 Tomorrow gallery, art consultant Ben Rubin and The Hive’s owners for their Summer of Color project at the center; Artists Republic has since closed its Laguna gallery and reopened as East in North Carolina. “The bear was named after my cousin, Lee,” Hasegawa says. “He is a bit of a protector type of person and he takes care of a lot of people with special needs and he would bring them there to hang out with the mural. I believe [The Hive] … was a perfect location for the bear. It was in the back, hidden, hiding in safety so it can exist for a very long time.”
“Super Natural Bloom”
Displayed at Alta Laguna Park, this vibrant mural can be found on a wall behind the dugout on the baseball field. Dedicated in September 2023 and on exhibit through 2025, according to Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Manager Sian Poeschl, the mural was created by Australians Darren and Emmelene Mate, a husband-and-wife artist team, who now are based in LA and work collectively under the name DabsMyla. Made possible by a program offered by the Laguna Beach Arts Commission and measuring 7 feet high and 35 feet wide, it’s painted directly onto the concrete-block dugout wall with acrylics. The scene shows bright flowers in a rainbow of colors appearing to bloom across a dark background.
“Swimming in Sea Life”
Artist Mike Tauber led the effort on this tile mural, which involved nearly 100 community members. Tauber says his favorite part was seeing how the participants expressed themselves in each tile: Locals—and even a few visitors from other states—glazed the individual tiles in workshops run by Tauber for LOCA Arts Education. Located on the north exterior wall of The Taco Stand, at 699 S. Coast Highway, and installed in fall 2023, the mural represents the different styles and expressions of those who created it. Together, the tiles form a larger picture of sea lions swimming through the water. “We love our sea lions, but also all the other creatures that inhabit the ocean, so it’s nice to have them all represented,” Tauber says. “Everything’s there, from plankton to a mermaid and snorkeler.”
“Whaling Wall: Gray Whale and Calf”
Wyland’s expansive marine mural was the first of more than 100 such murals painted by the renowned artist globally. The mural features life-size depictions of whales and other sea life, and aims to raise awareness about marine ecosystems and conservation. Located next to the artist’s flagship gallery, at 509 S. Coast Highway, the 140- by 28-foot mural was originally dedicated in July 1981. However, after the mural—partly on the side of the gallery and continuing onto a wall facing the Hotel Laguna parking lot—was painted over, Wyland re-created it in summer 2019. The top of the installation is made with tile and the bottom portion is a canvas, hand-painted extension.
“Beneath the Waves”
South African contemporary artist Sonny Behan painted this 1,090-square-foot mural—commissioned by the PangeaSeed Foundation as part of its Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans educational public art project—in May 2023 on a wall along the Peppertree parking lot between Forest and Ocean avenues. It was made possible with support of the Offield Family Foundation. Behan, who splits his time between Miami and Cape Town, South Africa, uses his work as a way to connect people with nature. “The mural focuses on the Pacific sea nettle jellyfish and addresses the issue of marine plastic pollution. The realistic jellyfish flow across the wall from left to right with increasing turmoil,” Behan says. “On the one side, the ocean is bright blue and calm, yet, as you move across the painting, the jellyfish start to transform into plastic bags while the ocean becomes less vibrant and [more] chaotic. This shift represents the state of the oceans in the face of increasing plastic pollution and acts as a reminder of the critical need for ocean conservation efforts.”
“Daytripper”
Artist Jo Situ Allen’s mural—stretching along the wall between Laguna Supply clothing shop and what was then Brass Tack home decor store—was installed in late 2019 on the side of the building at Ocean Avenue and Beach Street. It was commissioned by those shops to celebrate the natural beauty of Laguna Beach, showcasing native plants that “deserve celebration and protection,” Allen says. “I am the author and illustrator of two coffee table coloring books called ‘The Accidental Naturalist,’ and the owners of the boutiques approached me for my fresh and unique take on the wilderness,” says Allen, who also goes by artist name Dirty Eraser. “The colors represent the beautiful light here—especially the sunsets and sunrisesa. ‘Daytripper’ is a wink to the role Laguna has played in the psychedelic movement, as well as a reference to all the tourists that visit for the day.”
A Tribute to Kobe
Local street artist Hung Tran eventually came forward as the creator of this mysterious mural.
By Sharon Stello
In early 2020, a few days after Lakers star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash, a mural popped up overnight in tribute to the basketball player on the Landmark Surf building on Cress Street at South Coast Highway. And no one knew the artist’s identity for a long time.
Street artist Hung Tran, a refugee from Vietnam who now lives in the Laguna area, eventually ended the mystery, revealing himself as the creator of this illegal, Banksy-inspired mural, which features an airborne Bryant—in a Michael Jordan-esque pose—dunking a heart-shaped balloon into the building’s vent.
Tran says he grew up watching Bryant play basketball and, when he died, “my heart was broken.” Even under the cover of night, it took him a few days to get up the courage to paint it. “Every time I drove by, I’d get spooked,” he says. He didn’t expect it to be up for long since it wasn’t approved by the city. “I didn’t think it would last more than a couple of days,” he recalls.
Originally, the mural also included a Banksy-style girl. After the wall was vandalized, Tran replaced her with a young Gianna, or “Gigi,” as she was known—Bryant’s daughter, who also died in the crash; next to her is a basketball emblazoned with “2,” the number on her soccer and basketball jerseys. People embraced the mural, taking photos and leaving flowers and mementos in tribute to their sports hero. Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, even shared a photo of the mural on Instagram. After the surf shop closed, European Optical opened in its place and owner Astrid Chitamun has rallied for the mural to stay as her children went to school with the Bryant kids.
For Tran, it has opened doors and put him on a new path. The former addict, who also served some jail time, has now been sober for several years and describes himself as a God-loving person. “Basically, I used to party. I used to do blow and hang out with rockstars. … I got in trouble because I partied with the wrong people that I trusted.”
Tran, who had previously painted a Jordan mural in Oceanside and has also painted a Kobe mural in Dana Point, recently added another to his resume. This one, completed in June at El Morro Elementary School, depicts the campus mascot, a sea lion, perched on a rock with her pup. Tran says a parent, who wanted to have the mural created as a gift to the school in honor of her daughter’s graduation, searched online for Laguna mural painters and Tran’s name came up because of the popularity of his Kobe mural. She called to ask if he would do it and, he says, he was happy to because “it was for the kids.”
