A mural decorating the side of one of downtown Morgan Hill’s newest developments harkens back to the property’s agricultural roots, celebrates the “abundance” of Santa Clara Valley and supports local art.
The mural hanging on the Fourth Street side of the Sunsweet project depicts 50 fruit crates containing prunes, cherries and apricots. Artist Anthony Stenberg—who owns Morgan Hill Art School with his wife Angela—said the pattern was inspired by an Andy Warhol exhibit he saw in San Francisco last year.
Stenberg painted the piece in his garage on nine medium density overlay panels that are 4-feet by 8-feet in size.
“It took a lot of prep work, tons of tape, a lot of measuring,” Stenberg said. “The panels were difficult to line up. It was a challenge.”
The Sunsweet project is a mixed-use residential and commercial project that contains 83 apartments for rent. The four-story project is located on Third Street, and is bordered by Depot and Fourth streets—just on the eastern side of the downtown parking garage.
The property was once the site of a fruit processing facility owned and operated by the Sunsweet company.
Property owner Rocke Garcia—who developed the site with his wife Glenda—said the first residents of the Sunsweet project began moving in earlier this month. Ground-floor commercial space has not yet been spoken for or leased.
Stenberg said he became involved in the project when Glenda Garcia called him to solicit a mural for the side of the building. Garcia told him he was recommended by another local artist.
She told Stenberg that she wanted the Fourth Street mural to depict the property’s agricultural roots within the “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” as Santa Clara Valley used to be known. Stenberg ran with his concept from there.
“I hope people look into it a little more and read up about the valley and our history. I wanted to share that history,” Stenberg said.
The artist added he appreciates the longtime local developer reaching out to local artists to participate in the Sunsweet project.
“It helps reinforce what we’re doing here at the art school,” Stenberg said. “The community really wants to see art. And it was really easy to work with them because they’re local. I liked working with them because we were really able to collaborate our thoughts, drawing back to the history of the community.”
