Baylands Sunrise

Public art mural “Baylands Sunrise” has been installed at 140 Third Street on the side wall of the Los Altos Dance Academy.  The inspiration for this mural comes from the graceful movement of shoreline birds at the Baylands Nature Preserve and Shoreline Park from photos taken by Arts Los Altos’ photographer, Joel Bartlett. The artists’ hope is to bring observers into a space of color, harmony and movement, symbolic of dance. 

Oakland based artist team Elaine Chu and Marina Perez Wong of Twin Walls Mural Company were chosen to design and paint this new mural.  The artists met while attending the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Both artists received formal art school training before establishing Twin Walls Mural Company in 2013. Elaine went to MICA, Maryland Institute College of Art, and Marina went to CCAC, California College of the Arts in Oakland.  

Chu and Wong introduced a new material and technique to our community. They painted the mural in their studio on polytab mural cloth, a durable, canvas-like product that has been adhered to the wall with a specialized waterproof gel medium, carefully smoothed into place. The parachute cloth is hardier and lasts longer than painting directly on walls. Using this material, they were able to paint the mural in sections in their studio with more time flexibility, and without the constraints of unpredictable weather conditions, and travel. 

The artists have painted over 30 murals since establishing their collaborative company.  They recently completed a temporary mural, “Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams,” inside SFMOMA which is painted on wood panels.

This new and colorful public art installation for downtown Los Altos mixes both a stylized and realistic perspective, filling a once blank wall with the morning light and the graceful flight of birds at Shoreline Park and Baylands Nature Preserve.