By Joe Graziano, Herald Staff Writer
A ceramic tile mural interpreting the rich history of the Monterey Peninsula was unveiled Tuesday outside the Monterey Conference Center.
The 5:15 p.m. ceremony in front of the southwest wall of the center, facing the intersection of Del Monte Avenue and Pacific Street, was attended by several hundred people who applauded the work of Santa Cruz artist William Granizo.
“It's marvelous,” reacted Mary Green of Monterey, who is active in civic affairs. “It captures the essence of everything that Monterey is.”
Similar expressions greeted the unveiling of the 10-foot by 45-foot [actually 48-foot] mural, which is being paid for by private donations.
After the plastic covering was removed from the mural, which had been in place since Saturday, and following the official speeches, Peter Coniglio, chairman of the Monterey Conference Center Art Commission [and former Monterey mayor], said:
“Isn't that great? We are so proud of that.”
He said there was "“some historical significance in every tile” of the mural, which may eventually be lighted for night viewing.
Others in the crowd, mostly dressed up and gathering under a blue sky in a chilly wind, studied the mural and reacted with such comments as:
“Wow, he really got it all in there;” “It's wonderful” and “I like it.”
Will Shaw, an architect and vice-chairman of the Art Commission, during a gala reception inside the Conference Center after the unveiling, said the mural was “in many aspects intriguing.”
Shaw said Granizo's “techniques were almost unique to him.”
And he added, the Conference Center was fortunate to be able to “have something of artistic value” at so low a price — $72,000 — which if broken down by square foot meant that “you couldn't tile your shower for this cost.”
Shaw said that Granizo had done his homework well on the history of Monterey and knew the important events to depict in his work.
A passer-by took one look at the mural and said he needed “a little time to get used to it; a lot of things are happening.”
Asked about this in an interview, Granizo said, “Most of my murals are marketplaces — a lot of activities happening.”
He said viewers of his work have told him that they like to see the murals again and again and each time discover something new.
“I enjoy people and enjoy putting a lot of people in my murals,” Granizo said.
The Conference Center mural, he said, shows “the activities of people from the very beginning of life to the present day — including every type of person: carefree Indians, merchants, photographers, honky-tonk vendors.”
He said he put the people in a “very fancified setting with a realistic backdrop.” In his work, he said, “everything evolves (with) no preconceived notions.” For example, the size of his figures are larger in early-day scenes of Monterey but smaller as the history moves forward, which is indicative of the population growth, he explained.
Bright blues and greens are used often in the mural, reflecting the abundance of water and trees here, although some of the trees are also done in orange and red.
Granizo said there is no dominant color in the mural, which contains 250 glazes.
During the unveiling ceremonies, he said he was dedicating his mural to “people I relate to, who don't wear shoes and comb their hair ... to the physically disabled (he has a paralyzed [left] leg [— an injury incurred on Utah Beach during the WWII D-Day assault]) ... to the Spanish-speaking ... to your citizens ... (and) to people who enjoy life.”
He said the mural was something he had wanted to do for a long time: “The history of California based on Monterey, a very, very important city.”
Mayor Clyde Roberson noted that Monterey is a city of “natural beauty” and told the audience, “When we unveil the mural you will see these qualities reflected in it.”
The work was a “labor of love” for the “enthusiastic” artist, who “wanted to honor our heritage and our beauty,” Roberson said.