Monday, February 1, 2016

Mermaids Swimming through San Pedro

Where does the time go?

I have a beautiful new mosaic to share and it's already nearly 11 PM!

This mosaic, by Julie Bender, sits in downtown San Pedro, at 453 Seventh Street.

Rainbow Services, a community resource that helps victims of domestic violence, had a very nondescript facade, once. Now, a lovely mermaid with a baby mermaid arches over the door.

The artist is Julie Bender, who also created the mosaic at Peck Park in 2012. I blogged about that when it was going up, here, here, and here. That mosaic also features a green mermaid, but the artwork itself is much larger.

Like the Peck Park installation, where Girl Scout troops and other organizations helped make and set the tiles, it looks like Bender involved local groups in this mosaic as well. Lots of ripples and kelp leaves are inscribed with names of women, or groups like the Harbor Community Benefit Association.

You can make out some of the names in the closeup of the mermaid, below.


This is not the only new mosaic that Bender has created. While my blog was on hiatus, she was on a creative tear. I have the addresses of two other places graced by her mosaics, both within a few blocks of this one. One even features another mermaid.

I know I'm being South Bay-centric, but who could blame me? If you know of another artist creating mosaics today, please let me know! If that someone is beautifying an entire town and getting the whole community involved to boot, I hope they're being recognized!

One last picture, from the front. Between the palm tree and the street signs, there is no way to get a clear picture of the entire mosaic.


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