On Saturday, Oct. 10, Mission Bay High School will be producing its third installment of the PB Mural program coordinated by the non-profit beautifulPB. The mission of beautifulPB’s is to create a more vibrant, safe and sustainable community in Pacific Beach. The PB Murals program includes murals, sculptures, historical landmarks and utility box art in Pacific Beach. Public participation is encouraged and local residents will begin gathering at the entrance of the Mission Bay High School football stadium at the end of Lee Street beginning at 8 a.m. with the final product to be unveiled at 2 p.m. Interested volunteers are encouraged to show up at 8 a.m. and wear painting clothes.
Before the start of every PB Mural, a design contest is held amongst students of that school for the design of that mural. For the second time since the PB Mural project started, Ciara Gray, a sophomore at Mission Bay High, had her artwork chosen as the featured student artist. Gray was also chosen for the very first PB Mural located on Diamond and Haines streets when she was in eighth grade attending Pacific Beach Middle School.
“Ciara is quite an exceptional young lady and we’re lucky to have such a young, gifted artist active in helping to beautify our community,” said JohnPaul Gamelli, board member of beautfulPB and director of PB Murals.
The focus of the beautifulPB mural project is to help beautify local roads that have a large number of pedestrian crossings. The first mural was painted by 120 community volunteers on Sept. 20, 2014 at PB Middle School. This mural also marks the starting point of the PB Pathway system, a network of safe neighborhood routes for walking human powered transport to schools and other popular community destinations.
Mission Bay High students and teachers will take the charge on designing and painting the mural, located at the entrance of the new Mission Bay High football stadium. The mural will also create a visual point of interest and has fostered student/teacher collaboration and strengthened Mission Bay High’s ties to the Pacific Beach community. The PB Mural program was designed by beautifulPB to teach students about community service through their active participation in designing, organizing and painting a project such as the PB Mural. In addition, students and other volunteers who participate discover a sense of pride, achievement, and positive collaboration.
“For every PB Mural beautifulPB produces, my sense of community and positive spirit grows as the kids and teachers that are the heart of our mural program come through with dedication and excitement. Along the way, we share a great experience, learn and educate. It’s really all about the kids and they inspire and motivate me to continue our drive to build a better (and beautiful) Pacific Beach,”
commented,” said Gamelli. The Mission Bay High School Street Mural received financial support from the SANDAG iCommute Walk, Ride, and Roll to School Mini-Grant Program to educate and encourage active forms of transportation to school, and to promote pedestrian and bike safety around schools. For more information on the Walk, Ride, and Roll to School program, visit iCommuteSD.com/school.