On the Third Street side of the old liquor store building in downtown Morgan Hill, something artistic—and, so far, much less controversial than the parking garage spider planned nearby or the future development of the “Simple Beverages” property—was just created by a local painter.
With a vision of capturing Morgan Hill’s historic beauty and inviting community members to participate in its transformation from a blank canvas to a colorful painting, Debbie Arambula’s 8 foot-by-16 foot mural has a little piece of everything small town.
“It’s a rural narrative,” said the 54-year-old known as “The Heart Artist,” who has lived in Morgan Hill off and on for the last 40 years. “There’s a lot of history in there.”
Picturesque illustrations of native Poppy Jasper, El Toro Mountain and Villa Miramonte as well as vibrant images of cherry blossoms, apricots, French plums and vineyards—painted using a special Novapaint acrylic with an anti-graffiti coating—scream out open space, natural beauty and farming. Also included in the design is the fitting slogan, “Kissed by the Sun. Enchanted by the Land.”
“One of the things I’m known for are my heart portraits. I try to capture the essence of who they are in the form of color and paint a heart that represents them,” said Arambula, who was selected for a $10,000 grant through the City of Morgan Hill’s “place-making” public art program. “For me, this is a heart portrait that represents Morgan Hill.”
Arambula, who added the finishing touches to her mural earlier this week and will be on site for a May 1 dedication ceremony at 6 p.m., has also painted hidden hearts in the mural as a fun game for children to come out and see how many hearts they can find.
For two hours on April 11, Arambula welcomed community members to add a brush stroke here or there to make everyone feel a part of the public art display—which will remain on the building wall for a temporary basis until the site is developed.
“When you do a community mural like this, it’s very different than just painting one all by yourself. It’s very controlled,” explained Arambula, who brought in volunteers called “station captains” to help organize and direct the 50 or so guest painters from ages 2 to 77 that arrived.
Arambula, who received the city grant in January and immediately started researching and studying the local history, has spent well over 200 hours on the mural from concept to near completion.
“It’s a work of love, completely,” said Arambula, who plans to be done by the end of the week before she hits the road in her recreation vehicle on a nationwide tour of her hearts art with stops in Menlo Park, San Diego, Chicago and Colorado.
“She’s got hearts all over the world,” added her longtime sweetheart and husband Steve Arambula, rambling off Japan, Denmark, Germany and Saudi Arabia to name a few.
Her artwork, which can be viewed online at heartworksgallery.com, is also featured at the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. But Arambula’s heart belongs to Morgan Hill, where she met her husband 35 years ago.
“I wake up every morning so blessed to live here,” said Arambula, tearing up at times as she talked about the ranchers, farm workers and rich history of Morgan Hill. “This is such an honor to do this.”
The City of Morgan Hill granted 12 placemaking and public art projects, awarding approximately $100,000. Some of the other mini-grant art projects include artist Helen Lessick’s “Soil Sample Morgan Hill” at the Community Garden that they celebrated on Saturday and the Morgan Hill Zendoodle Club’s display also along the wall on Third Street.
Other art projects approved by the city’s public art grant program, to be installed in the coming weeks, include a bronze family of deer created by Evelyn Davis on the Monterey Road median; a wine-country themed mosaic by Peter Hazel outside the Community and Cultural Center; a giant Adirondack chair on the corner of Second Street and Monterey Road; and a temporary park on the corner of Third Street and Monterey Road that will feature a bicycle “fix-it” repair stand, benches made of reused propane tanks, and a historic steel map near the train station on Depot Street.
