Julie Engelmann to paint mural in downtown San Bruno

"It feels like there's hope for new reasons for people to come downtown, or more opportunities," she said. "Maybe more doors will open for more public art, and it could be a fun, colorful downtown, with art fitted here in little pockets people will explore."

Engelmann, who recently painted a mural of figure skaters Alysa Liu and Kristi Yamaguchi at the Oakland Ice Center, will begin work on the San Bruno mural in late April or early May, Traxler said. Engelmann has also painted murals for local cities like Half Moon Bay and Pacifica.

The inspiration for the mural comes both from the natural history of the city, particularly San Bruno Mountain, as well as the more urban aspects of the area, Engelmann said.

"I thought that was a great grounding to be inspired by. The subject matter of the mural — theres a lot of plants and animals,” she said. "San Bruno is very developed, and it is a very urban location, so I also wanted to tie in that element of it.”

She aims to incorporate relevant community themes in each mural she works on, Engelmann said.

"Every building I paint, every wall I paint, I try to make the imagery in the painting be significant to the area,” she said.

Traxler lauded both Engelmann’s prior work as well as her vision for San Bruno’s downtown.

"She's incredible," she said. "So we're very, very fortunate to have her help us out and work within our budget to put up a mural in downtown San Bruno.”

Engelmann said she’s drawn to mural work as a way to let all people enjoy art.

"I think public art is really, really cool. I started off just as a regular artist making canvases for people. I felt rlly weird having my artwork hanging up in someones’ home,” she said. "I really do feel artwork should be available to everybody, not just those who are wealthy and have money to buy a piece.”

Once work begins, the mural will be finished within three to four weeks.

The San Bruno Improvement Group raised around $10,000 for the mural project, selling T-shirts and merchandise and putting on pop-up markets to raise the funds. Local businesses and individuals, as well as the San Bruno Rotary Club also contributed.

"Two years we've worked on this project, and we're just so excited to kind of see it coming to fruition," Traxler said. "There are times where we weren't sure ... we knew it was gonna get done, we just didn't know how. But we figured it out."

The city passed a policy to allow for the mural painting, which will be 25 feet tall and roughly 50 feet wide, but did not contribute to the effort financially. It truly was a grassroots movement to bring beauty and color to the downtown, Traxler said.

Since its inception, the San Bruno Improvement Group has been intentional in its goal to make downtown more beautiful and welcoming for those who patronize its shops. As the city considers parallel efforts for downtown beautification within a limited budget, Traxler sees potential for the group to bring even more public art to San Bruno.

But for now, Traxler said she's excited to see the result of years of behind-the-scenes work.

"This is going to be sort of our love letter to San Bruno and saying, 'hey, look, it is possible when you believe in something and you continue to just push forward despite any obstacles,'" she said.