Mural Stories

Downtown Carpinteria is a wonderful place to spend some quality time. You can browse through the shops, relax at a sidewalk cafe, or just stroll down Linden Avenue and enjoy the sights.

When local architect Andy Neumann drew up the revitalization plan for the downtown corridor, he thoughtfully designed the streetscape to be both pedestrian friendly and beautiful. His design for Linden Plaza included spaces for future tile murals – with the hope that a funding source would someday be found – and it was!

Thanks to a combination of generous donors and the proceeds from the annual Home & Garden Tour, Carpinteria Beautiful has been able to complete the picture – actually, two pictures – plus a tile surround for the drinking fountain.

The first mural, “La Vina Grande,” depicts the famous Carpinteria Grapevine. Planted in 1842, the vine’s enormous arbor grew to over half an acre and was used for local gatherings and public meetings.

“La Carpinteria” Mural

Dedicated February 14, 2005, our second mural, “La Carpinteria”, celebrates our Chumash heritage and depicts the building of Indian tomols using asphaltum from local beaches as a sealant. Both murals, as well as the tile surround, were created by RTK Studios in Ojai.

We think this combination of history and art is a great way to further enhance our beautiful community and we hope to see more examples in the future.

In 2006, Carpinteria Beautiful formed a Murals Committee to investigate the commissioning of a large painted mural. We are truly fortunate to have John Wulbrandt, an internationally famous artist and muralist, to work with us on this project.

After examining the rich and varied historical and cultural background of our community, we decided the central theme of our first mural would be “The World’s Safest Beach.” It will also include several vignettes depicting specific historical views and topics.

As with all good things, this endeavour will take time and work by many people. We look forward to this challenge and to the support of all of you who have so generously participated in Carpinteria Beautiful’s efforts over the years.

“Rincon from the Carpinteria Bluffs”

Since 2007, a striking landscape mural, entitled “Rincon from the Carpinteria Bluffs,” by local artist Whitney Brooks Abbott, painted in 1996, for an interior wall at Tyco/Kilovac, adorns the exterior wall of that same building, at 550 Linden Avenue, in a position to be viewed and enjoyed by the whole community.