Mural Of Martinez History Taking Shape In The Present

Artists Mario Alfaro and Yvette Tipton are busy creating the city’s latest mural, this one on a concrete wall on Main Street Plaza. Visitors stop and watch as the artists sketch out the themes in pencil on a white wall.

In April, the City Council approved the mural and a $7,200 stipend that covers the cost of materials. The work is being done for free.

The themes of the mural represent various aspects of the city’s history, which includes the fishing industry, the Alhambra Mineral Water plant, John Muir, Joe DiMaggio, the Pony Express and the Forrester, a sailing vessel that ran aground and still can be seen (in skeleton form) on the shallows of Carquinez Strait.

The mural should be completed in about a month, the artists say. Meanwhile, they seem to enjoy the work, and the passersby seem delighted about watching the process of a work of art coming into being.