A beautiful mural at the Roosevelt Plaza depicting Redwood City’s historical and cultural history is nearly 90 percent complete, the Community Advocacy Through Art (CATA) announced Tuesday.
Artist Claudio Talavera-Ballon, a Peruvian-born painter based in San Francisco, is creating the mural at 2149 Roosevelt Ave. with a focus on Redwood Creek, the local Chrysanthemum industry with its pioneer Japanese American growers, and various famous commercial sites such as Frank’s Tannery.
“A hundred years after #Redwoodcity #california was recognized as the #chrysanthemum capital of the world, I feel very proud to be painting a #mural to celebrate the city’s historical past,” said Claudio Talavera-Ballon on his Instagram. “This week, I have been working on the east side facing wall, which features the #immigrant #japanese chrysanthemum growers who established #nurseries in the area in the early 1900’s.”
This is CATA’s fifth art project in Redwood City. CATA is a project of the Redwood City Parks and Arts Foundation and creates public art events and street art murals as mediums of social advocacy. It provides art opportunities to community members while raising awareness to local topics such as homelessness, mental health and affordable housing.
This latest 750-square-foot historical mural project is being commissioned by the Redwood City Parks and Arts Foundation and the Redwood City Sesquicentennial Committee.