Bold addition to Monterey History Maritime Museum

A pair of CSU Monterey Bay alumni and six current students have joined forces with a renowned Southern California artist to add a colorful new look to the Monterey History and Maritime Museum at Custom House Plaza.

Andre Miripolsky was hired by the Monterey History and Art Association to work on a “historama” inside the museum. He’s also painting a 275-foot mural – depicting a wave – on the fence that wraps around the building, with help from the eight CSUMB artists.

Visual and Public Art students Katherine Webb, Crystal Taylor, Ashleigh Oxford, Elizabeth Ruhl, Jennifer Lucido and Michelle Beck are working on the project, along with VPA graduates Cristiano Colantoni and Margo Mullen.

Colantoni was recently named curator of collections and exhibitions at the museum. He recruited Mullen and the students.

“This mural is bold and dynamic and if you dare to use your imagination, it looks like the building is a boat, floating in the 'urban wave,' Mullen says on her blog.

Mullen is best known on campus for her mural of a kelp forest at the university’s Aquatics Center.

“I have longed for another mural project in Monterey; there are many naked walls in this town that could use a good coat,” she says on her blog. “I feel so happy to be a part of this project and I hope that this mural will be the catalyst for investing in innovative public art.”

To view more of Mullen’s photos, visit her blog at https://studiomargo.blogspot.com/

Photos courtesy of Margo Mullen