The Pierside Mural in Santa Monica

January 25, 2023

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The crew and I just finished a large mural on the Pierside Hotel at Ocean and Colorado directly across from the Santa Monica pier in west LA. Santa Monica is a beautiful place with a vibrant history filled with creators and rebels from surf, skate, and music culture. No neighborhood is one-dimensional, so I chose to emphasize themes and bits of history related to Santa Monica that I most enjoy. I’m drawn to the hippie spirit of the neighborhood, which is welcoming of all types, the natural beauty, ocean air, and the way the Pacific Ocean Park (POP) once it was abandoned, provided a fertile wasteland for surfers and skaters to flourish. As someone whose life was changed by skateboarding, I can’t overstate Santa Monica’s importance to the evolution of skate culture! There’s way too much cool Santa Monica history to reference in one mural. Thank you to my crew of Dan Flores, Nic Bowers, Rob Zagula, Luka Densmore, and Jon Furlong (who also shot the photos) for their hard work.
–Shepard

A large, colorful mural on the side of a building featuring a woman with an afro and a flower in her hair, surrounded by…
Photo: Jonathan Furlong

Photos from the process:

A low-angle shot looking up at the side of a light blue building, with power lines stretching across a bright blue sky.

A black and white photo, framed by blurred traffic lights, showing workers on scaffolding high up on a building, painting a…

A black and white photo of two men on scaffolding, one wearing a baseball cap and the other a t-shirt, spray painting a…

A colorful mural of a woman with an afro and a flower in her hair is reflected in a puddle on the street, with trees and…

A black and white photo of an older man in a hat and sunglasses, spray painting a large mural on a building, with palm trees…
John Densmore drummer of The Doors

A black and white photo of two men, one older in a hat and the other younger, posing in front of a large mural on a building.

A black and white photo of a person on scaffolding, spray painting the eye of a large mural on a building, with palm trees…