San Mateo City Council approves mural design

“This is exactly where we should be putting our resources and time in showcasing and celebrating our cultures,” Mayor Amourence Lee said at a June 20 council meeting.

Initially proposed to be 15 by 75 feet, it will likely increase in size to add more cultures to the mural following council requests. It would take around one week to make and is scheduled for installation in October. The current patterned design celebrates different cultures and cultural unification in the United States and will represent Mexican, Native American, Arabic, Chinese, African and European cultures.

“This is an attempt to unify us so we can continue living instead of the same roof, on the same ground, and learning from each other’s cultures,” Blanco said in a summary of his proposed work.

The council unanimously approved the artist’s design at its June 20 meeting and asked for more specific cultures represented, given more space is available on the street. Mayor Amourence Lee and Councilmember Adam Loraine asked for more consideration of African American culture in the mural outside of the overall African culture represented.

“It would be great to have a particular African American element to this,” Loraine said.

Councilmember Rich Hedges noted the city has historically had a large African American and Japanese American community, particularly in North Central, and deserved to be recognized for their contributions and history. He also wanted to see the Pacific Islander community highlighted.

“I understand how difficult it would be to satisfy everybody, but I think we should try to highlight those three as well,” Hedges said.

The council also asked for further consideration of South Asian, Italian American, Portuguese and Guatemalan communities, given their roots and contributions to the city.

In 2020, the council asked staff to work on an art project to reflect and promote racial equity and diversity and raise awareness about the growing demand for representation of San Mateo’s diverse population. The city has allocated around $200,000 to the project. Community feedback on the design occurred this spring, with Blanco involved in feedback and meetings with the community to gauge ideas.

Blanco is an immigrant from Spain, and his wife is from Mexico. He stressed the concept and the project purpose was special to him and said he would consider all council comments for the final art design. The city’s Civic Arts Committee will work with Blanco on further revisions and approval.

“My job as a public artist is to take all that and then recreate a better design because public art is for the people,” Blanco said.